Liberty St, Financial District

Liberty street starts off at Battery Park, but the calm coolness of the park is obliterated with a quick walk across the street on Liberty. Immediately across from the park are 1 and 2 World Financial Center buildings. 1 houses businesses like Dow Jones and 2 houses Merrill Lynch and Deloitte Touche. It's pretty easy to see how you're headed into the epicenter of the Financial District with only a few steps onto Liberty Street. But, the next block down takes another drastic turn as far as Financial activity is concerned. The construction fences, hole in the skyline and massive crowds any time of day let you know you are standing at the site of the 9/11 attacks. This block is where the World Trade Center used to be as well as St Nicholas Church. Seeing the hole is pretty unbelievable but seeing the crowds of people trying to peek in at wreckage is even more disturbing. I hope they get this area squared away soon because the voyeurism is unsettling every time I walk past it. Pretty much the only building that remains on this massive block is the fire station across the street. These firefighters were first to the scene at 9/11 and five of them died. The fire house was severely damaged in the attack but reopened in 2003 making it the only still standing building. World Trade 4 directly across from the fire station is scheduled for completion in 2013 which will make it the first tower to open.
There are a couple of cool, old buildings that are right around Liberty Place that are worth mentioning in a sea of new and soon to be even newer skyscrapers on the street. The Chamber of Commerce Building at 65 is really beautiful and the Liberty Tower is stunning. Liberty Tower was the site of the Teapot Dome scandal and the building that housed FDR's office in the 1920's. There's a cool little pub next door to this building that I recommend as a pit stop during sightseeing.
One of the most important buildings in our country is located at Liberty and Nassau: The Federal Reserve Bank. This building looks kind of like a Scottish fortress and it actually is a fortress. There are 5,000 tons of gold in the basement and more than $2 trillion go through this bank every single day. American banking would collapse without this place.
Many of the original buildings on this street are gone but there is still a mix of old and new. It's a shame to know that streets like this have been a victim to so much destruction, but it's also a good reminder of the survival spirit of this city. I would highly recommend not living on this street though it's worth a walk about. There are an unbelievable amount of tourists on the sidewalks and the construction noise is almost unbearable. Plus, there's nothing to do here at night.