, Columnist
How Wall Street Became a Fancy Residential Neighborhood
The effort to repopulate downtown Manhattan has been a big success, but not for everyone.
The Financial District has gone from “deathlike stillness" to a bustling neighborhood for the affluent.
Photographer: Amir Hamja/Bloomberg
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The rise of remote work during the pandemic has cut demand for office space and left some American downtowns feeling like ghost towns. As a result, there’s been much talk of converting downtown offices into apartments. This could not only bail out owners of suddenly less-valuable commercial real estate, advocates say, but bring life to emptied-out neighborhoods, passengers to underused transit systems and affordable housing to cities that desperately need it.