Downtown Alliance Turns 30
In 1995, a group of enterprising New Yorkers came together to form the Alliance for Downtown New York with a mission to turn things around for the then-struggling financial center.
At the time, things in Lower Manhattan were rough. The streets were lined with shuttered and graffiti-covered storefronts, and a residential population of only 14,000 meant the neighborhood felt lifeless and empty once office workers went home.
But the Alliance’s founders saw Lower Manhattan’s potential, and immediately began the hard work of making the neighborhood shine. The revitalization project included two core Alliance-supplied services: a sanitation team, which cleaned up and maintained the streets, sidewalks and storefronts; and a public safety team, which patrolled the neighborhood to ensure workers, residents and visitors alike stayed safe downtown. The Alliance also sought to reshape the neighborhood from the inside, championing zoning changes, inventive tax incentives for commercial real estate and the creation of new housing, including the then-novel idea of converting outdated and vacant office buildings into housing. The gambit worked, and within just a few years, Lower Manhattan began coming back to life.
In the last three decades, downtown has transformed from a 9-to-5 business district to a thriving, round-the-clock neighborhood serving tourists, workers and locals alike. We have nearly 70,000 residents, dozens of hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, cocktail bars and dives, sports centers, movie theaters and even a state-of-the-art performance center. No longer solely the city’s financial center, Lower Manhattan is now home to diverse industries including technology, advertising, publishing, marketing and information companies. More than that, the neighborhood is vibrant and wholly alive; the sidewalks are busy, bars and restaurants are packed, hotel rooms are booked and tourists flock to iconic landmarks like the “Charging Bull” and new attractions like PAC NYC. Forever the gateway to the Statue of Liberty, the heart of revolutionary New York and home to the New York Stock Exchange, Lower Manhattan is now also known as a dynamic world-class destination full of entertainment, dining and cultural options to enjoy, whether you live here, work here or are visiting from out of town.
We’ll toot our own horn here — and track how the Alliance made significant contributions to this metamorphosis over the last 30 years.
To celebrate our big birthday, over the next few months, we’ll be rolling out 30 stories about 30 of our biggest accomplishments, including everything from our daily public safety and sanitation work, to our small business outreach, to how we helped the neighborhood navigate challenges and even tragedies. You’ll be able to find these stories below as they’re published, as well as in our weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to here. Consider these posts the definitive history of how the Downtown Alliance’s operations, economic development and communications teams have helped shape Lower Manhattan in the last three decades — with even more positive change and transformation to come. We promise.
30 Years of ADNY
The Alliance works to be a responsible and energetic steward of Lower Manhattan’s present and future in a whole host of ways.
The Downtown Alliance has rolled out a steady stream of integrated marketing campaigns over the years to emphasize the neighborhood’s many attributes.
Essential pillars of our storytelling are our social media platforms, our website and our weekly newsletter.
Dine Around Downtown is a can’t-miss event that boosts local eateries and delights residents, workers and visitors alike.
Though the physical site no longer exists, LMHQ’s community events live on as LM Live.
As the neighborhood’s office demographics began to change, the Downtown Alliance sought ways to foster the newly growing diversified worker community.
One of our goals as an organization is to make Lower Manhattan known as a premiere destination far and wide.
Over the last two-plus decades, Lower Manhattan has seen a significant transformation in its economic landscape.
One of the best ways to brighten up a neighborhood? Free art — and live music!
In 1996, we began a revitalization project that transformed the block into a bustling dining destination.
The Alliance provided assistance to small businesses in a number of ways.
In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic presented downtown with an entirely different kind of crisis.
In 2007, the Downtown Alliance started a groundbreaking initiative that aimed to mitigate the visual effects of the WTC rebuilding project.
The early River to River festivals featured big names like James Brown, Belle and Sebastian and Fountains of Wayne.
In October of 2012, Hurricane Sandy barreled across the tri-state area, causing widespread flooding and power outages throughout Lower Manhattan.
The story of September 11 in Lower Manhattan is one of tragedy but also one of exceptional resilience.
The Downtown Alliance was integral in introducing the legislation that made this residential growth possible in Lower Manhattan.
For 25 years, our economic development team has been releasing in-depth research on what’s happening in the neighborhood’s real estate market.
If you’re walking around the neighborhood and decide to post up at an inviting plaza full of red outdoor tables and chairs, you’ve got the Alliance to thank.
Making the streets of Lower Manhattan more attractive and convenient for pedestrians is a top priority for us.
After more than a century, the New York City ticker-tape parade remains a phenomenon familiar throughout the world.
The Downtown Alliance began offering free Wi-Fi in Lower Manhattan in 2003 with seven hotspots.
Did you know that the Alliance was the very first NYC neighborhood to use app-operated composting bins?
We work hard to keep Lower Manhattan sparkling while also doing our part to promote forward-thinking waste policy and practice.
The free Downtown Connection bus has been running for 22 years, and makes 36 stops around the perimeter of Lower Manhattan.
If you spot some beautiful greenery around the neighborhood, thank the Alliance’s horticulture team.
Since 2009, Trinity Church and BRC have worked in partnership with the Downtown Alliance to serve unhoused persons.
In 2024 alone, our Sanitation team members successfully removed over 2,600 instances of graffiti and stickers across the district.
Sanitation is one of the core services we provide as a Business Improvement District, and have since our inception in 1995.
