U
nlike Soho’s evolution into a busy, mixed-use, retail shopping district, Tribeca has kept its original, understated character. Tribeca is subdued and more of a destination for fine dining than bar hopping.

The annual Tribeca Festival grew into a citywide event that started-up in 2002 by local resident Robert De Niro, in response to the 9/11 attacks that impacted all of us in the neighborhood. It has made the name Tribeca synonymous with resilience, and made it a global brand. The triangle is bounded by Canal Street, the Hudson River, Broadway, and Chambers Street.

Most of Tribeca’s buildings date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it was a center of the textile industry and the bread basket of old New York. In its early days, the piers along the Hudson received barges of fresh meat, dairy, and produce from upstate and sold them at the Washington Market on Tribeca’s southern border. The area fell into decline in the 1960s as its industrial base moved to the Hunt’s Point Market in the Bronx. Its current incarnation, as well as its name, dates from the 1970s, as it transitioned from manufacturing to live-work residential. Tribeca or TriBeCa stands for the ‘Triangle Below Canal Street’.

As in neighboring Soho, artists attracted by large, cheap, loft spaces in manufacturing buildings, breathed new life into the area. These stately palaces of 19th century industrial-age cast-iron loft buildings, with oversized spaces were often neglected. They were saved by adaptive reuse as the homes and studios of artists, who reinvented the neighborhood and planted the seeds of modern Tribeca. In 1992 the first Tribeca Historic District was established to preserve the splendid architectural beauty of the area. The lofts remain today and their value has soared. New additions like Herzog & De Meuron’s ‘Jenga’ tower at 56 Leonard Street feature cutting edge architecture, and offer a more modern residential lifestyle. 

Read less ▴