Is Financial District Safe? Manhattan Livability, Crime & Rent
Financial District scores 6.4—a transit-first neighborhood built for efficiency rather than lifestyle, with noise tradeoffs.
Financial District at a glance
- Borough
- Manhattan
- Livability score
- 6.4/10
- Borough rank (NYC Open Data guides)
- #12 of 33
- Safety verdict
- Average
- Crimes (12 mo)
- 3,475
- ZIP codes
- 10038 (33%), 10005 (23%), 10280 (14%), 10004 (12%), 10006 (10%), 10282 (8%)Share of residential units, NYC PLUTO 26v2
- Subway stations
- 8 (Chambers St/WTC/Park Place/Cortlandt St, Rector St, Whitehall St-South Ferry)
- Data updated
- 2026-09-14
Is Financial District Safe?
Financial District, Manhattan scores 6.4/10 for overall livability, ranking #12 of 33 Manhattan neighborhoods scored from NYC Open Data. Financial District scores 6.4—a transit-first neighborhood built for efficiency rather than lifestyle, with noise tradeoffs.
The livability score draws on HPD housing violations, subway access, NYC Parks' tree inventory and parks, and 311 noise complaints per resident from NYC Open Data, refreshed periodically rather than live. It does not include crime; NYPD complaint and shooting figures are on the Financial District safety page. Safety varies by block — check a specific Financial District address below for a block-level breakdown.
Score Overview
Vertical line = borough median. Scale: 0-10.
Practical measures HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations). Borough medians are computed across DwellCheck's Manhattan neighborhood guides.
Neighborhood Character
Financial District is a vertical neighborhood of glass and steel where you'll navigate between soaring office towers and surprising pockets of green. You'll find 134 trees on average within a 200-meter radius with 2.9/10 tree density. Battery Park City, Bowling Green, and Vietnam Veterans Plaza are among the largest parks, and the 3 nearest parks average 283 meters from the neighborhood's center —these parks feel intentional rather than incidental, designed into the urban grid. The street-level experience is intense: moderate noise complaints (4,036 in 12 months) reflect constant activity from trucks, construction, and crowds. You're never far from water or transit; the neighborhood sits atop a transit superhighway with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, J, R, W, and Z lines distributed across eight stations.
Livability & Restoration
Trees
134 trees
Expected in a 200m circle (NYC Parks tree inventory) | Density: 2.9/10 (city percentile)
In Toronto, 10 more trees on a city block went with a rise in self-rated health comparable to being 7 years younger (Kardan et al., 2015, Scientific Reports). In a cross-sectional study of London boroughs, each additional street tree per km of street went with 1.18 fewer antidepressant prescriptions per 1,000 residents (Taylor et al., 2015, Landscape and Urban Planning).
Park Access
9 parks
NYC Parks properties inside the neighborhood | largest: Battery Park City | nearest to the center: Imagination Playground, 262m | 3 nearest average 283m from the neighborhood's center
Acoustic Quality
3/10
Noise proxy score (higher = quieter)
Environmental noise exposure increases the occurrence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease; WHO's night-noise guidelines call average outdoor night noise above 55 dB increasingly dangerous for public health (Basner et al., 2014, The Lancet).
What is the ART Score?
ART stands for Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989) — the framework environmental psychologists use to measure whether a place helps your brain recover from mental fatigue, or pushes it deeper into overload. Cities deplete directed attention (the effortful focus you use at work); exposure to restorative environments replenishes it.
DwellCheck uses the idea in two separate places, and they measure different things. The neighborhood ART score below comes from neighborhood-wide data: up to 5 points from tree density (a city percentile) and up to 5 from how few 311 noise complaints there are per resident. An address report has no ART score. It runs the Wellness checks below, and their points go into the address’s overall score.
More than a point below the Manhattan median: sparser trees, more noise complaints per resident, or both.
What an address report checks instead (Wellness)
- ±Sensory environment. A calm score minus a busy score, each starting at 50. Busy: a firehouse within 100m (+15) or 200m (+8), and 311 noise complaints within 200m over 6 months (15+ adds 5, 40+ adds 12, 80+ adds 20, and 3 more at 20+ complaints that include vehicle or street noise). Calm: a library (+15), community garden (+12) or public plaza or atrium (POPS; +15 indoor, +8 outdoor) within 200m, and a park within 300m (+10; +15 at 1+ acre; +20 at 5+ acres). A difference of +20 or more adds 8 points; −10 to −29 costs 2; −30 or less costs 4. Bars, museums, tourists and foot traffic are not counted.
