I wrote this with the help of my copywriter at the time, Julia Crenshaw-Smith. Even though neighborbee wasn’t successful, there was (and still is) a lot of heart behind it. This article was originally written in 2013.
Neighborbee, LLC was set up in 2007, but the spirit of neighborbee was born long before that.
I am a New Yorker who has gone to school, worked, and lived in NYC for nearly 15 years. For two of those years, starting in 2002, I had the privilege (and challenges) of living across from Ground Zero. It was a very interesting time to be in that part of the city. #neverforget
While living down there, working in midtown, and going to grad school part-time in Lincoln Center, I had the opportunity to interact with residents from many different parts of the city. It was a difficult period for all of us as we tried to grieve for our losses, regain some normalcy in our lives, and move forward in a meaningful and valuable way that honored our experiences and showed our commitment to doing more and being better than our circumstances.
It was during this time I dedicated myself to providing a better way for people to build communities: to share their knowledge, foster relationships, learn what was happening in their neighborhoods, and discover online resources that were available to them. I didn’t know it then, but that was when the foundation was laid for the neighborbee you know today.
In the years that followed, I bought a co-op on the Upper West Side, met my lovely wife, and had two beautiful daughters. As my life expanded, I saw ever increasing opportunities for neighborbee to really make a difference, from easing the challenges of communicating with people in your building to providing realistic and meaningful opportunities for engaging with your direct community.
These are the ingredients for neighborbee. And we are proud to say it all began in NYC. #neverforget
– Anthony
