Send Me Your Old Tribeca Photos!

Jesse Eidsness—who is opening Little One in the old Columbine space and W. Broadway and White—posted this image on Facebook, and BAM! [That’s the sound of a thought slamming its way into my brain.] Let’s make a scrapbook of photos of old Tribeca! All of you who are so proud to have lived here since the Dark Ages—please send me your photos of old Tribeca. By “old,” I mean from the 1990s and before, and they can be of interiors and or people.

Why: If you value Tribeca’s history, then sharing it is the best way to assure that it doesn’t get totally erased.

Email them to me at tribecacitizen@gmail.com. If you have prints and you don’t know how to scan them, I’ll do it for you (and you’ll end up with nice electronic copies as well as your prints back). In fact, I may even have it professionally done. And if you know when they were taken, please say so; best guesses are welcome.

Let’s do this!

P.S. The building with the Statue of Liberty crown appears to be El Teddy’s predecessor, El Internacional, although I stand ready to be corrected.

 

6 Comments

  1. What happened to the Sunset pics you collected? Did you post?

  2. This is a fantastic idea!

    I’d also love a list or YouTube links to films and TV shows that were shot down here. Spiderman and Enchanted were a couple of recent ones with easily recognizable landmarks.

    And does anyone remember the short-lived TV series Tribeca? How can we a arrange an all day screening party for the neighborhood?

  3. Your featured photo is indeed El Internacional, circa 1985. The restaurant and tapas bar was partly owned by my husband, John Fortenberry, who has lived in TriBeCa for over 3 decades (long before the neighborhood gentrified). The Statue of Liberty crown, zebra tiled facade, and crushed soda cans embedded in the sidewalk were designed by Spanish artist Miraldo. The iconic crown was kept by subsequent owners of the space. What a sad day when this symbol of old TriBeCa was dismantled and tossed in the trash a few years ago! However, you can still find a tiny remnant of El Internacional’s kooky exterior. Miraldo had covered the fire hydrant in front of the building with colorful tiles, earning a rapid reprimand from the city. Most of the tiles were removed but you can still see a few stubborn leftovers on the hydrant, winking at us from the past.

  4. @Nelle: Thanks for the background. Indeed, the hydrant was the subjet of the very first “Where in Tribeca…?” in March of 2010: https://tribecacitizen.wpengine.com/2010/03/08/where-in-tribeca/

  5. I will b sending u pictures from the 60,s and 70,s when we owned Towers now the Odeon