Trekking Tribeca

NYU Journalism The Beat: Downtown New York. Cam's exploration of Tribeca in Spring 2014

[trekkingtribeca]

Bogardus Garden Interviewee Hunt

Saturday afternoon, 2-22-14

Went down to Tribeca's Bogardus Garden/Plaza again to hunt down more people to interview for my first community issue story. 

Ended up spending two hours there, standing around. But, I managed to interview two brothers, a 25 year long Tribeca citizen with two dogs, a BMCC commuter student, and several others who only made one or two sentence remarks. Also interviewed the headwaiter for Acapella, a fancy Italian restaurant right by the Plaza, to see how the Plaza has affected business.

All in all, I felt like a bit of a stalker but hey, I gotta do what I gotta do for my story...

[trekkingtribeca]

"When you make changes in the city, people get very excited."

-Victoria Weil, President and Founder of the grassroots effort, Friends of Bogardus Gardens

Just about an hour or even less ago, I spoke on the phone with the lovely and talkative Weil about the Gardens. At first, I was just curious as to when her office was open but she said they're temporarily closed right now because of the icy conditions out. Since I didn't know when she would be available to be spoken to in person again, I decided to ask her a few questions then and there on the phone.

She told me about how they as a grassroots effort and the Gardens came to be, the recent history and what they're looking forward to in the capital redesign of the Plaza and Gardens. Weil also told me a bit about opposition she's faced and how much she does for the Tribeca community.

Currently planning to head into the area when I can this weekend to speak with some of the places who have or are opposed to the Gardens as well as residents who are excited about the redesign.

[trekkingtribeca]

Welcome to my beat notes for my New York neighborhood beat, Tribeca! 

For my first story, I've decided to focus on the capital funding project on the Bogardus Gardens in the area. Of course, I had to get a feel for the area first, so I went this Saturday (during a snowstorm, no less) to check out the place. The park is currently under construction and luckily is right next to the Chambers Street train station stop.

It's a small area, but I've read up that this little area is an important park in the community. It's also closed right now due to "icy conditions". Because it was so cold, windy, and snowy, I didn't get to talk to many people in the streets (since there weren't many people in the streets in the first place!). However, I observed and walked around the gardens and got a feel of Tribeca here, which has a very different feel to what I'm used to in the Village and East Village. 

Hope the weather clears up soon so it's easier to travel and do this story! Been researching and archiving links about the place which I will post soon... 

Till next time!