By Elizabeth H. Berger

When I moved to Lower Manhattan in the early 1980s, just 10,000 people lived here. My husband and I can remember life in the neighborhood before a single deli stayed open at night, when restaurants closed early on Friday evening and didn’t reopen until lunchtime on Monday, when the closest supermarkets were in New Jersey.

In those days, we schlepped bags on the subway and had everything else delivered—basic things most New Yorkers take for granted—like dry cleaning, fresh vegetables and laundry detergent. We wanted safety and a doorman within walking distance of our jobs—and a place that really looked and felt like New York.

We fell in love with Lower Manhattan, and as it turns out, we weren’t alone. Today, Lower Manhattan is where everyone wants to be.

And, at the Downtown Alliance, we’ve done the research to prove it. While the 2010 Census says the number of people living below Chambers Street has doubled in the last decade, our research reveals a significantly bigger population.

The data behind our residential market research indicates that the population south of Chambers Street has more than doubled in the last decade—to 56,000. For this reason, the Downtown Alliance strongly supports Mayor Bloomberg’s challenge of the citywide 2010 Census results.

Still, no matter whose totals we use, the numbers show Lower Manhattan booming—as a global destination for businesses, residents and visitors. Our one square mile has nine grocery stores, 11 public and private elementary, middle and high schools, 319 residential buildings, 625 stores, 445 restaurants, eight museums and 18 hotels. Our streets and sidewalks are filled with business people, baby strollers, dog-walkers and joggers.

From historic Stone Street to Battery Park City, where Danny Meyer will soon open three new restaurants, from Maison du Chocolat on Wall Street to Pasanella and Son on South Street, from J&R on Park Row to Broadway’s Century 21, from Canali Broad Street to Greenwich Jewelers on Trinity Place—and every place in between—Lower Manhattan is a shopping and dining mecca like never before.

This resurgence is all the more remarkable in light of 9/11. On one of the worst days in American history, 2,752 people lost their lives in and around the World Trade Center. Seven buildings with a total of 14 million square feet of commercial office space were damaged or destroyed. More than 20,000 residents were at least temporarily displaced, and more than 65,000 jobs disappeared or were temporarily relocated. Thousands of miles of fiber-optic, telecom and electrical cable were ruined. Hundreds of stores and restaurants were temporarily closed. Public transit lines were seriously disrupted.

Yet here we are, flourishing as never before. What makes a neighborhood work? Jane Jacobs wrote that in real life, “only diverse surroundings have the practical power of inducing a natural, continuing flow of life and use.” In Lower Manhattan, business executives, government officials and community leaders have all worked together, thinking globally, but acting locally to create an extraordinary new kind of place in the oldest part of New York City.

Our momentum is unmistakable. While there’s still much to do, Lower Manhattan will continue to grow and thrive. We have always known how to reinvent ourselves. The neighborhood where George Washington took the presidential oath and Herman Melville was born is now home to the Digital Sandbox at the New York Technology Center. It’s a destination for 306,000 workers a day and nine million tourists a year.

And yes, for 56,000 of us, it is home.

Elizabeth H. Berger is President of the Downtown Alliance

By LaTi’k Cook

The Lower Manhattan experience is one-of-a-kind. Being an intern at the Downtown Alliance has allowed me to experience more about Manhattan than I ever expected. And, I realized that there are so many things offered in Lower Manhattan.

As I was completing my studies at George Westinghouse High School in Brooklyn, I learned about the internship program at the Downtown Alliance through Futures & Options. FAO is a non-profit that helps students like me explore careers and become active in our communities.

FAO is in Lower Manhattan as well, and worked with my school to find students to participate in internships. I was lucky enough to be selected to work with FAO, and then to be picked to work with the Downtown Alliance.

Working with this organization has helped me learn much more about the Lower Manhattan area. Every day, people request information and brochures (apparently, we distribute more than a million maps, guides, and material every year!).

