(Note: Before reading, please watch the link below, as it represents most vividly the way I feel about New York, compliments of Woody Allen)
Also, be sure to check out my walking tour photos with the link below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35455366@N02/sets/72157613963996546/
Seaport
As I make my way up Wall Street past the heavily armed officers guarding the New York Stock Exchange, I am in awe of the variety of pedestrians I encounter. A skateboarder grinds the steps of 55 Wall St, nearly clipping into the “Hot Dog Lady,” who has been frightening passers-by with her shrill voice for at least the past five years. “Hello handsome! Could I get a dollah fur a hot dawggg?,” she bellows as the skater wheels into the cracked pavement of Hanover Street, on which he will probably trip and “eat it.”
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/qaY4MPzA6sw" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
The streets of the Financial District are always crowded with tourists snapping photos, brokers, street vendors, big shots, smoke-break secretaries, and little-shots dressed as big shots. If New York City really were a “big apple,” the Financial District would probably be a crunchy mouthful by its outer-core. And the enlightened few who are actually qualified to discuss the neighborhood would agree: many parts are sweet and juicy, yet they might on slight occasion find themselves chewing on the unfortunate seed or worm. But that is any part of New York, really, with the variety of individuals living and working in the city.
Of course, the stigma of Wall Street has always had a sour ring to it because people associate the neighborhood with greasy-haired Gordon Geckos and Ponzi schemes, and the Financial Crisis, but I would like to cover the daily life which tourists, pedestrians, and commuters do not get a chance to observe.
But here’s the data first.
(The year 2000 census data I have found is woefully
inaccurate in representing the current climate of the neighborhood,
yet I’ll list some of the numbers along and elaborate for you)
Population:
Land-Tract: 1,009 acres
Total #: 32,286
White: 24,189 (75%)
Black: 1,455
Asian: 4,682
Other: 1,960
Household
Households: 15,627
Non-family: 9,263
Housing units: 18,546
Median Gross Rent: $1,562
Median Income: $82,598
Public Housing Units: 0
Education
# Children 0-18: 4,049
# K-12 Public Schools: 10
# K-12 Private/Parochial Schools: 4
# College & Post-Graduate Schools: 9
Businesses (% by type)
Professional Occupations: 40.6
Management & Financial: 26.5
Sales: 23
Other: 9.9
In the wake of the September 11th attacks, which occurred a year after the census data was recorded, there were massive changes to almost all of the aforementioned categories. But that is difficult to comprehend when one is solely observing numbers. On a human level, the neighborhood suffered unimaginable losses and would not have recovered so well had it not been for its residents and brave workers.
In the years following the tragic milestone we cannot cast off, the Financial District has begun and is continuing to rebuild itself residentially, municipally, and spiritually. The incessant drilling and thumping of jackhammers is not without purpose, as the two major projects in the area are the reconstruction of the World Trade Center as well as the 2nd avenue subway line on Fulton street. Additionally, there have been plenty of Commercial-to-Residential building conversions and condominium openings- many subsidized by tax-exempt Liberty Bonds to aid in the recuperation of the neighborhood.
Even with the drilling, the residential population has more than doubled, certainly, with the amount of new high-rises and converted office buildings. Rent has increased enormously since 2000 (I’ll give you good numbers soon) and the number of housing units is certainly near double.
I have lived on Wall Street for nearly one year now, but have been working in Real Estate and construction there for a combined five years. What I find truly fascinating is the changing cityscape, which finds new buildings popping up weekly, forcing commercial business elsewhere.
Local tourist and consumer attractions in the neighborhood include the South Street Seaport, The Skyscraper Museum, The Museum of American Finance, The New York and American Stock Exchange, The New York City Police Museum, as well as Federal Hall and Trinity Church. Retail businesses in the area include run-down delicatessens, chains such as Starbucks and Subway, luxurious restaurants such as Cipriani or Delmonico’s, and a variety of retail stores which range from the high-end Tiffany’s to the bargain-bin-laden Century.
Welcome to the neighborhood.
(Census data provided by www.nyc.gov)
photography copyright of Daniel Berman, Esquire