- +Third places (Oldenburg, 1989). Public libraries, public plazas and atriums (POPS) and community gardens within 400m: 1–2 add 5 points, 3 or more add 10. Cafés and community centers are not counted. In a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies, loneliness or social isolation went with a 29% higher risk of incident coronary heart disease (Valtorta et al., 2016, Heart).
- 0Street vitality (Jacobs, 1961). Permitted block parties, farmers markets and similar community events in the borough over the past 12 months. The event data has no coordinates, so this is a borough-wide count shown for context. It doesn’t change the score.
Health mechanism. The theory holds that natural settings let directed attention recover. The evidence is mixed: a systematic review of 31 studies (Ohly et al., 2016, Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B) found that time in natural environments improved 3 of 13 pooled attention measures (Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward and Trail Making Test B) and showed no marked benefit on the other 10.
Theoretical foundations. Kaplan & Kaplan (1989), The Experience of Nature; Jacobs (1961), The Death and Life of Great American Cities; Oldenburg (1989), The Great Good Place.
Transit & Commute
Subway Stations
Commute Score
9.5/10
Borough median: 7/10
Outdoor & Green Space
Avg Tree Count
134
Trees expected in a 200m circle
Tree Density
2.9/10
1,063 trees per km² in NYC Parks' tree inventory (street and park trees); city percentile, 1 = sparsest
Largest Parks In or Near the Neighborhood
- Battery Park City
- Bowling Green
- Vietnam Veterans Plaza
- Imagination Playground
- Pearl St Playground
Nearest to the neighborhood's center: Imagination Playground, about 262m. The 3 nearest NYC Parks properties average 283m from the center (approximate park centers, not entrances).
Practical Living
Practical (HPD violations): 7/10 (Manhattan median 6). It measures HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations).
Building Mix (Residential Tax Lots)
Share of the 261 residential tax lots in the neighborhood by PLUTO building class (NYC Department of City Planning).
Who Financial District Is For
Commuters prioritizing transit access
Commute score of 9.5 (well above the 7.0 borough median) with eight subway stations and ferry terminals.
Those seeking lower pest pressure
Rodent complaints are low (82 in 12 months).
Pros & Cons
Strengths
Top-tier transit connectivity
Eight subway stations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, J, R, W, Z lines) plus ferry terminals within walking distance; commute score 9.5
Few housing violations
Practical score of 7 (borough median 6.0) (condominiums are 39% and elevator apartment buildings 28% of residential tax lots) reflects a low rate of HPD housing violations
Low rodent complaints
Only 82 rodent complaints in 12 months, lower than most Manhattan neighborhoods
Trade-offs
Moderate noise levels
4,036 noise complaints in 12 months—expect consistent street noise from traffic, construction, and crowds
Below-median ART/Livability score
Minimal outdoor recreation diversity
Outdoor score of 6.2 despite nearby parks; neighborhood character is urban-commercial rather than green-focused
Score Any Address in Financial District
Get detailed livability scores based on building health, transit access, safety, noise levels, and 15+ NYC data sources.
Search an Address in Financial DistrictFrequently Asked Questions about Financial District
1Is Financial District safe?
By NYPD data, Financial District is rated "Average", with a lower crime rate per resident than 50% of Manhattan neighborhoods. 3,475 crime incidents and 1 shooting incident over the past 12 months. See the safety page for the full breakdown.
2What is the average rent in Financial District?
Rents in Financial District, Manhattan vary significantly by building and apartment type. Market pricing isn't aggregated for this neighborhood yet; use DwellCheck to research specific addresses for HPD registration, HPD violations, and other building-level records. DwellCheck doesn't show rent-stabilization status; request the apartment's rent history from DHCR for that.
3How is transit access in Financial District?
Financial District has a commute score of 9.5/10. 8 subway stations serve the area: Chambers St/WTC/Park Place/Cortlandt St, Rector St, Whitehall St-South Ferry.
