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Robert Ripps book
History of Tribeca Buildings
Tribeca’s Decade of Major Transition
My recent post about all of the demolition going on (and coming up) inspired photographer Robert A. Ripps to see if he had a photo of the gas station that used to be at Canal and West Street. “I could only find post closure,” he said. “But I did find a few oldies of the neighborhood as some buildings were being constructed, destructed, or still unbuilt.”
What’s especially amazing is that none date from before 2002, and most are from 2006 or more recent. (The date of each image is indicated in the watermark.) The pace of change in Tribeca has been breathtaking, to say the least. If you’re concerned about forthcoming development, you should consider helping Tribeca Trust, where Robert is a member of the board.
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Desbrosses between Washington and West (now Truffles Tribeca).
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Greenwich and Hubert (now 408 Greenwich).
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Greenwich and N. Moore (now the Greenwich Hotel).
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Leonard and Church (now 56 Leonard).
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Leonard between Church and W. Broadway (now the New York Law School).
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N. Moore and W. Broadway (now 1 N. Moore).
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Varick between N. Moore and Beach (now 11 N. Moore).
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Vestry and Washington (now the Fairchild, 415 Washington).
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Warren and West Street (now 200 Chambers and 101 Warren).
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Washington and Watts (now 460 Washington).
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Washington (when it existed there) and Warren (now 101 Warren).
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W. Broadway and Franklin (now 137 Franklin).
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W. Broadway between Leonard and Worth (now 34 Leonard).
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West Street and Canal (now 290 West).
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York Street between Sixth Ave. and St. John’s Lane (now One York).
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13 Comments
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Wow.
Wow is right! I moved to Tribeca March 2003 and it’s a completely different animal today – in look and tone… true as well in North Battery Park.. Goldman Sachs was a parking lot, as was where Liberty Luxe and Liberty Green stand today – and gone are ALL mom & pop eateries…
We’re a mom and mom eatery as opposed to mom & pop but Michelle and I have both lived in Tribeca for over 10 years, have raised our kids here – hers go to 234 and are invested in the Tribeca community so not all locally owned businesses are gone!
gen from Mulberry & Vine
Thank you again Robert and Erik for shining a light on the rapid pace of development in Tribeca. It should be noted though, that not ALL of the new buildings that are now on those empty lots are an assault to the historic nature of the district. Beautiful, contextual new buildings ARE possible and Tribeca Trust supports them. It’s the over scaled, super tall standouts that need to be stopped.
ROC Restaurant still stands…15 years!!! Rocco Cadolini is one of the few left …small business owner…lives, works, raises his children in Tribeca.!
I also moved here in 2003 and find the changes somewhat mindblowing. The list of places that have (sometimes come and) left in that time is amazing:
El Teddys, Bazzini’s, Delphi, Upstairs, Buster’s Garage, the sports bar at 99 Hudson and the diner next to it, Tribakery, Studio Deli.
I found there was a pretty big change in the trajectory of the neighborhood after Whole Foods opened. Perhaps it was coincidental or ever just really well timed by Whole Foods, but lots of stuff changed after that.
Great historic pics. I used to run down the Westside when I stayed
at a friends place in the West Village during the year 2000-2002,
and the area was desolate, mysterious, and awe inspiring
because of the large empty warehouses. Yafa cafe, club shelter
were the spots I used to go to!! Where can I purchase some of these
retro photos ?
You can reach Robert through his website, http://www.raripps.com/
In my opinion there’s nothing wrong about a city like New York filling in vacant parking lots. But couldn’t some of these spaces have been made into parks or skating rinks or beer gardens or SOMETHING other than a new building with a bank on the first floor? Andrea makes a good point that not all new Tribeca developments (or developers) have been a disaster. Tribeca at least has good bones to build on. But the loss of sky should count for something. The open spaces lost we’ve lost are lost forever.
Wow – this was very interesting. Thank you! I think Tribeca is a gem and love living here.
I moved into a loft on Chambers and Hudson in Feb. 1976. We used to walk our dogs (unleashed) on the beach by the river (which is now Battery Park City), and make art on the beach, and do ad hoc performances. Even before there were parking lots (antecedent to these gargantuan new buildings), there was acreage empty but for weeds and wildflowers. So in addition to the spices that came from the old spice factories, one smelled chamomile throughout Tribeca.
It’s not just buildings that are going, people who care about Tribeca buildings are in short supply as well. Maybe you’d be interested in joining CB 1 and fight to retain what’s left. Go to their website CB1.org and learn about applying. They need more neighbors like you! Tribeca Trust also needs volunteers.
It’s not about what buildings or what people are going or fighting to save the old & obsolete, but making sure what comes next is more useful & timely while keeping the same beauty and class of what came before…(example – The Greenwich Hotel).
What power does CB1 or Tribeca Trust have with that? How much time is wasted in that inefficient process?