Neighborhood Guide

Financial District

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The Financial District, located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, is a neighborhood on the southeastern side of Manhattan which comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city's major financial institutions, including theNew York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The World Trade Center existed in the neighborhood until the September 11 attacks and is currently being rebuilt. The neighborhood roughly overlaps the boundaries of the New Amsterdam settlement in the late 17th century and has a residential population of about 56,000.



As a district, it encompasses roughly the area south of City Hall Park but excluding Battery Park and Battery Park City. The heart of the Financial District is often considered to be the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street, both of which are contained entirely within the district. The northeastern part of the financial district (along Fulton Street and John Street) was known in the early 20th century as the Insurance District, due to the large number of insurance companies who were either headquartered there, or maintained their New York offices there.



Federal Hall National Memorial, on the site of the first US Capitol and the inauguration of George Washington as the firstPresident of the United States, is located at the corner of Wall Street and Nassau Street.



Previously, the neighborhood was considered to be primarily a destination for daytime traders and office workers from around New York City and the surrounding areas. The neighborhood now has a growing number of full-time residents, with estimates made in 2008 showing that there were approximately 56,000 people living in the area, a jump from the 15 to 20 thousand living there before 2001,[1] with many buildings being converted from office space to apartments and condominiums during the 1990s and 2000s.



It also has a growing number of tourist attractions such as the adjacent South Street Seaport Historic District, New York City Police Museum, and Museum of American Finance.Bowling Green is the starting point of traditional ticker-tape parades on Broadway, where here it is also known as the Canyon of Heroes. The Museum of Jewish Heritage and theSkyscraper Museum are both in adjacent Battery Park City which is also home to the World Financial Center.



Although the term is sometimes used as a synonym for "Wall Street", the latter term is often applied metonymously to the financial markets as a whole (and is also a street in the district), whereas "the Financial District" implies an actual geographical location.



Provided by Wikipedia