Financial District

The Financial District of New York City (sometimes called FiDi[1]) is a neighborhood on the southernmost section of the borough of Manhattan which comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city's major financial institutions, including the New 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. 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.  Many buildings were 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, Museum of Jewish Heritage, and Museum of American Finance. For most of the 20th century the Financial District was a 9-to-5 kind of neighborhood which emptied out at night. Not any longer, thanks to building conversions and NYU dorm additions that significantly increased the number of local residents. Nowadays, it is entirely possible to bump into a neighbor on the way home around midnight, especially on massively "residentialized" streets like John Street. Wall Street, the nerve center of American capitalism, now contains quite a few luxury residental buildings. Ditto for John Street and Water Street. Although rents in the area are on the high side, most managers are quite flexible and willing to throw in all kinds of perks.