Formerly a walk down the streets of Tribeca would have been an elixir for the senses: herbs and spices
from around the world, colorful tradesman offloading burgeoning ships laden with fine goods from foreign lands, the sound
of the longshoremen as they hustled to dock those huge vessels that sought the piers as their final destination after traveling
halfway around the globe.
Now primarily a residential area, Tribeca (which stands for triangle below Canal Street)
started out in the 1800’s as a result of being a shipping destination, a commercial neighborhood, featuring the city’s first
department store, A. T. Stewart. Over the years, more businesses moved in, particularly commercial food industries, which
constructed huge warehouses to store their many supplies. When they began relocating to the Bronx during the 1960’s and
1970’s, loft-hungry artists and other professionals didn’t miss a beat. More spacious and unequivocally less expensive than
anywhere else, Tribeca saw an influx of painters, designers, filmmakers and the like transforming its barren buildings—many
of them of architectural significance—into beautiful, sun-drenched art studios living and working spaces.
Tribeca is now one of the city’s highest priced neighborhoods. It is quickly blossoming into its own hub, with hip hotels like the
Tribeca Grand sharing the spotlight with fabulous boutiques (Tribeca Issey Miyake) and high profile residents. Glamorous
events also take place here (Tribeca Film Festival), and award-winning restaurants like Danube and Nobu have transformed
the neighborhood into a NYC destination.
In recent years, families have taken an interest in the generally larger loft spaces in this fashionable area. Its proximity to
the West Side Highway’s waterfront parks, not to mention its quiet streets, spacious housing and wonderful schools
(Stuyvesant High School, P.S. 234, P.S. 89), make it very popular with couples who have children. Beyond that, the area
just happens to be a loft-lovers dream-come-true, with many of its warehouses having already undergone extensive conversions.
Loft living is so desirable that one of the newest structures to be built in Tribeca was designed with “loft like” ceiling heights. It is the
sixteen-story Hubert Building scheduled to open in 2004. Now one of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods, Tribeca continues to
draw the finest purveyors of food and services, furniture and recreational facilities, fine and fun dining establishments as well as is
becoming a second Broadway with a wide variety of theater and other cultural attractions.
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