As I fill in orders, I reach out to people that live in the area – and many from outside of Lower Manhattan – and get to talk with them. As I deliver packages to residents and companies down here, I get to explore the neighborhood and learn about all of its history and geography. Something I’ve learned is that there are 200 black granite strips, along Broadway, that tell the story of each ticker tape parade that has been held in the city in chronological order.

The Downtown Alliance plays a huge part in what goes on in Lower Manhattan, and being a part of this organization also makes me feel a part of Lower Manhattan, too.

There are so many places to eat, more than I realized! And, you can pretty much find any type of food here. My favorite spot to order food from is not a restaurant, and it’s not a store. There’s a vendor, “Ms. Shirley,” who cooks Trinidadian food on Whitehall Street. I drop by there often and (most of the time) order curry chicken, cabbage, and rice and beans. Ms. Shirley is extremely nice.

Lower Manhattan overall has been a great place to work. I’d recommend it as a place for friends and family to visit and explore, especially when the weather gets better!

Lower Manhattan at daybreak

By Indira Satyendra

We moved to Lower Manhattan six months ago and already couldn’t be happier.

The Financial District is so different from the time I worked at a law firm here 10 years ago.  At that time the streets would become deserted at night and on weekends, and restaurants and shopping were scarce.  Now, with the residential boom, the neighborhood is lively and full of activity at all hours.  There are so many restaurants we still haven’t tried many of them (our problem is that we keep going back to the same one, Les Halles on John Street, for the delicious steak frites).

There are grocery stores, coffee shops, plenty of shopping, farmers markets and more.  There’s also swift and easy access to both the west and east sides of Manhattan by several subway routes that converge here, so it’s no problem for me to get to my job near Lincoln Center.   We love our modern high-rise apartment with its spectacular view of the East River and Midtown skyline that glitters with city lights in the evening.  The rent is reasonable – comparable to that of the older, smaller Midtown apartment we used to have that looked out on nothing.

But what I really love about Lower Manhattan can be found just walking around on the neighborhood’s streets.   There’s something more than urban convenience and amenities that makes living in Lower Manhattan so special.  It has to do with the interplay of towering skyscrapers on narrow, curving streets and the surrounding expansive, open-air, natural beauty of the waterfront.  It has to do with the historical feel of cobblestones and graceful old buildings, juxtaposed with modern architecture and the area’s forward-moving business, technological and creative energies.

To best experience the unique qualities of Lower Manhattan, it helps to have a dog, although one is not required.  It’s just that my dog Darwin, a black lab-mix, forces me to get out and walk all around the neighborhood every day.

Darwin in the snow

We step out at dawn, right at the moment when the city is beginning to prepare for the busy day ahead.  The bakeries and delis have just put on the first pots of steaming hot coffee, and fresh pastries are arranged in neat rows ready for hungry workers in the morning rush.  News trucks noisily throw out stacks of papers, and workers tidy up storefronts and sidewalks.  I love to walk by Flowers of the World on Maiden Lane to see what new window display they’ve come up with for that week – invariably an elegant, minimalist work of art.  They are busy making gorgeous floral arrangements ready for delivery.

Sometimes we walk a few blocks north by the Seaport shops to the dog run right next to the Brooklyn Bridge.  There, Darwin can run at full speed off-leash or joust with his canine buddies.  But his favorite route is along the East River toward Battery Park.  Mine, too – one look at the dawn breaking over the harbor makes me forget sleepiness and be grateful to have been dragged outdoors.  Darwin will like this route even more come this spring when a new dog park opens up as part of the East River Esplanade, now under construction.  We can already see the big tree that will be the dog park’s centerpiece.

We walk briskly as I take in views of the calm water and Brooklyn skyline.  Darwin raises his head, sniffing, as if to capture news from distant shores.  When the Wall Street ferry pulls up, disgorging its smartly-dressed passengers, Darwin stops to wag his tail at the group as if he were an official greeter.

