Neighborhood on the lower west side of Manhattan,
TriBeCa is short for Triangle Below Canal. Formerly known as Washington Market, it was home to the food market, including coffee, spices, tea, and nuts. Later, in the early 20th century,
textile manufactoring and dyiing also became common there. In the 1960's and 70's, artists began moving into the abandoned factory buildings (built between
1850 and
1890) in the neighborhood. This populated the area and made it resedentail for the first time (and it changed the name from Washington Market to TriBeCa). Robert Dinero moved to TriBeCa, helping it to become the affluent, star-studded neighborhood it is today, as well as making it famous with his "
Tribeca Productions" and in 2001, the
Tribeca Film Festival. Amoung the exclusive resturaunts and fancy lofts TriBeCa is filled with nowadays, there are many of the original artists who populated the neighborhood still living there. This creates a funny mix in the neighborhood. Also, it's manufactoring history is visable, with some original companies still there, such as
Bazzini's nuts and Bellbate's dried goods.