The only New Yorker killed in Tuesday’s terror attack was a 23-year-old software engineer remembered as a “sweetheart.”

West Village resident Nicholas Cleves was one of eight who died when Sayfullo Saipov allegedly rammed into cyclists and pedestrians in lower Manhattan.

His mom, Italian-born lighting designer Monica Missio, was distraught as she hugged someone at the morgue Wednesday, and later declined to comment.

But a deli worker near their Greenwich Street building had to hold back tears when she learned of his death.

“He’s absolutely lovely, he was a sweetheart, warm and friendly. He would come in every day,” said a worker named Dianne.

“There are some people who are just good, and he was.”

Cleves was a graduate of Elisabeth Irwin High School and had just completed a degree in computer science and physics from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs last year, according to his Facebook page.