In recent years, the Financial District has taken a lot of hard blows, from the to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, but the neighborhood has persevered and promises to be  despite some of the problems facing the revitalization of the . While some of the more obvious signs of this include the newly opened 4 orld Trade Center and the Freedom Tower opening late next year, there also an astounding 17 new developments and luxury conversions under construction or on the way. 

In 2007, construction halted on what was planned to be a 14-story hotel at 25 Great Jones Street in NoHo. Ever since then, an incomplete building shell has stood out in the historic district, and not in a good way. The bad news is that the scaffolding isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The good news, however, is that it’s due to the recent approval of building.

Last March, City Council gave its stamp of approval on the after a review process that lasted over half of a year. The rezoning now allows for buildings to rise as tall as 290 feet in the quiet, 18-block neighborhood. While 290 feet is nothing special by New York City standards, the neighborhood is now primed for a major facelift.

  According to a recent survey by the Marketing Directors, the most desired building amenity for New Yorkers is a swimming pool. Sure, that holds water. Is the second most desirable amenity a stretch? Well, sort of. A yoga studio is second most popular amenity.

A proposal for an eight-story, ten-unit condominium located at 100 Franklin Street has been responsible for a large outcry of public opposition. Architect Peter Guthrie presented his design for the Tribeca condo along with Developer DDG to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The commission, much to the delight of local residents, disapproved of the design.

While the Financial District has seen a  as of late, here’s one for all the house-flipping enthusiasts out there. The top two floors of 15 Park Row are for sale at a (relative) bargain price of $19.9 million. Why is that a bargain? Well, the entire space is 10,000 square feet and comes with two of your very own ornate turrets that are three stories a-piece. Making the property even more enticing are the unbeatable views one has from the turrets, private terrace and balconies of Downtown Manhattan. The WTC site, Brooklyn Bridge and City Hall are clearly readily visible while the Empire State Building and Midtown comprise your backdrop. 

A year after , and the South Street Seaport area of the Financial District still hangs in a state of uncertainty. For decades, the Pier 17 shopping mall was a tourist jackpot. It had everything—a prime downtown location, a variety of shops and restaurants, and fantastic waterfront views. Several local businesses benefited from increased foot traffic due to their proximity to Pier 17. Though many businesses were unable to open soon after Sandy, Pier 17 was able to reopen less than a month after the superstorm. The mall had plans to undergo a massive renovation prior to the storm, and continues with those plans today.

A Battery Park City penthouse in the Ritz-Carlton is listed for an astonishing price of $56.5 million. The duplex condominium has already set one downtown record simply by asking for that amount, but if it sells for or near the asking price, it will set the record for the most expensive downtown sale ever.

It goes without saying that if you’re a tourist in New York City, chances are your visit will be confined to Manhattan and you won’t think to visit any of the other boroughs. This may soon change, for Brooklyn at least, as the borough is stepping up to challenge the Manhattan-centric tendencies of tourism through an upcoming tourism website named ExploreBK. While Brooklyn already has a tourism website run by the office of the borough president, VisitBrooklyn, the new ExploreBK website is the brainchild of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and Hybrid Media, a private Brooklyn-based company. ExploreBK will target visitors to New York unfamiliar with the entertainment and culture that Brooklyn offers through advertising events and activities throughout the borough.