A bracing walk along the harbor brings us to the fabulous new Staten Island Ferry terminal at the tip of the island, gleaming in the morning light.  There’s a very fine biking and walking path around it lined with trees but Darwin and I cut through the broad plaza, dodging the paper guys calling out headlines and sports scores to commuters like the newsboys of old.

Battery Park, so crowded with visitors in the daytime, is quiet and peaceful early in the morning.  I love to gaze at the Statue of Liberty, her torch still lit, and watch the ferries pass by.  I see Ellis Island, too, and recall that fateful day some 13 years ago when I met my future husband on a boat heading to an event there (but that’s a story for another day).

On the way back home we cut through the heart of the Financial District, each curve in the street disclosing a new and astonishing view of buildings and sky.  Darwin is probably longing for breakfast by now but I insist on stopping at my favorite place in New York City.  Actually, it’s my favorite place in the whole country, and I still can’t believe I live just blocks away.  It’s the steps of Federal Hall on which the statue of George Washington marks the site where our first President took the oath of office, speaking in a low voice so as not to appear overreaching.  It’s also where the Bill of Rights was adopted, which is particularly thrilling to me as a First Amendment lawyer.

The steps have good vibes.  They invite you to sit and watch the people go by or gaze upon the impressive New York Stock Exchange Building across the plaza.  The plaza itself is closed to traffic, and in the evenings it’s like a European piazza where workers take over the cobblestoned streets and make their way home or to restaurants and bars in a relaxed stroll.  Just up Wall Street is the beautiful Trinity Church, where there are lunchtime classical concerts.  For me, this spot represents all that is great about America.  The foundation of our government and freedoms, the economic engine that runs the world, and the enjoyment of culture and beauty – it makes one’s heart swell with pride just to stand here.

Darwin looks up at me solemnly.  I think he can feel that this place is special to me.  But now it’s time to head home.  I make a mental note as we pass by Financier Patisserie on Cedar to come back and pick up some pastries on my way to work.

Guests explore the Junior Officers Discovery Zone, which opened last week at the New York City Police Museum.

As a young adult, I rarely find myself exploring the children’s exhibit of a museum. But with the help of Julie Bose, Executive Director of the New York City Police Museum, and Sgt. Veronica Willis, coordinator of the museum’s school bookings and group tours, I found my inner child in the Junior Officers Discovery Zone.

The museum’s Discovery Zone opened last week after almost two years in the making with collaboration from the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Upon entering the open room, I truly felt like a kid again. I was surrounded by oversized police cars, police officer costumes, and a police station funhouse complete with viewfinders and a slide!

What makes this exhibit really successful is its ability to reach out to various age groups. Younger children will have a blast with the police cars—they can turn the lights on and get the sirens blaring.  The magnet board is a great way for younger kids to learn about the different types of officers and the equipment they use.(I figured out that the police officer in scuba gear belongs on the harbor unit!)

Meanwhile, older children can head over to the Academy and learn what it takes to become a New York City police officer. The physical challenge tests your strength by how many times you can run across a set of steps in 30 seconds. I decided to sit this one out and let Sgt. Willis demonstrate the test for me. A fingerprint station lets you examine your own prints and determine what type they are (mine are loopy!), and a memory test challenges older children to recall the scene of a crime as an officer might have to.

As Julie pointed out, this exhibit integrates “real stuff” alongside “fun stuff”, making the Discovery Zone both a learning center and a giant playroom. The Emergency Services truck with its sirens and flashing lights keeps the kids entertained, but inside they can see actual NYPD uniforms, as well as all the equipment an Emergency Services truck carries.

The Police Museum’s Discovery Zone is a great place for young children to play and learn. The museum offers special programming for school groups, or you can stop by and check out the exhibit with your family. The museum is located at 100 Old Slip and is open 10 AM to 5 PM Monday through Saturday and 12 to 5 PM on Sundays.