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Lower Manhattan

Photo Credit: Jeff Greenberg/NYC & Company, Inc.

Lower Manhattan is well on its way in its transition from a business and industrial district to a neighborhood that’s not only nice to live in, but that’s also good for raising families, seeing celebrities, eating great meals, and snagging a few real estate bargains.

Lower Manhattan’s neighborhoods include:

Battery Park City
The Financial District
TriBeCa

View healthcare facilities in Lower Manhattan

Battery Park City

Named for the battery of cannons that used to line the shore in the 1800s, this relatively new neighborhood is located on the southernmost tip of Manhattan. Developed in 1979, the 23 acres of landfill on which the neighborhood is located was removed from the original World Trade Center construction site to make room for the underground portion of the Twin Towers project. Many of the high-rise luxury buildings in the community have balconies with sweeping views of the Hudson River, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty. These views are spectacular, but beware: The sky-high balconies invite bitterly cold winds in the winter.

Because the buildings were built fairly recently, they contain many modern amenities. Most have on-site laundry and gym facilities. There are some that even have video rental and convenience stores on the premises, making it easy to find just about everything you need without leaving the building. That’s just as well, because there aren’t as many restaurants and stores left in the surrounding area since the 9/11 disaster. The events of 2001 also caused some resident defections from the neighborhood, so there may be a few housing bargains to be found until the area stabilizes.

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The Financial District

Even though it’s no longer the city’s primary business center, the Financial District is the symbolic center of the world’s economy. This perception is so strong throughout the world, it caused terrorists to chose its former centerpiece—the World Trade Center—as one the locations for their attacks on September 11, 2001.
It’s a slow process, but the neighborhood is now recovering from the devastation that was visited upon it. The recovery added another dimension to Financial District developers’ pre-9/11 attempts to lure people to live in the area, however, because it always has struggled with the perception that it’s not resident-friendly.

Although great views of the river are to be had from some of the apartments in the community’s converted commercial buildings, not much sunlight gets through the rows of skyscrapers. And residential amenities that other neighborhoods take for granted, like grocery stores, theatres, dry cleaners, and restaurants, are in short supply here. But good transportation and the close proximity to Brooklyn, New Jersey, and JFK Airport help make up for some of the neighborhood’s shortcomings.

Rents are high, in spite of having to go outside the area to take care of basic needs. But that doesn’t seem to be stopping residents from filling up new and converted buildings. Eventually, this influx of new residents may cause more amenities to be offered and the area to become a “real” neighborhood.

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TriBeCa

Once an industrial district, TriBeCa (“Triangle Below Canal Street”) has undergone a major revitalization in recent years. Former warehouses are now luxurious high-ceilinged lofts, and a previous lack of grocery stores has been addressed as gourmet food stores move into the area. There are also plenty of restaurants; in fact, the area is known as having some of the best restaurants in the city.

Walking distance from the Financial District, TriBeCa has a mix of artistic types and Wall Street folks who live along its crooked and sometimes cobblestoned streets. It also has a few celebrities to give the neighborhood some sparkle. The late John F. Kennedy Jr. lived here, and it’s the current home of David Letterman and Robert DeNiro, who happens to own the TriBeCa Grill. There are also many behind-the-scenes film industry people, who no doubt fuel the growing popularity of the TriBeCa Film Festival. And although the area is pretty well stocked with the hip and well to do, it doesn’t stop it from being family friendly. There are plenty of dog runs and good schools in the area.

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Healthcare facilities in Lower Manhattan:

NYU Downtown Hospital