Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Downtown Manhattan Comes Full Circle
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Sep 10, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Dave Hogarty
Published Sep 10, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Six years ago, the prospects for downtown Manhattan seemed uniformly bleak. A persistent fire that burned for months amidst the wreckage of the World Trade Center filled the air with an acrid smell that was a constant reminder of 9/11. Restaurants and shops shuttered for lack of business. And many firms considered moving across the river, fearing that every tower in the financial district had a virtual target painted on its facade. The New York Times has an article today, however, that not only has the area below Chambers St. recovered to 2001 levels, the neighborhoods of downtown Manhattan are thriving like they haven't in decades, if not centuries.
Mixed use development has reinvigorated the southernmost tip of Manhattan Island, with people living, shopping, dining, and working without having to travel great distances. In many ways, the current state of downtown is reminiscent of the early years of Manhattan's settlement by the Dutch and conquest by the English, when the City ended at Wall St. and merchants, traders, craftsman, and those that catered to them lived and worked in mixed use communities, centuries before the term would ever be coined.
Despite the slow pace of reconstruction at ground zero, the area below Chambers Street is humming with activity, much of it designed to appeal to the well-heeled professionals who are transforming the neighborhood. Already, it has added hundreds of condominium units and hotel rooms, a thriving restaurant row, a private school charging $27,000 a year, a free wireless Internet service, a BMW dealership and an Hermès boutique.
A Tiffany store will be appearing in the neighborhood and grocery stores are planned for the area. 6,000 apartments have been built in the last four years and another 5,000 are scheduled to be built by developers. The downside is that even as business booms, skyrocketing rents are pushing longtime businesses and residents out. The Times talked to a salon owner, who opened a second location and will soon be open seven days a week thanks to the neighborhood's revival, but is going to have to find a new place to live because the going rate of $4,000 for a two-bedroom apartment is beyond her price range. It seems like the only thing not being built at a boomtown pace these days is the World Trade Center itself.
Tagged
9/11
Chambers St
chambers street
city
dining
District
downtown
fire
ground zero
internet
manhattan
Manhattan Island
Neighborhoods
new york
new york times
people
private school
real estate
restaurants
Shopping
smell
The New York
the new york times
the times
Trade Center
travel
Wall St
world trade center
Dave Hogarty
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
The Garden State now requires that corn masa dough and flour made and sold in the state be fortified with folic acid.
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
NYC nor’easter dries up after weather service reports minor flooding
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .