| |||||||||
The Financial District is the neighborhood in New York City on the southernmost section of the island of Manhattan which comprises the offices and headquarters of many of the city's major financial institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange.
As a district, it encompasses roughly the area south of City Hall Park but excluding Battery Park and Battery Park City. The heart of the Financial District is often considered to be the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street, both of which are contained entirely within the district.
Federal Hall National Memorial, on the site of the first US Capitol and the inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States, is located at the corner of Wall Street and Wall Street", the latter term is usually taken to imply the financial markets as a whole, whereas the Financial District implies an actual geographical location.
The neighborhood is roughly coterminous with the boundaries of the New Amsterdam settlement in the late 17th century. A few surviving examples of Dutch colonial architecture amidst the skyscrapers can be found along southern Pearl Street.