4What are the best streets in Financial District?
The best streets depend on your priorities. Use DwellCheck to compare specific addresses across livability, safety, transit, and environmental factors.
5What is Financial District known for?
Financial District sits in Manhattan and ranks #12 of 33 Manhattan neighborhoods scored from NYC Open Data on DwellCheck's livability score (6.4/10). It's served by 8 subway stations (Chambers St/WTC/Park Place/Cortlandt St, Rector St, Whitehall St-South Ferry). Financial District scores 6.4—a transit-first neighborhood built for efficiency rather than lifestyle, with noise tradeoffs.
6What is it like to live in Financial District?
DwellCheck scores Financial District, Manhattan from NYC Open Data on practical (HPD housing violations per residential lot over the last 12 months (higher = fewer violations)), commute (subway stations and lines in the neighborhood), ART (tree density and 311 noise complaints per resident), outdoor (trees and park proximity). Financial District's composite is 6.4/10. Financial District scores 6.4—a transit-first neighborhood built for efficiency rather than lifestyle, with noise tradeoffs. For the block-by-block view, run any specific Financial District address through DwellCheck.
7Where is Financial District?
Financial District is in Manhattan, New York City. DwellCheck maps it to the Financial District-Battery Park City Neighborhood Tabulation Area (MN0101), which falls in the Census tabulation area that matches Manhattan Community District 1 (Financial District-Tribeca). Its main ZIP codes are 10038, 10005, 10280, 10004, 10006 and 10282. Subway stations in the neighborhood include Chambers St/WTC/Park Place/Cortlandt St, Rector St and Whitehall St-South Ferry.
8What ZIP code is Financial District in?
Financial District spans ZIP codes 10038 (33% of residential units), 10005 (23%), 10280 (14%), 10004 (12%), 10006 (10%) and 10282 (8%). Shares are of the 36,436 residential units in the Financial District-Battery Park City Neighborhood Tabulation Area (MN0101), from NYC PLUTO 26v2 tax-lot records. 1 other ZIP code holds under 5%.
9Can you walk around Financial District at night?
Financial District is classified as "Average" by NYPD complaint data. Over the past 12 months it recorded 1 shooting incident and 3,475 total crime incidents. Walking at night carries the same risk profile as anywhere in NYC: stay on commercial corridors with foot traffic, avoid empty side streets after midnight, and prefer subway lines that run 24/7.
10Is Financial District dangerous?
By NYPD data, Financial District is rated "Average", with a lower crime rate per resident than 50% of Manhattan neighborhoods. 3,475 crime incidents over 12 months. Block-level risk varies; check the address-level safety score for any specific street or building.
11What parts of Financial District should I avoid?
NYPD complaint records carry approximate incident coordinates, but a neighborhood total can't tell you which blocks drive it, so we don't publish an "avoid this street" list. For a specific block, use DwellCheck's address-level safety score, which counts NYPD crime complaints within a 300m radius of the building over the latest 12 months of published data and compares that count with the borough average.
12Is Financial District a good place to live?
Financial District scores 6.4/10 for overall livability and has a lower crime rate per resident than 50% of Manhattan neighborhoods. Financial District scores 6.4—a transit-first neighborhood built for efficiency rather than lifestyle, with noise tradeoffs. Whether it's a good fit depends on what you weight: families, solo renters, and remote workers each prioritize different factors (noise, transit access, parks, building quality).
13What is the average DwellScore in Financial District?
The composite score is 6.4. The score is driven by exceptional commute (9.5) and strong practical (7.0) factors, offset by moderate livability.
14How safe is Financial District?
Financial District has a lower crime rate per resident than 50% of Manhattan neighborhoods—rated about average. 3,475 crimes recorded in 12 months, down 13.4% year-over-year. Noise complaints (4,036) reflect intense urban activity.
15What's the transit situation?
Commute score of 9.5 reflects eight subway stations (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, E, J, R, W, Z) and ferry terminals.
16Is there green space?
Yes—134 trees average within 200m with 2.9/10 tree density, plus parks including Battery Park City, Bowling Green, and Vietnam Veterans Plaza; the 3 nearest parks average 283m from the neighborhood's center. Parks exist but feel integrated into commercial space rather than defining neighborhood character.
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