40°43′12″N74°00′32″W / 40.72000°N 74.00889°W /40.72000; -74.00889North Moore Street is a moderately trafficked street inTriBeCa, a neighborhood in theNew York Cityborough ofManhattan. It runs roughly east–west betweenWest Broadway andWest Street. Automotive traffic is westbound only.
On street signs and maps, the street is usually written as "N. Moore Street". The street was named in 1790 forBenjamin Moore (1748–1816), the second bishop of theEpiscopal Diocese of New York, the president of Columbia College (nowColumbia University), and the father ofClement Clarke Moore. Bishop Moore is remembered for having given Holy Communion to Alexander Hamilton on his deathbed.[1] The addition of "North" or "N" avoids confusion with the older Moore Street, a short street nearthe Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan across from1 New York Plaza.[2][3]
Based on North Moore Street's abbreviation, "Nathaniel Moore Street" has been given as an incorrect name for the street.[1] According to a 1984 article inThe New York Times, some city documents around that time identified the street as "Nathaniel Moore Street". This was based on statements made by members of the local community board, even though the only notable person of that name in New York City's early history wasColumbia College presidentNathaniel Fish Moore (1782–1872), who would have been seven years old when North Moore Street was named. While Trinity Church records do not list a Nathaniel Moore, they did list Benjamin Moore, who was 41 years old when North Moore Street was given its name.[2]
In 1969,Fluxus artistJoe Jones opened hisJJ Music Store (akaTone Deaf Music Store) at 18 North Moore Street, where he presented hisrepetitivedrone music machines. He created there an installation in the window so that anyone could press numerous door buttons to play thenoise music machines displayed there.[4] Jones also presented small musical installation performances there, alone or with other Fluxus artists, such asYoko Ono andJohn Lennon,[5] among others. From April 18 to June 12, 1970, Ono and Lennon (akaPlastic Ono Band) presented a series of Fluxus art events and concerts there calledGRAPEFRUIT FLUXBANQUET. It was promoted with a poster designed by Fluxus leaderGeorge Maciunas. Performances includedCome Impersonating John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Grapefruit Banquet (April 11–17) by George Maciunas,Yoshimasa Wada,Bici Hendricks,Geoffrey Hendricks, andRobert Watts;Do It Yourself (April 11–17) by Yoko Ono;Tickets by John Lennon + Fluxagents (April 18–24) with Wada,Ben Vautier and Maciunas;Clinic by Yoko Ono + Hi Red Center (April 25-May 1);Blue Room by Yoko + Fluxmasterliars (May 2–8);Weight & Water by Yoko + Fluxfiremen (May 9–15);Capsule by Yoko + Flux Space Center (May 16–22) with Maciunas,Paul Sharits,George Brecht,Ay-O, Ono, Watts,John Cavanaugh;Portrait ofJohn Lennon as a Young Cloud by Yoko + Everybody (May 23–29);The Store by Yoko + Fluxfactory (May 30-June 5), with Ono, Maciunas, Wada, Ay-O; and finallyExamination by Yoko + Fluxschool (June 6–12) with Ono, Geoffrey Hendricks, Watts,Mieko Shiomi andRobert Filliou.[6] After moving out,Joe Jones's store-loft space became the art studio ofNo Wave artistJoseph Nechvatal, where he presented occasionalColab art events, then, in 1980, that of musicianJon Hassell, and finally that of video artistBill Viola, before being merged into Walkers Restaurant.
Throughout the late-seventiesCharlemagne Palestine performed long piano concerts regularly in his loft on North Moore Street.[7] Since 1981, thedigital art studio ofManfred Mohr has been located at 20 N. Moore.
Exterior shots of theGhostbusters headquarters were filmed at theFDNYHook & Ladder No. 8 firehouse, located at 14 North Moore Street, at its intersection withVarick Street. A small parking lot at the corner ofWest Broadway a block away was "a staging area for foam and vehicles ... [for] the classic" 1984 comedy. The interiors of the building were filmed inFire Station No. 23 inLos Angeles.
The same W. Broadway/N. Moore corner has also been the location for the diner set of the 1994 filmIt Could Happen to You, a set site forZoolander in 2001 and, in 2006, the location for a free-standing billboard advertising the animated filmEnchanted.[8]
Even after the opening of the swank TriBeCa Grand Hotel, even under the global spotlight that followed the late John F. Kennedy Jr., who lived on North Moore Street, TriBeCa is still small town -- albeit a town that is industrial at its Belgian-block, iron-canopy core, where residents fight for every inch of lawn and garden.
