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Explore life downtown
Whether you’re making the most of a weekend getaway or looking to mix up your lunch break, Lower Manhattan has all the shopping, dining and entertainment you could want. From City Hall to the Battery, savor unique flavors, discover awe-inspiring museums, catch a show and so much more.
When one square mile contains infinite possibility, you never know what’s next. So get going, and see what’s happening in downtown New York.
Come Visit DowntownDowntown has been changing
Managing the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District (BID), the Downtown Alliance is your first and best business resource. Whether you’re dreaming of a grand opening or big-time growth, we’re here to help in more ways than one.
Easter, arguably the best of all the brunch holidays, is this Sunday, April 20. These Lower Manhattan restaurants are rising to the occasion with special holiday menus — think champagne buffets and lobster scramble and French macarons in every pastel hue imaginable.
At the link in our bio, find more details on these festive offerings, as well as simple links to secure your coveted Sunday reservations. Enjoy! 🐣🌸🥂
#easter #brunch

You filed your taxes, now celebrate with another fun springtime activity – decluttering!
On Saturday, April 19, the Downtown Alliance will be stationed on Fulton Street with bins for collecting unwanted electronics, and a mobile shredding truck for destroying your incriminating documents (kidding). Come on down between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and put the “recycle” in reduce, reuse, recycle!
Click the link in our bio for the full list of materials we’re collecting at Shred-a-Thon 2025!
#taxday #earthday #recycle

Look alive, Lower Manhattanites! Spring is in full swing, and with longer, warmer(ish) days comes more to do out in the nabe. Here are a few noteworthy new openings and upcoming events to keep on your radar:
🍺 Oculus Beer Garden at the WTC, open now
🌮 Smorgasburg, every Friday on North Oculus Plaza
🍋 Leonessa at the Conrad Hotel, open now
🇫🇷 Maison Passerelle at Printemps, opening 4/17
🌎 Earth Day on Governors Island with the NYC Bird Alliance (and more!), 4/19
🍕Pizza making class at Kesté, 4/23
#nycevents #thingstodonyc #earthday

Daffodil cam 🎥🌼
Last fall, the Downtown Alliance horticulture team took to the parks and greenspaces of Lower Manhattan to plant daffodil bulbs, supplied by our friends at @ny4p as part of their annual Daffodil Project. Spring has since arrived, and the bulbs have bloomed into the bright, sunny flowers we know and love!
Spearheaded by New Yorkers for Parks, the Daffodil Project is a city-wide volunteer effort that contributes to the beauty and vibrancy of New York City’s parks and public spaces, and advocates for a more equitable and sustainable parks system.
We were happy to be a part of it, and as always, honored to care for Lower Manhattan’s public parks.

You’re guaranteed a warm welcome when walking into @thecorkerynyc, Joanna Preuninger’s wine shop on Bridge Street.
With its tall, dark wood shelves generously stocked with bottles, rich chocolate walls and seasonal decorations, the store is inviting in itself. But quickly it becomes clear that the staff – enthusiastic, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about wine – is what has kept people coming back for the near-decade the Corkery has been open in Lower Manhattan.
We talked to Preuninger, the woman at the helm of it all, about her background in wine, her experience owning a small business, and what it’s been like building a community of friends and neighbors downtown. Head to the link in our bio to read the full story, along with other profiles of women-owned businesses in Lower Manhattan.

It may be 5 o’clock somewhere, but on #NationalCocktailDay, it’s 5 o’clock everywhere.
To celebrate this (decidedly made-up but still fun) holiday, we checked out three of the neighborhood’s most impressive, inventive cocktail bars to see what was on the menu.
Our first stop was the crown jewel of 70 Pine Street, @overstory. The @kenthospitalitygroup spot was ranked the 15th best bar in the world by @theworlds50best, and between the delicious drinks, breathtaking views and lovely service, it’s clear why. Everything here is impressive, from the Art Deco building itself, all the way down to the hand-harvested Fort Tilden salt that garnishes their take on an Old Fashioned.
Next, we headed to a new(er) kid on the block, @thebedfordstonestreet. Here, spirits like rum, mezcal, clairin and cachaça take center stage to support the bar’s retro, nautical vibe. According to @eater_ny, the mole (which features in one of our chosen cocktails), is “made by an employee’s mother, with rum from Mexico, and atole made in-house from corn from the southern state of Chiapas.”
We ended the night with an N/A nightcap at the Bar Room in the @thebeekmanny, which was busy and bustling on a Friday evening. Going spirit-free was the right choice for the big finale, since the Beekman’s mocktail offerings leave nothing to be desired, except a second round.
At the link in our bio, read more Lower Manhattan’s cocktail bar scene and our suggestions of where to go for your next night out. Drink responsibly!

We like to say that Lower Manhattan holds the world in one square mile, but that’s especially true when it comes to Ireland. In just a handful of blocks, the neighborhood boasts over a dozen Irish pubs, hosts the largest annual St. Patrick’s Day party in NYC on Stone Street, and is home to at least two important pieces of Irish cultural history: the Irish Hunger Memorial, and the James Watson House at 7 State Street.
If you’re celebrating St. Paddy’s with a pint, finding a good Irish watering hole downtown is no chore. You have one of the city’s last standing Blarney Stone pubs on Trinity Street, a family-owned, low-frills relic whose affordable fare and drinks make it, as food critic Robert Sistema once wrote, “a museum of the way working class New Yorkers ate in pubs 50 years ago.”
A few blocks away, O’Hara’s Pub slings traditional Irish bar food in an environment honoring first responders, a reminder of its status as a haven for firefighters and other essential personnel after September 11. For a more modern vibe, there’s the Dead Rabbit on Water Street, where you can find delectable Irish coffees, or Stone Street, where the St. Patrick’s festivities last for days.
If Irish history is your focus, take a stroll westward to the Irish Hunger Memorial, a peaceful, grassy hill in Rockefeller Park. The memorial’s reconstructed stone cottage was made with materials brought in from the old country, and stands as a tribute to the one million lost to famine in Ireland.
Nearby, the James Watson House at 7 State Street serves as a kind of companion piece to the Hunger Memorial. In the decades following the famine, an influx of Irish immigrants arrived in New York, many of which were women under the age of 40. The Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary for the Protection of Irish Immigrant Girls at 7 State Street provided a safe haven for over 70,000 girls who came to America alone. The Mission helped these young Irish women find permanent homes and jobs, and provided spiritual support.
From pubs to parties to pieces of rich history, Lower Manhattan truly is an Irish neighborhood. We hope you enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day downtown, however you’re celebrating.


Who is the downtown alliance
Our mission at the Alliance for Downtown New York is to provide service, advocacy, research and information to enhance the quality of life in Lower Manhattan and advance the vibrant neighborhood as a global model of a 21st century Central Business District. By supporting economic development, public safety, sanitation, transportation and more, we strive to make Lower Manhattan an exciting, clean and safe place to live, work and play.
About the Alliance