The memorial will be a welcome boost for this part of Manhattan, which has struggled through the dark days of the global financial crisis. Eighteen months ago, many of the area's newly built condominiums were empty as the banks and other financial institutions layed people off.
Today, there's a new sense of optimism, not only for the economy, but for the area's fortunes. The memorial is expected to attract five million people a year, which will make it one of New York's most visited attractions.
Hotels are gearing up to meet the demand. I'm staying in the first hotel to open on Wall St - the Andaz - and other properties are starting to pop up in the area. I was initially wary about basing myself in the financial district, but it turned out to be a far more practical location than the traditional tourist haunts of the Upper East and West Side. Battery Park and the ferries to Staten Island are round the corner, up-and-coming Brooklyn is just over the bridge and the area has some of the best subway connections in Manhattan - four lines within a 10-minute walk.
The hotel is a shining example of luxury without formality. A "host" joins me on the sofa for check-in using a wireless PC. There's a lounge that serves free espresso in the morning and complimentary wine and snacks in the evening. There's free wi-fi, free local calls and even a free minibar in the room (non-alcoholic, of course).
Rooms are spacious for New York with black-tiled bathrooms, flat-screen TVs, 2m-high windows and window seats. In fact, the only thing I missed was the soundtrack of sirens, horns and whistles you associate with the city. There's a decent selection of cafes, restaurants and bars nearby, but there's just not that buzz you get uptown.
What the area lacks in vitality, it makes up for in history. This is where New York was born. The Dutch came here in 1625 before the British moved in and named it after the Duke of York.
Much of this part of Manhattan is landfill and behind the Andaz there's a line on the pavement showing where the shoreline used to be.
I know all this because I've been on a walking tour of the district with Uncle Sam's Tours. Led by entertaining guide Jack Stanley, it cleverly uses the life of Alexander Hamilton (the first Secretary of the Treasury and founder of the US Mint) to bring the history of the area alive.
Another activity I'd recommend is hiring a bike. This may sound like an extreme sport, given New York's traffic, but it's a little-known fact that the city has a bike path that skirts around the entire bottom half of Manhattan. After hiring a bike from Bike and Roll in Battery Park, I rode on a path up the west side of the island before cutting across to join the cyclists, skaters, joggers and horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.
In the afternoon I hopped on the free ferry from South Port to Governers Island, which has free concerts and exhibitions through the summer. The car-free island is ideal for exploring by bike with lots of tree-lined avenues that offer glimpses of the New York skyline. If, after a couple of laps, you fancy relaxing with a beer and some sand between your toes, there's even a man-made beach complete with volleyball net.
IF YOU GO
Getting there: United Airlines flies from Auckland to New York via Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Staying there: Andaz Wall Street, 75 Wall Street, New York.
Activities: Uncle Sam's Tours offers two-hour Wall Street tours for $US25 ($31) a person.
Bike and Roll has six hire locations in New York and also offers guided tours. Bike hire starts from $US14 ($17) an hour.
Further information: See nycgo.com.
Rob McFarland was a guest of United Airlines, Andaz Wall St and NYC & Company.
