Where2Meet

Where to meet up in Lower Manhattan

The white ribbed hall of the Oculus at the World Trade Center, with people crossing its floor
Inside the Oculus, the main hall of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. Photo by Anthony Quintano (CC BY 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Lower Manhattan covers the southern tip of the island. It takes in the Financial District, the World Trade Center, the South Street Seaport on the East River and Battery Park City on the Hudson. It works well when part of the group lives in Brooklyn, New Jersey or Staten Island. Subway lines from Brooklyn, PATH trains from New Jersey and the Staten Island Ferry all end or stop here.

Two indoor transit hubs work as meeting points in bad weather. Fulton St joins four subway stations into one complex. The Oculus is the large hall next to the World Trade Center PATH station.

Other landmarks to name in a plan are Stone Street and Brookfield Place. Stone Street, near Hanover Square, is one of the city's oldest streets, and two of its blocks are closed to cars. Brookfield Place is on the Hudson side, in Battery Park City.

Getting around

  • Fulton St has the 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C and J, plus the Z at weekday rush hours.
  • World Trade Center has the E. The MTA connects it with Cortlandt St (R, W), Park Place (2, 3) and Chambers St (A, C) as one station complex. The 1 stops at WTC Cortlandt.
  • PATH trains to Newark leave from World Trade Center, next to the Oculus, at all hours. Trains to Hoboken run from about 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, as the PATH schedules say.
  • The Staten Island Ferry leaves from the Whitehall terminal, next to South Ferry (1) and Whitehall St (R, W). It is free and runs 24 hours a day.
  • Wall St has two stations, one for the 2 and 3 and one for the 4 and 5. Bowling Green has the 4 and 5, and Broad St has the J and Z.

At night and on weekends, fewer trains run here:

  • On weekends, the W and Z don't run.
  • Late at night, the 3, 5, C, W and Z don't run here, and the R runs only from Whitehall St to Brooklyn. The N runs local through Lower Manhattan instead, by way of Cortlandt St and Whitehall St.
  • The 2, 4, A, E, J and 1 run all night. Check the MTA's late-night subway map before a late plan.

Guides for Lower Manhattan