An On-the-Road Dad Finds Home Base in the Historic Seaport

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As the Director of Team Operations for the New York Yankees, Ben Tuliebitz is, by his estimation, out of town for over half of the year. Tuliebitz has been with the Yankees for 14 seasons, meaning that he doesn't get to spend much time in his South Street Seaport loft of nearly three years. All that time on the road makes coming home—to the city he loves and to his six-year-old son who he adores—all the more important. Along with the only-in-New-York amenities of good bagels and midnight pizza, Tuliebitz's Seaport loft is one of the few things he gets to return to time and time again.

It isn't just that the Seaport loft is where Tuliebitz stores his stuff that makes it home to him; the busy guy—he returned from two months of spring training in Tampa just one day before this shoot—oversaw a gut renovation that drastically altered its floorplan and really made it his own after he picked it up in 2012. "It had potential," he recalls of first visiting the apartment. With the help of a contractor, Tuliebitz turned a typical, dated loft into what he describes as a "functional modern" space, with the addition of a lofted sleeping area for his son ("I wanted him to have a space of his own, where he could put his toys and things when he was with me and not feel like a visitor on the couch"), a brand new kitchen and bathroom, a separate entryway, and even a walk-in closet. When asked if he'd ever live through such a renovation again, Tuliebitz's answer was a resounding "yes." But then again, he was out of town for spring training for a decent amount of it.

Because Tuliebitz lives only with his fiancé when his son isn't with him, he didn't feel the need for a walled-off bedroom. Because of its lack of quarters, the apartment is light, airy, and inviting. The space, with its original bricks and beams, and modern touches compliments its South Street Seaport neighborhood. Tuliebitz moved to the Seaport from Tribeca, lured by its cobblestone streets and distinct character. "This is my space," Tuliebitz says of the apartment, and it seems also too, the neighborhood, "My little space in this big city."

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