Oh yes, those birds! — KP on When Tribeca Was Small (Part One)

Hawksmoor has this Full Fat Old Fashioned that is one of the best drinks I've ever had. If they bring it to the NY location I'll be ecstatic. — Donna on A Steakhouse Is Opening in 3 World Trade Center

If the bar stays a restaurant, I think it would be a speakeasy concept bar with food. — Alex on And the New Tenant at Dylan Prime Is…

Does anyone remember the amazing birds in that nursery? Or the two colonial era houses that sat next to it? Or that it originally started out at the corner of Reade and West Broadway? — Jean Grillo on When Tribeca Was Small (Part One)

My favorite Italian restaurant. My husband says they have the best veal chop in the city. — Debra on Acappella Is Moving After 23 Years

i think erik is right about the location of the shot labelled 187 west street. here's a link to a shot looking down reade from west st. you can see the murals in detail that are visible on the left hand side of the above photo. https://flic.kr/p/7dWW9d — safe as milk on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

My parents moved to Soho about 40 years ago and long before it was known as Soho or Tribeca was known as Tribeca. My brother and I were college kids and thought my parents were beyond crazy to move there. The only real place to eat was a pizza place that had bullet-proof glass and just about every night we parked on Broadway between Broome and Spring, our cars would get broken into (anyone else remember the "nothing of value in car, no radio, no flashlight, no coins" signs that you had to put on the windows just to discourage a brick being smashed into your window?? My mother still lives there many years later (Dad sadly passed away 3 years ago, but back then it was one of the most thrilling and undiscovered pockets of NYC...I loved every minute of living there. — Bob Jacobs on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Where else in NYC are these "small, local businesses" establishing new ground floor retail locations that--but for lower rent solely and for no other reason--would otherwise be in Tribeca? — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part One)

Mcgovern's Bar & Restaurant http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/18/arts/tribeca-a-guide-to-its-old-styles-and-its-new-life.html?pagewanted=all "For a different taste of the past, you might stop at Puffy's Tavern (81 Hudson, near Harrison; 766-9159), McGovern's (135 Reade, near Hudson; 227-2295), or Magoo's (21 Avenue of the Americas, near Walker; 226-9919), longtime TriBeCa hangouts where truckers sidle up to the bar beside young urban pioneers." — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Yep, as James informed us, Gulf Coast was at West & W 12th, an easy hop from Dan & Bunny Gabel's Jane St townhouse that also housed the Friends of the Earth Foundation. FoE founder Dave Brower (immortalized in John McPhee's "Encounters with the Archdruid") dined there a bunch of times in the mid and late seventies. Good food, good stories, good times. — Komanoff on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Reade Street Pub & Kitchen, that is. And the New York Sports Club ad was advertising the NYSC location that used to be at the west end of the block and is now being converted into a daycare. — perplexed on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Can anyone make out the advertisement on the side of the Reade Street Bar & Kitchen building? That advertisement was subsequently changed to a NYSC ad, which was subsequently blocked by (but still viewable from within) the Tribeca Abbey building. — perplexed on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

I agree. A lot of the new construction is hurting the character of the old neighborhood. Here's a question for everyone: When will landlords in Tribeca (by the way, which are mostly coop owners, not corporations) stop holding out for absurd, high retail rents for their ground floors and make the spaces affordable for small, local businesses? Every block can't (and please don't let it be) have a bank or a Starbucks. There is more value created for a building when it has a charming, active retail tenant operating, vs. nothing or even some corporate entity that diminishes the character of the old buildings and the blocks. If this were to happen more often, then maybe some of that lost, old Tribeca character could be regained... — David on When Tribeca Was Small (Part One)

The former City Hall Restaurant space is just as bad. — Maryann on Seen & Heard: Canal Park Inn Has Been Shut Down

The Laight Street Diner (what we called 256 West Street)!!! — KP on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Interesting history of Zenith-Godley company (not building) http://www.waltergrutchfield.net/cremoland.htm — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Thank you James. I thought it was south of Canal, but thanks to your posts I found the picture on the interactive map. http://80s.nyc/#show/40.7377/-74.0095 Thank you again. My mystery solved. On to the next. — PeterD on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

489 West Street photo from 80s.nyc: http://files.80s.nyc/photos/1/00641/0001.jpg — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

