It won’t come as any shocker to see that the most visited pages on the site contained bad news — and in all likelihood, that was the trend of the posts overall. Of the 836 posts published on Tribeca Citizen in 2020, here are the 25 to receive the most traffic (in descending order).

1. Second Acts: Sylvia Weinstock, the city’s premier wedding cake designer
I was lucky to get to chat with Sylvia in February, right before the lockdown; I published the story this past may. When she died in November, she was celebrated across industries for her talent, dedication and charm.

2. No more dogs at Whole Foods
Guess this story had legs — four of them!

3. In the News: The Roxy and Soho Grand owner is tossing in towel
The Real Deal reported that court documents showed the owner of the hotels had “turned over the keys.” A month later, those same owners wrote me to say they were still in the game.

4. State breaks ground on huge monument for Rockefeller Park lawn
Residents snapped into action once they heard that Cuomo planned to hardscape a big chunk of the lawn for an eternal flame for essential workers. Keep scrolling to see what happened.

5. City plans three homeless shelters for downtown
The city’s goal is to house the homeless population in their own districts. Ours has 600 homeless, but no permanent shelters to date. 52 William and 105 Washington will be the first. A shelter on Canal will serve CD2.

6. Tribeca Tavern has closed permanently
The bar — with its bodacious beer list and pool table — served locals and regulars and visitors for more than 25 years.

7. Reade Street Pub has closed
The last call at the Reade Street Pub — the Tribeca staple that had been an operating saloon since the 1800s — attracted a lively crowd and spontaneous music on the street. (and now a new Reade Street Pub is taking shape in the same spot…)

8. Six trees coming down in Rockefeller Park — maybe today
To make way for its “Essential Workers Park” the state planned to fell six mature trees. Neighbors camped in front of the bulldozers to stop the plans. It worked.

9. BNY Mellon seeks to eliminate the public lobby space at 240 Greenwich
The bank was successful in eliminating the POPs inside its lobby — a public amenity that made up for the lost through-street that once ran through that block. Blame the Department of City Planning.

10. Nosy Neighbor: What happened to the driver who killed a woman on West Street?
The case against Sherman Harrison, charged with killing a woman after he hit her car at 113 mph on West Street, was still pending an evaluation of his mental health.

11. 456 Greenwich hotel tops out with plans for several bars and restaurants
The eight-story hotel will be completed in spring 2022 and open for guests that summer. Basic room rates will be $1200, with suites going for up to $50k…a night.

12. Man terrorizes the neighborhood for an hour, sending eight to the hospital
A man wielding a wooden bat bloodied eight people and car-jacked two vehicles over the course of an hour early Saturday evening, finally crashing in Chelsea where police tasered him.

13. DIY at Whole Foods
The west side of the supermarket has been dedicated largely to self-checkout.

14. Marc Forgione will leave Reade and move to Hudson
Forgione at the former Brushstroke will be a welcome sight to that dark corner — but residents still found a reason to complain.

15. Citibank has opened its new HQ branch
The block-long space is open to the public and has couches, wifi, bathrooms, work spaces, coffee — and yes, ATMs.

16. The back and forth on the Soho/Noho rezoning
The rezoning plan has since passed the City Council, but not without protests from preservation groups.

17. Here we go again.
Our covid rates here in Tribeca and Battery Park City are among the highest in the city, topping out at 9 percent. We also have three new testing sites since the last go-round.

18. Skateboarders discover Bogardus Plaza
Almost as soon as the construction ended, skateboarders discovered the plaza, keeping residents up at night and then some. The Friends fixed things quickly.

19. Where to eat in the neighborhood
Back in fall 2020, a friend who works in 7 World Trade requested that I create a list of who’s open in the neighborhood for lunch; clearly locals were still using the list well into 2021.

20. Citizen dog police harassing neighbors again — with bile
A Fidi resident ranted, raved and made racist comments against people who violated local dog ordinances. The police were forced to respond.

21. New Kid on the Block: 1 White Street
A six-course fine dining experience on floors two and three and no reservations on the ground floor and curbside is the structure for a newcomer with a serious food & wine pedigree.

22. The state will find a new location for the monument to essential workers
The Rockefeller Park debacle finally ended — sort of — when the chairman of the Battery Park City Authority told residents in person that he and the governor agree with neighbors: the lawn is not the spot.

23. China Blue has closed permanently
After seven years on the corner of Watts and Greenwich, the owners decided to close under the pressures of rent and lack of customers.

24. 60 Reasons to be excited about the future
Stay tuned for this year’s list, but in the meantime, here’s what folks were watching for last year at this time.

25. Looking Back on 2020: The people and the places we’ve lost
The pandemic stole so many lives, including those who invested so much in this neighborhood. And when I wrote this in February, it had destroyed no less than 60 businesses. The new count is actually closer to 100.