Tribeca
TriBeCa is a neighborhood in downtown Manhattan. The name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street." It runs roughly from Canal Street south to Park Place, and from the Hudson River east to Broadway. TriBeCa, once an industrial district dominated by warehouses, has undergone a major revitalization. Warehouses were converted into loft apartments and new businesses emerged, making it into a mixed zoning neighborhood.
History
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, TriBeCa suffered financially. However, government grants and incentives provided an infusion of capital and the area rebounded. Amidst the recent real estate boom, Tribeca housing prices outpaced even that of the red-hot Manhattan market as a whole. Forbes Magazine ranked the 10013 zip code in TriBeCa as the 12th most expensive zip code in the United States in 2006.[1]
TriBeCa is now a fashionable residential neighborhood with an affluent population. Many of the streets are lined with boutique shops and high-end restaurants such as Nobu, Chanterelle and Bouley. TriBeCa is also home to the TriBeCa Film Festival. The neighborhood is a frequent filming location for movies, including the 1984 hit movie Ghostbusters, which took place in a TriBeCa firehouse.
Architecture
TriBeCa is dominated by former industrial buildings that have been converted into residential buildings and lofts. Notable buildings in the neighborhoods include the Powell Building, on Hudson Street, which was designed by Carrere & Hastings and built in 1892.[2] At 73 Worth Street there are a handsome row of neo-Renaissance White Buildings built at the end of the Civil War in 1865.
During the 1960s and '70s, abandoned TriBeCa warehouses became hot-spot residences for young artists and their families because of the seclusion of lower Manhattan and the vast living space. James Stratton, a TriBeCa resident since this period, wrote the 1977 nonfiction book entitled "Pioneering in the Urban Wilderness," detailing his experiences renovating lower Manhattan warehouses into residences.
HowTriBeCa got its name, or Where is that elusive Triangle? Many peoplemistakenly attributed the name TriBeCa, the acronym for Triangle Below Canal, to the “triangular-shaped neighborhood”. However, the neighborhood resembles an irregular trapezoid. TriBeCa’s etymology is more site-specific.
In the early 1970s, a couple of years after artists in SoHo were able to legalize their live/work situation, artist and resident organizations in the area to the south, known then as Washington Market or simply the Lower West Side, sought to gain similar zoning status for their neighborhood. A group of Lispenard Street artist/residents living on the block directly south of Canal Street between Church Street and Broadway, joined the effort. Just as the members of the SoHo Artists Association coined ‘SoHo’ after looking at a City Planning map which marked the area as ‘So. Houston’ and shortened that to SoHo, these Lispenard Street residents likewise employed a City Planning map to describe their block.
Since that block below Canal is wide on the Church Street side but narrows towards the Broadway end, it appears as a triangle on City maps. The Lispenard residents decided to name their group the Triangle Below Canal Block Association, and, as activists had done in SoHo, shortened the group’s name to the TriBeCa Block Association.
A reporter covering the zoning story for the New York Times came across the block association’s submission to City Planning and mistakenly assumed that the name TriBeCa referred to the entire neighborhood, not just one block. Once the “newspaper of record” began referring to the neighborhood as TriBeCa, it stuck.
Landmarks
Holland Tunnel
- See main article, Holland Tunnel.
The Holland Tunnel connecting New York to New Jersey has its entrances and exits in the northwest corner of TriBeCa, centered around the intersection of Canal Street and Varick Street.
Washington Market Park
Washington Market Park, bounded by Greenwich, Chambers, and West Streets, is a 1.61 acres park in TriBeCa that is popular with children for its large playground. The park also has a tennis court and community gardens, and hosts many community events.
Borough of Manhattan Community College
The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), part of the City University of New York, is located in TriBeCA. The college campus is located between Chambers Street and North Moore Street, spanning four blocks. BMCC's Fiterman Hall, severely damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks, is slated to be demolished and rebuilt.[3]
Stuyvesant High School
Stuyvesant High School, one of New York City's prized Specialized Science High Schools, calls TriBeCa home. The ten-story building is located on Chambers Street on the Hudson River, accessible via The Tribeca Bridge, a pedestrian bridge, over West Street.
PS 234
Public School 234 is the zoned elementary school for TriBeCa. Located at the corner of Chambers Street and Greenwich Street, it is considered one of the best public elementary schools in New York City for its exceptional test scores, teachers, curriculum and building.
Hook and Ladder #8
Located at 14 Moore Street, this firehouse has been featured in several movies and television shows, most notably 1984's Ghostbusters and its sequel, Ghostbusters II.
Notable residents
Many celebrities reside in TriBeCa, including Gisele Bündchen, Mariah Carey, Gwyneth Paltrow, La Monte Young, Chris Martin, Harvey Keitel, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Winslet, Christy Turlington, Edward Burns, David Russell, Josh Hartnett, Hanson, Meryl Streep, Edward Albee, Heather Graham, Richard Jefferson, M. Night Shyamalan, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Sean Murray, Karolina Kurkova, Paz de la Huerta, Jon Stewart and Robert De Niro (who had a very high profile in the district's revival, such as by establishing the annual TriBeCa Film Festival in 2002). David Letterman also has a residence there, as did John F. Kennedy, Jr. On New Year's Eve 2006, Robert De Niro claimed ownership of all domain names incorporating the text "Tribeca" for domain names with any content related to film festivals. In particular, he had a dispute with the owner of the website http://tribeca.net[4][5].
References
- ^ Most Expensive ZIP Codes 2006, Forbes, accessed November 6, 2006
- ^ Gray, Christopher (2000, June 25). "Streetscapes/105 Hudson Street; A TriBeCa Taste of the Young Carrere & Hastings". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "About BMCC". Borough of Manhattan Community College. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
- ^ Erik Davis (2 Jan 2007). "Robert De Niro: Raging Bully?".
- ^ "I am Tribeca, De Niro claims". 31 Dec 2006.
External links
- TriBeCa Neighborhood Profile - About.com
- TriBeCa Film Festival
- TriBeCa Family Festival
- TriBeCa Walking Tour
- TriBeCa - Neighborhood history, dining, shopping, arts and entertainments (maintained by the Tribeca Organization)
- Downtown Express - Weekly, local newspaper of Lower Manhattan
- Forbes on 10013 - Short Forbes description of TriBeCa being an expensive zip code
- The TriBeCa Trib - TriBeCa Trib; neighborhood newspaper in circulation since 1994
- Tribeca in the 1970s - Early photos of the neighborhood