A Tribeca connection ... http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/20/garden/at-el-teddy-s-60-years-of-design-history-in-bits-and-pieces.html "A PASTICHE of its former lives, El Teddy's is the fourth and newest incarnation of a restaurant that has been at 219 West Broadway, near White Street, in TriBeCa since the 1920's. "From the 20's until 1945, Teddy's served German food. Then, under the same name but a different owner, it became a steakhouse that drew celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor. In 1985, it became El Internacional, famous for its tapas and blue margaritas. "In January the restaurant reopened and served Mexican food under the name El Teddy's. It combines a tiled wall from the 20's, curvy leatherette banquettes from the 50's and a glitter-sprayed ceiling from the mid-80's with new artist-designed furniture. '' 'I wanted to get young artists to use the space to add another layer of history,'' said Christopher Chesnutt, the 36-year-old who owns the establishment with a partner, Andrew Young. 'I wanted the art to be of the place.' As a partner in the Manhattan restaurants Tortilla Flats and Gulf Coast, Mr. Chesnutt said he was tired of decorating with 'tsatskes from the flea market.' " — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Still there in 1986... http://www.nytimes.com/1986/06/27/arts/dining-out-guide-fourth-of-july.html?pagewanted=2 GULF COAST This cacophonous Cajun/ Tex-Mex spot on West Street along the Hudson River that serves generally fresh and satisfying fare promises to be rocking like a canoe in a squall all weekend. The crowd runs from rolled-up workshirts to tieless young executives who dig into spicy steamed shrimp, tamales, soft-shell crabs and the like, washing them down with frosty Lone Star Beers. The average tab for a complete dinner with several drinks is about $20. While the downstairs dining room does not have a view of the river (the front bar has a partial view), a new second-floor room will open over the holiday weekend with an unobstructed view of the water. The restaurant, which normally serves dinner only from 5 P.M. to midnight, plans to serve lunch through the weekend and expand dinner hours if necessary. No reservations, no credit cards. July 4, lunch, noon to 4 P.M., dinner, 5 P.M. to 1 A.M.; July 5, dinner, 5 P.M. to 1 A.M.; July 6, dinner, 4 P.M. to 11:30 P.M. (489 West Street, near West 12th Street, 206-8790.) — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

http://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/10/arts/diner-s-journal.html THE forlorn Hudson River piers in Lower Manhattan have little in common with Biloxi, Miss., or with New Orleans, but that hasn't deterred the owners of Gulf Coast, a convivial new Louisiana-style restaurant at the corner of West and 12th Streets. — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/20/garden/new-frontiers-for-young-restaurateurs.html?pagewanted=all Gulf Coast, at West and West 12th Streets, is a boisterous, jammed-to-the-rafters Louisiana- style hangout that shares a far West Village block with a closed- up discoth eque and abandoned warehouse. Independent film directors and young Wall Streeters come in droves for such fresh Southern dishes as steamed crawfish, fried catfish with hush puppies and dirty rice. — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

I find these pictures to be both fascinating and sad. So much has been lost, not just in Tribeca, but throughout the city. All in the name of what, progress? Anyway, there was a bar on West Street I used to frequent in the 80s and I cannot recall the cross street. It was called Gulf Coast. It was a fun place with a Cajun-themed menu, various hard to find beers and a colorful décor. Does anyone remember it and where it was located? I’m thinking it was within a few blocks south of Canal Street. I have only been able to find a brief mention in the NY Times from 1986 about "Gulf Coast on West Street." http://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/23/garden/restaurants-drop-names-literally.html — PeterD on When Tribeca Was Small (Part Two)

Actually their Instagram handle is @tmwgang. — Anonymous on Teens Are Terrorizing Battery Park City

Do you mean Suerken's? http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/19/arts/the-9-oldest-restaurants-in-the-city-a-critic-s-guide.html?pagewanted=all "Typical of old-style Germanic bar-and-grill market restaurants, Suerken's (962-8053) has been at 27 Park Place, at Church Street, since 1877. Its huge, serpentine bar, fanciful mellow murals, which seem to have been inspired by a Nile theme, its cast-iron Corinthian columns and old etched and stained glass are all in need of repair or restoration. But even so, their inherent beauty still glows. "The German food at Suerken's is stodgy with floury gravies. The best choices are clams or oysters on the half-shell; petite marmite soup with chicken, beef and lots of celery; broiled fish, sandwiches, egg dishes, such as a western omelet, and on Thursdays, an excellent chicken pie, filled with white meat and vegetables under a flaky crust. Boiled beef, a Wednesday special, is passable if you have the horseradish sauce on the side. Tongue, often available also on Wednesday, is best as a sandwich on rye. Tuesday's corned beef is popular with regulars, although I haven't tried it. A maverick winner is the hefty, fresh-baked apple strudel, which would be a near miracle if it were served warm. Prices are moderate, with chicken pie and boiled beef at $10.95, and other main courses ranging from $4.25 to $14.25 for steak. Lunch and dinner, 11:30 A.M. to 8 P.M., Monday through Friday. Closed Saturdays and Sundays." — James on When Tribeca Was Small (Part One)