Connie Connors had a PR firm that specialized in Internet and technology companies, but then she decided to focus on search, so she started HitTail.com. Now she has entered a decidedly non-virtual arena, designing flowers as CoCoTribeca. “I came to New York [from Omaha] as a dancer,” she says, “and I wanted to get in touch with my creative roots.” (Pun not intended.) She lives in Tribeca with her two sons, Nick and Charlie.

How long have you lived in the area?
Twenty-nine years.

Dylan Prime

Which restaurants do you frequent most often?
Estancia 460, Ivy’s Bistro, Walker’s, Mr. Chow, Dylan Prime.

Which restaurants do you tend to go to for special occasions?
Went to Corton last year for my birthday. Just went to Mr. Chow for my 11 year-old’s birthday.

Where do you order in (or get take-out) from? Are there dishes you always order?
I’ve always loved the chicken from Cornerstone Grill. Lately my kids have been keen on the “paper-thin” pizza from Trattoria Cinque.

What was the last non-essential item you bought in Tribeca?
Denim shorts full of purposeful holes at Otte, candles at Tribeca Beauty Spa, and rubber dog poop at Balloon Saloon to send to camp.

Abhaya

Which shops do you find it hard to resist popping into when you pass by?
Stella for anything cozy and romantic, Abhaya for anything exotic and striking.

Are there any services (salon, fitness, etc.) that you’re particularly glad are in the neighborhood?
Tracy Anderson Method and Tribeca Beauty Spa.

What’s the area’s best-kept secret?
Sitting on a bench just staring at the river.

The Greenwich Hotel's garden

Where do you always take out-of-towners?
Locanda Verde—and even better if they’re staying at the Greenwich Hotel, in which case we eat in the library or garden.

Which neighborhood building do you wish you lived in and/or owned?
I think I’ve actually lived in the ones I might have liked to have lived in today: Dietz Lantern, Cobblestone, Bazzini, and the Greenwich Hotel (while I was in between lofts).

What’s your favorite part of the area (street, park, whatever)?
North Tribeca along the river: After all of these years, I have my first river view from my loft and I’m a block away. I’m not sure I’ll ever go back to land!

Your most memorable celebrity sighting?
Oh, there are too many to commemorate, although the Odeon in the ’80s was hard to beat with Andy Warhol, Matt Dillon, Dudley Moore, et al. I was just a poor dancer at the time, but I made sure I had at least $5 left at the end of the week to buy a drink and sit at the bar at the Odeon on Friday or Saturday night. Today, honestly, these celebs are my neighbors and in some cases, my friends, so it’s really not a sighting anymore. I’ve actually become quite protective of their privacy.

If you could change one thing about the neighborhood, what would it be?
To re-engineer the entire entrance and exit traffic plan of the Holland Tunnel. There must be a better way.

Pier 25

What’s changed around here that you like? That you don’t?
I love the development of the waterfront. It would be fun to post pictures of some of the funky stuff that went on in the ’80s on the waterfront down here. The sand dune park with the sculptures was one of my favorites. I guess I’m starting to really “be over” the charm of the cobblestones on N. Moore Street: crater-dodging is more like it.

What’s your best Tribeca story?
When I lived on Reade, the building next door was being converted (maybe 1988, before development was a concept here), and a team of non-English speaking men broke through the brick arch in my bedroom with axes (think coal miners breaking through a tunnel). I kept screaming “Stop!” at the top of my lungs, but they just kept working. It was pretty disturbing at the time, but looking back, it was a good “only in New York, only in Tribeca” story and I wish I had taken pictures.

Any questions you wish you’d been asked?
Do you think we’ve domesticated the rats with our sophistication over the years?

Recent TCQ&As:
• Tania Anthony: “Tribeca Needs a Good Chinese Restaurant”
• Loretta Thomas: “Harvey Keitel Always Smiles Back”
• Carla Sullivan: “The Babysiting at Equinox Has Been a Lifesaver!”
• Jackie Spiegel: “My Dog Likes to Watch the Birds at Petland”
• Bill Sullivan: “We Could Use a Bookstore like Dashwood”