Financial District, Commercial district in Lower Manhattan, US.
This commercial district occupies the southern tip of Manhattan, where banks, exchanges, and corporate headquarters pack together between tall buildings on narrow streets. The streets follow the old Dutch layout and often run at angles to the modern grid, creating narrow lanes and unexpected sightlines.
Dutch settlers founded New Amsterdam here in the 1620s and built a protective wall along what became Wall Street. After the British took over in 1664, the area remained a trading center and evolved into the financial hub of the new nation from the late 1700s onward.
Many offices and banks still feature wood paneling, marble columns, and high ceilings that recall the era when financial houses displayed their power through grand architecture. On weekdays you see suited workers rushing between skyscrapers with coffee in hand, while weekends bring tourists exploring the quiet streets.
Fulton Street subway station connects several lines and sits centrally in the district, while the Staten Island Ferry at the southern end runs free across the harbor. Many buildings are closed to visitors on weekdays, so walking around on weekends when streets are quieter can be easier.
Below the Federal Reserve Bank lies a vault 80 feet (24 meters) under the street holding roughly 497,000 gold bars belonging to different countries. The gold rarely moves, only when governments settle debts between themselves, and the bars are simply pushed from one cage to another.
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