Civic Center

Civic Center is an interesting and somewhat unknown area of Manhattan. Like many of the neighborhoods in proximity to the site of the former World Trade Center, it is a closely knit community of people who were brought together after the September 11th attacks. A Civic Center Residents Coalition ... Read more  Civic Center is an interesting and somewhat unknown area of Manhattan. Like many of the neighborhoods in proximity to the site of the former World Trade Center, it is a closely knit community of people who were brought together after the September 11th attacks. A Civic Center Residents Coalition works tirelessly on behalf of the people who live here and can be a good resource if you are considering moving to the area.

The boundaries of Civic Center are well-defined. Its northern border is Chinatown; its southern is the Financial Center. The East River (appropriately) is its eastern border and Broadway, an exciting area for nightlife, is its west.

Civic Center was once a sleepy nabe that came alive during the day when the area was packed with people heading to City Hall and the court buildings, or to get to South Street Seaport and Wall Street area. At night, it was a ghost town, with the only people on the street being folks who parked in Civic Center because it was too hard to find a spot in Chinatown...as well as the occasional homeless person and/or drug dealer.

That’s changed over the last few years. There has been a fair amount of development and in response to the arrival of new residents, more businesses, restaurants, and nightspots are opening up. If you’ve ever dreamed of living in a converted office tower, you’ll love Civic Center. Most of the development has centered on renovations of existing properties, rather than construction of new buildings.

The vibe can be a little cold, so if you’re looking for warm and home-y digs, you may want to look elsewhere.  Less

The Civic Center of Manhattan is not what pops out to me when I think of NYC. But it's there! We all have to go there as residents sometime if we have to serve our time on a jury. It's a named street area so it's confusing. And the buildings are huge and well, ugly. You may be able to take a nice... Read more  The Civic Center of Manhattan is not what pops out to me when I think of NYC. But it's there! We all have to go there as residents sometime if we have to serve our time on a jury. It's a named street area so it's confusing. And the buildings are huge and well, ugly. You may be able to take a nice tourist picture of one of the court buildings with its many stairs but that's about it. If nothing else it is located in an area that is close to other areas, like the South Street Seaport which houses the old Fulton Fish Market.

The Civic Center offers a great place to be employed. If you are lucky enough to work there you may want to live nearby so that your commute is a dream. This area is DEAD on the weekend, so if you don't mind that and having little shopping around then this may be the area for you. Many New Yorkers don't consider this a great place to go and it can get hairy with all the traffic and people on foot rushing off to court, so try to avoid this area if possible and go somewhere more fun like Times Square!

Of course law students and visiting lawyers might find this area exciting! :-) City Hall is also here so if you're looking to get hitched get in line to get your license!  Less