Classic New York: Civic Center

Just east and to the South of Tribeca is the Financial District, sometimes called the Civic Center neighborhood or the Plaza District. This swath of downtown Manhattan encompasses most of the city government, including City Hall, police headquarters and the courts, as well as the skyscrapers that envelope Wall Street. Also, filled with buildings adorned with classical columns and copper-sheathed cupolas, the Financial District embodies the central power of New York City, both in name and stature: Federal Hall, where George Washington was inaugurated as the country’s first president, still faces down Wall Street toward New York Harbor. In addition to easy access to power, from the Financial District, residents can also walk to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge or ferry across the harbor to Staten Island. 

A stone’s throw away from a Dim Sum brunch in Chinatown, about 20,000 full-time residents call the Financial District home – double the number of a decade ago. The area remains far less dense than most of Manhattan, where the average number of residents totals 35,000 per block. Parks and public spaces keep the neighborhood quiet, and apartments cost about half of what they do on the Upper East Side. Many residents have therefore, chosen the Financial District for its easy access to government, its status and its relative cost efficiency.