Submitted by Catherine Redmond, Dec 17, 2006 22:23

"Chambers is notorious for discount and fast food, the bottom of the retail ladder," Ms. Consolo said. "Now, it's not just commuters. You have the possibility of getting a real neighborhood, and then you'll get good retail."

Ms. Consolo, whom I'm sure is a well-meaning, is nevertheless, appalling in her ignorance of what makes a neighborhood and a community. I cringe at what she must be implying by the words "getting a real neighborhood." If she understood the city she would know that Chambers Street has had a vibrant and remarkably bonded community for many years, probably long before Ms. Consolo got her real estate license. Those of us who committed to Tribeca's edge, have long experienced the casual cogeniality of our creative and sociable neighbors from a cross section of society and professions. The traffic, the car horns, the discount stores, the rivers of students and commuters are the surface layer; underneath lives a rich social network that sadly, has been systematically driven out post-9/11 by the ravenous appetite of developers.

There is no solution in this. Change is a constant, but in the interest of correcting the record, let us record that Chambers Street was and is a neighborhood made of people with blood and nerves, heart and soul, just like those who want to now join us.

Catherine Redmond

156 Chambers Street

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