The financial district is where the original Dutch city of New Amsterdam was located. now it's famous for Wall Street which was New Amsterdams city walls and the Stock Exchanges. It's hard to fathom how much impact this one area of one city has on the world. 

The financial district is also where Ground Zero is. The memorial to the two World Trade Center buildings should not be missed. In the photos it looks like two holes in the ground. In person it feels as if the water cascading down into a black hole is sucking the life right out of you. It's very powerful.

Thanks to the history book titled Inside the Apple we found Stone Street which I'm positive we would have overlooked otherwise. This may be my favorite place to be on the south end of Manhattan. Stone street was one of the first paved streets in New York City and today is made of cobblestones. It's lined with old counting houses turned restaurants. It's truly amazing that this still exists engulfed in the concrete jungle. I can't imagine how much that land is worth today.