For a quarter of a century, this complex of three tall buildings and numerous two-story, 3- and 4-bedroom "townhouses," was a tight-knit, multicultural community, one we shared with other Tribeca residents who had settled into lofts before lofts became trendy. The apartments were affordable, in a city in which affordable housing is scarce, thanks to a state program, Mitchell-Lama, that in its heyday gave builders of affordabe housing a break by clearing the land for a song and subsidizing construction. Alas, it's been legal for landlords of Mitchell-Lama building(s)to pay off the mortgage and withdraw from the program after a period of 20 years. Independence Plaza's owner waited for 26 years before pulling out, refusing to sell to tenants, who wanted to buy their apartments, and instead selling the complex of to Stellar Management, an organization with a history of thuggery, for $400 million. After a court fight and some hard bargaining, current tenants won the right to maintain preferential rates, with annual increases set by the city agency that oversees "rent stabilization" (not control) in hundreds of buildings in the city's five boroughs. New tenants must pay market rates, however, and since Tribeca has become trendy over the past decade--lofts regularly go for $2 million to $3 million--market rates are quite high at Independence Plaza: $5,100 for three bedrooms, $2,800 for a studio, and garage spaces another $400-$500 a month. The character of the neighborhood has changed, too, with investment bankers and their families--people who would ordinarily populate toney suburbs--being lured by the neighborhood's proximity to Wall Street. As a result, the schools are terribly overcrowded and about to become more so after two enormous apartment complexes are built next door to the neighborhood's one elementary school. Newcomers are under the illusion that they are gentrifying the neighborhood when in fact thousands of people, albeit few millionaires, have been living here for decades."Gentrification" has meant forcing the eviction of pioneers who helped make the neighborhood attractive--artists and others who could rent but not afford to buy lofts; and small business such as neighborhood restaurants, butchers, fishmongers, and the like; and veterinarians, artisans such as glaziers, ironmongers, and carpenters. All gone. Without these local shops and businesses, with the proliferation of trendy restaurants (including old neighborhood haunts now populated by the newcomers who find them "quaint"), art galleries, and other upscale establishments, and Independence Plaza now run by a rather rapacious organization, Tribeca has become a chilly place. Many of us who live at IPN (Independence Plaza North; South was never built)would like to bolt, now that the warmth of the neighborhood and former management are gone; but to leave would freeze us out of Manhattan forever, and we won't be gentrified. So there are a lot of reasons to live at IPN if you want to tell your friends you live in the neighborhood after which a Subaru was named and are willing to pay through the nose for the honor, send your children to packed schools (the local public school is at 120% capacity), and live in what has become a dysfunctional community; but this writer, a long-time IPN resident, would advise against it. If you can afford the rents, you might as well buy in Brooklyn, Queens or the suburbs. You'll be far happier.....

User Responses
From: circularlogic	Date: 09/16/2008
Amen to all of that! There's no room for us pioneers anymore. Tribeca is now a boring, homogeneous, rich enclave. Nothing fun about i-bankers and lawyers!

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates