NYC Neighborhoods: FiDi Focus

FEBRUARY 6, 2012

Wall Street may be otherwise occupied with sorting out its affairs, but the Financial District neighborhood is getting high marks for growth and residential living.

In the recent Curbed Cup poll  for best emerging NYC neighborhood in 2011, the Financial District finished in the number two spot (after Downtown Brooklyn). Encompassing the area from Chambers Street to Manhattan's southern tip from the East River to Broadway, overlapping with the South Street Seaport and the acres of open space, parks, playgrounds, paths and stunning vistas of Battery Park, the former workday-only zone has been making news in the past few years for being one of downtown Manhattan’s emergent residential stars.

Gathering spots like Blue Spoon Coffee Company keep neighborhood residents thinking locally. The addition of several top condo buildings like 59 John Street, 20 Pine The Collection (shown) and William Beaver House helped fuel the neighborhood’s recent popularity as a place to come home to. And there’s more to come: Several hotel developers have expressed interest in the impressive brick-and-terra-cotta Temple Court building at 5 Beekman Street. In addition, a comprehensive revitalization strategy for the adjacent South Street Seaport–including retail space with water views, parks and innovative public spaces–will make the area less of a tourist destination and more of a real community.