Downtown Manhattan means the southern tip of the elongated island, the area closest to the harbor, which has traditionally been the financial and business center of the whole city. As a result, many (but not all) of the largest skyscrapers were built here, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which were destroyed by the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. They used to stand slightly left of the center of the picture, on the left side of the black skyscraper in the middle.