NKOTB, for anyone not of a certain age, stands for “New Kids on the Block”….

Susan and Stephen Keeney decided to open a New York outpost of their Santa Monica shop, Lucca Antiques, because a lot of the designers they work with have clients here, too. “And when you’re spending this kind of money, you deserve to look at the piece,” says Susan. “You need to see the patina, the provenance.”

They chose Tribeca—and more specifically, the Duane Street space that housed Room—because it has the kind of character they admire in the objects they sell. “Tribeca is completely in line with our sensibility. The vibe there—we just like it. We also feel that the other dealers on the street are simpatico with us.” In fact, the Keeneys like Tribeca so much that they’re looking for an apartment here. “The minute we found the shop, we put our place on the Upper East Side on the market.”

The Keeneys met while at an antiques fair, despite the fact that neither of them was a professional dealer. Stephen was a professor of philosophy; Susan ran Cancervive, a non-profit for cancer survivors that she founded 25 years ago, after fighting cancer herself. “Because we’re not classically trained antiques dealers, we can come at it as outsiders,” she says. “There are no rules we have to follow. We’re not afraid of trying something new, putting things together in interesting ways.” Lucca doesn’t just sell antiques; it also sells what might be called semi-antiques, new pieces that incorporate antique materials—such as a table made with the rim of an old tractor wheel and Spanish water-tower bands repurposed as wall decor (one is pictured a few photos up). “That’s my husband’s forte. And the great thing about a lamp made with an 18th-century bocce ball is that nobody else will have it.”

Susan’s enthusiasm extends beyond antiques: She and Stephen plan on coming up with ways to give back to the community, perhaps helping cancer survivors or dogs (Lucca was the name of their first golden retriever). “We plan on being in Tribeca for a long time,” she says. “We’re putting roots down.”

Lucca Antiques is at 182 Duane, between Hudson and Greenwich; 212-343-9005, luccaantiques.com.