People First For Lower Manhattan is part of It Happened Here's Framing the Future series. Over the 2025 Fourth of July weekend, It Happened Here is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of New York City with a day of programming devoted to each century of the city’s life. On the fifth and last day, we'll look at New York in the 21st century with the Framing the Future series of panels, which explores the multiple urban challenges and opportunities ahead.

This program focuses on the streets and public spaces of New York’s oldest and most historic neighborhood, the Financial District. Several of the FiDi’s streets, dating from the 17th century, have been recognized as Historic Districts on the National Register of Historic Places. While through most of the 20th century the neighborhood was seen as solely a commercial area and hub of world finance, Lower Manhattan is now home to 75,000 residents, sees over 300,000 workers daily, and attracts more than 9 million tourists annually.