At the southern tip of Manhattan is New York’s Financial District and its boundaries border surrounding neighborhoods, Battery Park City, Tribeca and Chinatown. Its unofficial borders are from West Side Highway to the East River and from Manhattan’s southern tip to the Brooklyn Bridge.
This Lower Manhattan neighborhood has seen marked growth of residential buildings that was once mainly a world financial hub where financiers, stockbrokers and business professionals worked. Although the Financial District still remains the crux of the financial world, the physical landscape is changing as more people (and families) decide to make their home in this busy, vibrant neighborhood.
This portion of the city was once a tiny village in the 1600s and Manhattan spread outwards and upwards from here. Wall Street and Broad is the location that’s considered the heart of the Financial District–Federal Hall, The Trump Building, The New York Stock Exchange, Deutshe Bank and NASDAQ–financial powerhouses of the world stand side by side along these streets. Their stunning architecture and towering presence create a lasting impression.
There’s green space and memorials within this concrete jungle. Hanover Square at Pearl and Stone Streets, is one of the city’s oldest public squares and was redesigned to honor 9/11 victims. A gift from The British Garden at Hanover Square in London, part of its mission is to honor the ties between the United Kingdom and the United States. Queen Elizabeth attended its opening in July of 2010 and events since then have paid homage to that fateful day in 2001.
The site of the World Trade Center is under construction and has made considerable progress during 2010 with One World Trade Center at 52 stories above ground now and when completed, a projected tower will be the tallest building in the city and country. In addition, plans are in the works to make the World Trade Center underground transit hub serve 250,000 commuters, with the station slotted for completion in 2014. At Church and Vesey Streets, its plans are to connect the World Financial Center and MTA’s Fulton Street Transit Center.
Nearby Battery Park City overlooks the Hudson and has 36 acres of open green space. There’s North Cove Marina, home to the Manhattan Yacht Club where residents and visitors have access to water taxi services that ferry them out to NYC landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The spectacular Seaport and Pier 17 that sits on the harbor hosts year-round events and the recently-opened Fulton Market brings together a dozen or so vendors that sell fresh foods and produce, much like they did during the 1800s.
The breathtaking Esplanade has the Hudson River and New York Harbor as a backdrop and runs the entire length of Battery Park City. A two-mile segment, from Wall Street to Maiden Lane, is under improvement and scheduled to be completed by February. Increased seating and lighting along with beautiful landscaping and a dog run is Phase 1 of the project developed by the New York City Departments of Planning and Transportation and the City’s Economic Development Corporation.
Imagination Playground Park opened in July 2010 and is located at Burling Strip in the Southport Seaport area. This family-friendly park offers a “dynamic child-centered environment” where kids can play with environmentally-friendly objects (giant foam blocks) as well as incorporate elements from the earth (sand, water) to create play spaces of their own. This specific New York City playground took its cue from the history of the space using burlap bags, rope-climbing, shovels and more. There’s an amphitheater where kids can sit for storytelling and other park-sponsored activities.
The past decade has brought more luxury living and rental apartment-dwellers to settle in alongside and near corporate mega-giants. There’s affordable rentals for young professionals, but over-the-top luxury accommodations as well. Elegant, modern skyscraper condo buildings join prewar historic structures.
Turn-of-the century co-ops, 3 Hanover Square was once the New York Cotton Exchange and The South Star at 80 John Street is an art-deco building that’s attracting families to downtown. Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall Street is a modern Beaux-Arts building with 106 fully-furnished condos that offer residents three distinct styles of living: “Classic, Sleek and Eclectic.”
Beekman Tower (New York by Gehry) is the 76-story glass and steel skyscraper designed by architect Frank Gehry at 8 Spruce Street that contains luxury units. Its exterior is undulating shapes that many believe make it one of New York’s best skyscrapers.
The W Downtown Hotel & Residences is the first W residential development in Manhattan and residents have access to a digital lounge and access to all the amenities visitors enjoy including a rooftop terrace that gives spectacular views of the city.
Downtown by Philippe Starck at 15 Broad Street is the first condo conversion on Wall Street. The 40-story building has over 380 apartments and offers residents a choice of 160 different floor plans.
No longer just a place to work, the Financial District is quickly becoming a choice area in Manhattan for those who also want to live and play in the financial heart of the city. Easy access to public transportation, new hotels bringing in great restaurants, new cafes and coffee shops moving in and brand new schools on Spruce Street and nearby Battery Park City School are transforming this multilateral part of the city into a thriving neighborhood of singles, families and financiers.
References: 2010 World Trade Center Site Progress in Review.
