Independence Plaza

Independence Plaza is a multi-building rental apartment complex in Tribeca, Manhattan, at 80 North Moore Street, with Vornado Realty Trust on record as owner. It is a complex rather than a single building: a group of high-rise towers and lower townhouse-scale buildings originally built under New York State’s Mitchell-Lama middle-income housing program.

The complex occupies the blocks around North Moore, Harrison and Greenwich Streets, a block from West Street and the Hudson River Park, with Pier 25 and the Tribeca waterfront just across the highway. Washington Market Park and Stuyvesant High School are a short walk south. The 1 stops at Franklin Street and at Chambers Street, and the 2, 3, A, C and E stop at Chambers Street.

Independence Plaza opened in 1975 on land cleared under the Washington Street urban renewal plan, when Tribeca was still a district of warehouses and produce markets. Its three 39-story towers were among the first large residential buildings in the neighborhood and helped turn the area into the residential district it is today.

In 2004 the owner withdrew the complex from the Mitchell-Lama program, setting off a long dispute with tenants. Through a combination of state legislation, federal enhanced vouchers and negotiated agreements, many long-term residents kept below-market rents, while apartments that turned over were leased at market rates. Today the complex has a mix of regulated and market-rate tenants, and it offers something rare in Tribeca: large-scale rental housing with shared open space, a block from Hudson River Park.