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Is Tribeca Up and Coming? Fredrik Eklund Weighs In on Jessel Taank's Comments
Fashion publicist Jessel said Tribeca had "potenial." Erin, a real estate pro who lives in the neighborhood, insisted that "it's already there."
Be good to my ’hood.
That was the unspoken message Erin Lichy had for Jessel Taank after their awkward coffee date in Tribeca on The Real Housewives of New York City, airing Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo.
“Thanks for coming downtown. It’s my local spot,” Erin said to Jessel at the restaurant Greca.
“A couple of my friends are moving to Tribeca,” said Jessel, adding that the area has “potential” and is “really up and coming.”
Erin’s eyebrows nearly arched up to her hairline in shock. “It’s already there,” insisted Erin, a real estate broker and Tribeca homeowner.
And while Tribeca resident Erin may be biased, Million Dollar Listing New York star and real estate guru Fredrik Eklund agrees with her assessment.
"Erin is correct! Tribeca is the most expensive zip code in New York and attracts more celebrity buyers than any other neighborhood for two decades now," he told The Daily Dish. "If you don’t know this, you’re not a New Yorker."
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Is Tribeca up and coming?
One way to determine if a neighborhood has arrived is to follow the money. Tribeca is currently one of the most expensive neighborhoods in New York City, with one of the highest average incomes, as Erin pointed out on the show.
“Not that I’m saying that for me,” Erin said, repeating that the area is fully established. “It’s already there.”
And metrics support that: Tribeca is currently the third-richest neighborhood in the New York, according to a July 2023 report. Soho ranks second, and Hudson Yards tops the list.
According to an online Tribeca guide by the real estate firm Douglas Elliman, where Erin and Fredrik work, “the influx of affluence comes in the form of celebrities, young families of means, and Wall Street types.”
Where is Tribeca?
Located in downtown Manhattan, Tribeca is bounded by Canal St., West St., Broadway, and Chambers St. Tribeca is an acronym that stands for the triangle below Canal.
A couple centuries ago the area was mostly industrial. Now, Fredrik said, "Tribeca, and especially the historic northwest and cobblestoned part of Tribeca, is made up of these beautiful old brick warehouses converted into expensive residences."
Quiet cobblestone streets, high-end shopping, boutique fitness options, and green spaces are among the treasures of Tribeca.
"In a way, Tribeca is pretty quiet and at the same time in the center of it all, loved by families, internationals, and the Wall Street crowd all at once, and also has some of the best restaurants in the city," Fredrik said.
The Tribeca Festival, an annual celebration of film co-founded by Robert De Niro, also helped establish the area as cultural destination.
Notable spots for dining include The Odeon, a bistro with roots reaching back to the ’80s. New and old staples include Sushi Ichimura, Tribeca Grill, Tiny’s & the Bar Upstairs, and Thalassa, to name just a few.
Tribeca's one-of-a-kind cachet
“I don’t ever think of Tribeca as being up and coming,” hospitality expert Steven Hall, founder of Hall PR, also told The Daily Dish. “It’s always had a certain cachet that’s all its own, without being trendy.”
“It has kind of a sophisticated air,” Hall added. “A lot of families live there. It’s a community unto itself.”
A strong sense of community might explain why Erin felt protective about her neighborhood getting undervalued.
When she shared Jessel’s “clueless” Tribeca comment with Sai De Silva and Brynn Whitfield, they all had a laugh.
Brynn said that Tribeca was up and coming “when JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy lived there.” That was in the late 1990s. Since then the area has only gotten hotter.
Sai managed to cut Jessel, a fashion publicist who lives in Chelsea and hails from London, some slack. “Maybe she didn’t know where she was,” she said.
In the end, points of contention go with the territory on RHONY. After multiple Season 14 debates about cheese, lingerie, and toilet paper, a turf war was bound to crop up.
Watch The Real Housewives of New York City on Sundays at 9/8c on Bravo and the following day on Peacock.
—Additional reporting by Cydney Contreras
