The Financial District occupies the southern tip of Manhattan, the oldest settled part of the city and still home to the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. The narrow colonial-era street grid survives largely intact beneath the skyscrapers, a contrast that makes the district one of the more disorienting parts of Manhattan to walk through. Trinity Church, at the head of Wall Street, was the tallest building in New York for much of the 19th century.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum occupies the former World Trade Center site, with two reflecting pools marking the footprints of the original towers. Battery Park, at the island's southern point, is the departure point for ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and offers harbour views toward New Jersey and the Verrazzano Bridge. The district empties out after the trading day ends and on weekends, when it can feel strikingly quiet for the financial centre of the world.