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New Neighborhood Name: CanDo!
By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 8, 2010
Modified Dec 8, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Dec 8, 2010
Modified Dec 8, 2010
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While it's not as ridiculous as Dowisetrepla (short for: Downwind of the sewage treatment plant), the latest neighborhood name is a close second... and as opposed to its competition it's real. According to the Daily News, a city marketing group is trying to make CanDo happen. The name is short for Canal Downtown, and the would-be rebrander—Clive Burrow, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Marketing Association—says, "By packaging it, by giving it the feel of a neighborhood like SoHo, then you're giving the whole area a pizzazz." (It is unclear at this time if Burrow displayed jazz hands while saying this.)
The name wouldn't replace already established neighborhood nicknames downtown—like TriBeca—rather it would "distinguish that section of the city from what [Burrow] considers uptown (above 59th St.), midtown (between 59th and 23rd Sts.) and downtown (23rd to Canal Sts.)."
Can he do it? One local concierge in on Church Street told the paper, "I'm strongly opposed to the new name. This area already has a name, and that's the Financial District." Yawn, where's the pizzazz in that?
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Canal Downtown
CanDo
Clive Burrow
Dowisetrepla
name
neighborhood
rebranding
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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