Want a safer, greener Tribeca?

So do we! Join your friends and neighbors of the Tribeca North Neighborhood Association as we push for safer streets, less gridlock, cleaner air, more trees, and a better Tribeca North.

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Our Mission

The Tribeca North Neighborhood Association works hard to get city/local government—the Mayor’s Office, City Council, MCB1, NYPD, NYC DOT, NYC DPR, PANYNJ, and everyone else—to promote progress on quality of life issues impacting the families and residents of north Tribeca.

Pedestrian Safety

Traffic from the Holland Tunnel creates dangerous conditions everyday on our local streets and effectively bifurcate the neighborhood across Hudson Street.

Trees for Tribeca

A lot more! Trees and planters play critical roles in capturing carbon dioxide emissions, reducing urban heat, and beautifying our streets.

Less Pollution

Due to Holland Tunnel traffic, north Tribeca has among the highest air concentration of fine particulate matter in Manhattan and inordinent noise pollution from honking drivers.

Coastal Resiliency

North Tribeca is one of the only neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan with significant flood risk and no ongoing resiliency work. Ecologically sound solutions to sea level rise must be identified and pursued.

A New Hudson

Hudson Street north of Canal is a prime example of how streetscape changes can revolutionize a neighborhood. Hudson Street south of Canal deserves the same treatment to effectively connect Tribeca and Hudson Square.

Restore The Rotary

Once the glorious St. John’s park—now 5.5 acres of gravel—the Holland Tunnel rotary is an enormous opportunity to achieve sustainability and greenification goals on public land.

Our Story

The Tribeca North Neighborhood Association is a grassroots organization of people who live in north Tribeca and share the same concerns about quality of life issues impacting our nook of New York.

Tribeca North started informally in 2021, when a handful of neighbors on Laight Street banded together in an attempt to add new trees around the Holland Tunnel rotary. A seemingly simple task, planting a few trees evolved into a daunting challenge requiring coordination across multiple government agencies that took well over a year.

While we eventually succeeded in planting nine trees, the volunteer oversight needed to effectuate that work and the lack of an existing block association in this area spurred the formal creation of Tribeca North Neighborhood Association in 2023.

Since then, Tribeca North has assumed a broader mission spanning various quality of life concerns and boasts membership of over 1,000 friends and neighbors. Our area of focus runs from Canal Street to N. Moore Street and Varick Street to the Hudson River.

Progress on the Issues

Hudson Street is dangerous.

Watch this short video for a glimpse of the perils facing pedestrians on Hudson Street and surrounding streets due to daily Holland Tunnel gridlock.

Tribeca North has been actively pushing for a variety of traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures such as additional traffic guards, blocking the box enforcement, noise/red light cameras, and enhanced road markings/signage.

A long-term goal is a complete redesign of Hudson Street in alignment with what the Hudson Square BID has accomplished on Hudson Street north of Canal Street.

  • NYPD traffic enforcement at Hubert Street.
    NYPD traffic enforcement at Hubert & Hudson.

Traffic Enforcement at Rush Hour

Tribeca North keeps close watch of the various intersections along Hudson Street and maintains relationships with the NYPD to ensure pedestrian safety is always prioritized.

One key success is obtaining significantly more consistent traffic enforcement agent (TEA) coverage at the intersections of Hudson & Laight and Hudson & Hubert. These traffic agents help create safer crossings and reduce honking.

Another is, at peak times, implementing the closure of the left turn from Hubert Street onto Hudson Street. Closing this turn prevents traffic from backing up on Hubert Street across Greenwich Street and prevents additional flow into the already congested Hudson Street.

Greening our Streets

Tribeca North works with neighbors and City agencies to add trees and planters to our streets in creative, cost-effective ways.

Recent improvements include the installation of two new planters outside of Olive’s on Greenwich & Hubert, two new planters outside of 153 Hudson Street on Hudson just north of Hubert, and improvements to the tree pits along Beach Street.

  • New planters by Olive's on Hubert and Greenwich.
New sidewalk planters on Laight Street
New planters on Laight Street installed through Trees for Tribeca at our greening & cleaning event Fall 2024.

Trees for Tribeca

Tribeca North has been coordinating with our neighbors to the south, Friends of Duane Park, to implement the Trees for Tribeca program in our area.

Due to vaults, historic sidewalks, and utilities, it’s often difficult to plant street trees in Tribeca. Trees for Tribeca enables buildings to plant trees inside of planters along the curb according to pre-approved siting criteria.

If your building is interested in sidewalk planters, send us a note and volunteers from Tribeca North can examine your sidewalks, determine a viable planter program, and help get them planted!

If your sidewalks can accommodate in-ground street trees, Tribeca North can also help facilitate planting trees through the NYC Department of Parks.

Newsletters

Browse our previous newsletters below to learn more about our work!