A thriving business district. A destination for tourists. A growing residential community. A hub for transportation and commerce. Downtown Manhattan is all of these things and more — made great by the people who live and work there every day.
The blocks south of Canal Street in Lower Manhattan have so much to offer.
Whether you’re shopping at Brookfield Place, catching the ferry to Governors Island, getting a glimpse of South Street Seaport, or wandering through Hudson River Park, there are different ways to enjoy the neighborhood every day of the week. And if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that Downtown Manhattan is also one of the city’s most dynamic hubs for art, culture, and education.
We’re proud to honor as Block Stars just some of the amazing people behind some of the most important institutions in Downtown Manhattan.
They include Michael Cayre and Roy Nachum, the minds behind the zeitgeisty immersive museum, Mercer Labs; Melanie Zrihen and Hanne Larsen, whose Downtown Dance Factory has been educating the neighborhood’s young dancers for the past fifteen years; and Khady Kamara Nunez, the executive director of Perelman Performing Arts Center – whose drag-ball revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” has been the smash success of 2024.
Downtown Manhattan also boasts a wealth of people doing good work for their neighbors and for the city of New York.
Here you’ll find the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, an organization that advocates for equity for Asian American and Pacific Islander children and families; Quest Lifelong Learning and Complete Playground, which both work to prove that education is for everyone; and Kofinas Fertility Group, New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, and Battery Park Veterinary Hospital, which serve the medical needs of this community, and of the entire borough.
We are delighted to honor the 30 Block Stars who bring Downtown Manhattan to life, including those who work every day advocating for the community’s best interests.It’s hard to say what this neighborhood would look like without Assembly Members Charles Fall, Deborah Glick and Grace Lee; New York City Council Members Christopher Marte; President and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island Clare Newman; and so many of our other honorees.
Please join us in congratulating the Block Stars of Downtown Manhattan, and in celebrating this essential piece of the Manhattan puzzle.
