Today we have the body of a Friday and a special Friday. Last Friday in June. Holidays for many, the last day of a split day for many others and everyone is counting down the days to pack their suitcases and travel. So today, to join in this almost festive Friday, we are going to fly to New York (even if it is through these lines).
And what are we going to visit? Wall Street. It may sound a bit too grey for a summer Friday, but I assure you that the main street of New York's financial district has an interesting story to tell and has witnessed some of the most exciting events in the city's history.
So sit back and enjoy a little reading time because whether you're travelling to New York this summer or not, you're in for a treat.
I'll start by clarifying that Wall Street has not always been the place where great fortunes were made (or lost). While we now associate this name with the stock market, financial institutions and economic activity, its origins are rather more humble.
As the story goes, the Native Americans who inhabited Manhattan and the newly arrived Dutch settlers who founded the city of New Amsterdam signed a peace agreement. However, the Dutch did not respect the treaty as they should have (the natives were a hindrance to the Dutch desire for conquest). The logical consequence was a "somewhat tense" coexistence between the natives and the visitors, which ended with the Dutch building a wall in 1652 to defend themselves against the natives. Hence the origin of the street's name. The wall was torn down in 1699 by the British colonists, but the well-known street is still a reminder of that moment in New York history.
Over the years, the street became a centre of commerce thanks to its prime location at the bottom of the island between the East River and the Hudson River.
Another of Wall Street's historical dates is 1792, the year in which the
"Buttonwood Agreement. At that time, Manhattan's financial intermediaries and speculators met under a tree at the foot of the wall (hence the name of the arrangement) to trade informally. And this was, on 17 May 1792, the origin of the New York Stock Exchange.
What happened in '29 and the crisis of the 1930s or the tragic event of 9/11 are more than familiar black memories of Wall Street's recent history.
If you travel to New York this summer, you can't miss the New York Stock Exchange building, built in the 20th century but with a classical appearance, or Federal Hall, New York's first city hall (1700) and the place where
George Washington was named the first president of the United States in 1789.
I'm sure you have plenty of good plans for this first weekend of summer, but if you feel like staying a while in the shade of the fan and enjoying a film inspired by the attractive financial universe of Wall Street, here is a list of the most emblematic films related to this side of the city:
- Wall Street (1987).
- In Search of Happiness (2006).
- Margin Call (2011).
- The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
- The Big Bet (2015).
I recommend that you accompany your film session with a good
La Newyorkina granola bowlperfect for a summer dinner or snack!
