Lower Manhattan is the fourth largest business district in the United States, after Midtown Manhattan, the Chicago Loop, and Washington, D.C., and will regain the title of 3rd after the completion of 1 World Trade Center, also known as Freedom Tower, and the three other skyscrapers at the site. The Financial District of New York City (sometimes called FiDi) 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 which 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. During the day, the population swells to about 300,000.

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. Federal Hall National Memorial, on the site of the first US Capitol and the inauguration of George Washington as the first President 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,  with many buildings being converted from office space to apartments and condominiums.


Some text and images from List of Manhattan Neighborhoods at Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.