I spent an afternoon in NYC's richest zip code, where celebs live in a 'paparazzi-proof' building and the average income is $879,000. Here's what the trendy neighborhood looks like.
Tribeca, a trendy neighborhood in downtown Manhattan, is New York City's richest zip code.
The average income of Tribeca residents is $879,000, according to a recent report from Bloomberg, making it the fifth-richest zip code in the US.
Tribeca sits on the west side of Lower Manhattan.
It borders the Hudson River to the west, SoHo to the north, Chinatown to the east, and the Financial District to the south.
Tribeca is well served by public transportation.
The A, C, E, 2, 3, N, Q, R, and W trains all serve various parts of the neighborhood.
On a recent late-spring afternoon, I decided to take a walking tour of Tribeca to get a feel for the neighborhood.
I walked up from my office in the Financial District, the neighborhood directly south of Tribeca. Even though it's not far from where I work, I'd never spent much time in the neighborhood.
Tribeca, which used to be home to warehouses, is known for its industrial architecture.
But in recent years, sleek luxury condominium towers have been rising across the neighborhood.
The tallest building in the neighborhood is 56 Leonard, a 60-story tower built in 2015.
It houses 145 condominium residences, including a four-bedroom penthouse for sale for $26.9 million. The penthouse is also listed for rent for $256,000 per month.
The cheapest available units in the building are a one-bedroom condo for $3.2 million and a two-bedroom rental for $16,000 per month, according to StreetEasy.
Tribeca is home to a Whole Foods Market that spans an entire city block.
It's one of two Whole Foods locations in Lower Manhattan.
I also passed chains like Starbucks and the luxury fitness center, Equinox, which has locations across New York City.
I saw many young families and parents pushing strollers in the neighborhood.
According to Niche, Tribeca is a relatively young neighborhood, with 45% of the population aged between 18 and 44.
One of New York City's most prestigious schools, Stuyvesant High School, is in Tribeca.
Wealthy New York families will pay a premium to live within walking distance of schools like Stuyvesant High School, as Business Insider's Hillary Hoffower previously reported. The median sale price near the high school is $1.86 million.
I was surprised by the amount of green space I found in Tribeca.
I stumbled upon Teardrop Park, a two-acre green space tucked away between Warren Street and Murray Street, where a children's birthday party seemed to be taking place.
And just a few minutes' walk away is Hudson River Park, which offers panoramic views of the Hudson River and the New Jersey skyline.
It's the longest riverfront park in the US.
Tribeca is one of New York City's oldest neighborhoods, and much of its pre-Civil War architecture is intact.
"[Tribeca] boasts one of the world's largest collections of Neo-Grec designs and wrought-iron facades, in loft-style low-rises that real estate investors from around the globe covet," Heather Senison wrote for Forbes in 2018.
The neighborhood is known for its celebrity residents, several of whom have been known to cluster in one luxury condominium building: 443 Greenwich.
The luxury building has been called "paparazzi-proof" because of features such as its lower-level parking and interior courtyard garden.
Jennifer Lawrence reportedly looked into buying a condo there, and Mike Myers bought a $14.65 million loft in the building in 2017, only to put it on the market a week later and eventually resell it at a loss for $14 million.
A penthouse in the building is currently on the market for $57 million.
The neighborhood is full of leafy, cobblestoned streets that are surprisingly quiet.
I can certainly understand why they would be attractive to celebrity buyers.
I started to head back toward the Financial District and passed a doggy daycare called Pup Culture that had a sign out front advertising CBD products for dogs.
The sign read: "We now carry CBD oils, capsules, and edibles... for the puppies!"
Given the skyrocketing popularity of CBD products, I shouldn't have been too surprised.
As I strolled through the neighborhood, I noticed that Tribeca is home to virtually all of the trendiest chains in the city, from restaurants to fitness centers.
Sweetgreen and Dig Inn, some of the most popular fast-casual, healthy-ish dining options in the city, can both be found in Tribeca.
And when it comes to fitness, in addition to the usual suspect, Equinox — which can be found all over the city — Tribeca is home to Flywheel Sports, SoulCycle, Crunch Fitness, Barry's Bootcamp, Planet Fitness, Pure Barre, SLT Tribeca, a CrossFit gym, and other fitness centers.
Tribeca is also home to upscale eateries.
Among those eateries is CUT by Wolfgang Puck, "where New Yorkers broker deals over power meals," according to its website, as well as Wolfgang's Steakhouse.
The temperatures were in the low 80s during my tour of the neighborhood.
Many people were taking advantage of the weather by eating and drinking outside.
I noticed people wearing a lot of athleisure, stylish jumpsuits, summer dresses, and sneakers.
I was also surprised by how many big dogs I saw in the neighborhood, given that New York City is home to some notoriously cramped apartments.
But considering the average neighborhood income is $879,000, I can also see how residents might have more disposable income to pay a place like Pup Culture to walk their large dogs — and feed them CBD edibles.
As I wrapped up my tour of Tribeca, it struck me that the neighborhood is a stark contrast to Billionaires' Row, the stretch of luxury skyscrapers along Central Park in Midtown.
On Billionaires' Row, penthouses sit at the top of 1,000-foot-tall luxury towers along Central Park, while most of the homes in Tribeca are literally more down-to-earth.
And while Midtown Manhattan is a bustling business, tourism, and retail district, Tribeca is more walkable — a key factor when millennials are deciding where to live — with cobblestoned streets and a vibrant restaurant and bar scene.
Millennials have also been called the "wellness generation" and are willing to shell out serious money on gym memberships, which helps explain the plethora of fitness centers in Tribeca.
To me, while Billionaires' Row strikes me as more "old money," Tribeca, with its SoulCycles and Sweetgreens, exemplifies the changing look of wealth in the city.
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