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The Financial District is located in Downtown Manhattan, south of
City Hall and East of Broadway. In this definition I am including
Seaport/Fulton street fish market and its surroundings - mostly
because it's too small of an area to be considered a separate
neighborhood.
POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS
The Financial District is teeming with people during the day
because of all the office workers. Some streets are really
crowded and I always avoid going to lunch anywhere near there, even
when I have to meet a "financial" person. On the other hand, after 6pm
it quickly turns into a desolate area: despite several decades of loud
promises to turn it into a 24-neighborhood, it feels empty. There are
exceptions now (for example, John Street) which are all due to the
remodeling of certain buildings for residential use; that and the fact
that NYU moved a couple of its dorms to the area.This has certainly
encouraged commerce and John Street in particular now has 24-hour
gourmet grocery stores and stuff like that.
With all that said, the crowd you'll find after 6pm will consist
mostly of people who are also here before 6pm (i.e. the financial
industry crowd) - plus some students. Nothing like the East Village
with its unemployed copywriters or Hell's Kitchen with its aspiring
actors mixed in with shady characters from the Port Authority Bus
Terminal area. Nothing like that. Only good, clean folks with day jobs
or at least a school to go to. Oh - and for some reason, bikers love
the neighborhood, too: sometimes you'll see dozens of Harleys parked
outside of some pub at night. |
