Results tagged “robertdeniro”

A man's home is his castle. Or, in Robert De Niro's case, a billionaire actor's illegal penthouse atop his swanky seven-story TriBeCa hotel (the $600-a-night Greenwich Hotel), is his castle.

So, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Aside from the mannerisms we loved to hate when he was on SNL (talking too fast, constant fidgeting, laughing at his own jokes), how did he do on his first night filling Conan's big shoes? If you made it through the "Lick it for Ten" game, in which Our Host brings up three audience members to lick sponsor products for ten bucks, then you may have seen that the kid did alright! Yes expectations were low, but the general consensus is that Fallon is going to do his job well. You can watch the full episode here.

Diner’s Journal reported yesterday that acclaimed chef Andrew Carmellini has signed on to culinarily rehabilitate Tribeca’s beleaguered and critic-battered Ago. The restaurant was conceived originally as a high profile project for the Greenwich Hotel, and counts Robert De Niro among its investors. Carmellini was previously the chef at Café Boulud and A Voce, and told us last October he was looking for his own restaurant space. “I’m taking my time with it,” he said, “just trying to make good decisions about the location.” In the meantime, Carmellini and wife Gwen Hyman penned a cookbook, Urban Italian, that features intuitive cooking instructions—including a directive to slice garlic “Goodfellas thin,” as per the prison dinner scene in the movie. Now we can eat!

Actor, director, producer, critically reviled restaurateur, and hotelier Robert De Niro made a cameo appearance before the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday to defend the penthouse built atop his new Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca.

John McCain's Straight Talk Express headed into Manhattan today, taking him to Grand Central Terminal where he got the endorsement of former governor George Pataki. McCain, along with wife Cindy, appeared with Pataki, Alphonse D'Amato, Joseph Lieberman and Rudy Giuliani as the Republican candidate appears to be leading in many Super Tuesday polls over rivals Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

Actor/director John Turturro was among the protesters assembled at City Hall today for a rally to save the Carnegie artist studios, which could soon be taken over by Carnegie Hall expansion plans. But the big star of the day was 95-year-old Editta Sherman, the building’s longest living tenant, having resided there since 1949. She’s seen here holding a photograph she took of Leonard Bernstein, a former resident; Sherman’s studio in the building was once a destination for celebrities seeking classy photographic portraiture. Though her future there is now in jeopardy, Sherman, known to friends as the Duchess of Carnegie Hall, sounded resilient: “I’m not thinking about it, I’m not worried about it, because I’m not going anywhere.”

Now we know why there are still people heading to The Garden. There aren't any Knicks’ fans left, they are all paid actors. At least that’s the conclusion one could draw from a story in the New York Press. It turns out that the people in the "fan ads" (like the one pictured above), are mostly paid actors and their stories are made up for the commercials. The surprising thing is that apparently the Knicks didn’t know this.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: person under a train at 71st St. and 16th Ave. in Brooklyn, a stabbing on 112th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, and a bank robbery at Ave. of the Americas and West 18th St. in Manhattan.
• The Times wonders if people will be hoarding pre-rate-increase Metrocards the way token buyers used to stock up before a fare hike.
• A 17-year-old from Mt. Vernon was being held at Rikers Island after he was accused of statutory rape for having sex with a 14-year-old girl, and the judge who sent him there ordered that he should be put under suicide watch. The teenager was put into the jail's general population instead and he hung himself within 24 hours.

The Critical Mass Halloween Ride is tonight! If you go, get some good pictures!

We'd expect a lack of municipal fealty from most people in show business, but we were disappointed to hear that Al Pacino and Robert De Niro would be turning up a chance to shoot in the city in exchange for a building in Connecticut with a NYC backdrop behind it. The New York Post reported briefly that some scenes of the in-production film "Righteous Kill" will be posing scenes set in NYC in Stamford, CT, with backdrops outside the windows of an actual building illustrating New York. The film has been shooting in New Haven and Norwalk, CT for weeks and was lured to the Nutmeg State by tax breaks for film companies.

EVENT: The American Opera Project has taken on...baseball? Tonight they present Baseball Through The Eye of the Artist. You'll catch some scenes from Daniel Sonenberg's opera-under-development The Summer King. And stick around for Bang The Drum Slowly, "the acclaimed 1973 baseball film that marked the beginning of Robert DeNiro's illustrious film career."

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a new campaign, Just Ask The Locals, "the City's first-ever five-borough marketing and advertising campaign to make visitors feel more welcome, thank them for visiting, and help them navigate New York City." The Mayor made the announcement at the new American Airlines terminal at JFK and said, "New Yorkers have always been welcoming and friendly, but not enough people around the world know it. So now we're going the extra mile to make visitors feel even more at home by offering a helpful piece of advice, an insider's tip, or just a friendly smile as they explore and enjoy all the wonderful attractions here in our City."

In a city whose mayor has made gun control one of his signature issues, it's no surprise that the number of registered gun owners has gone down. The Post reports that there are now 36,169, versus 38,000 last year. Permits that allow one to wear a gun on a holster (concealed) also dropped to 2,555, which the Sun says is almost 50% less than the 2004 number. Of course, there's now way to estimate illegal gun ownership.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, an electric shock at 25th Ave. and 49th St. in Queens, and a shooting on 101st St. and Columbus Ave. in Manhattan.
• Chazz Palminteri's stage and screen bildungsroman A Bronx Tale will appear again onstage this fall. The off-Broadway play was adapted to a 1993 movie featuring Palminteri, Robert De Niro, and screen newcomer Lillo Brancato. The latter is now facing a murder charge over a botched robbery in 2005 that ended in a cop-killing.
• Mayors Bloomberg's daughter, Georgina, is dating an Irish equestrian rider , who's also an Olympic gold medalist.
• The Clarett Group submitted plans to the Building Dept. to build the largest building in Brooklyn, topping the Williamsburgh Bank Building by two feet.
• Give a hoot and don't pollute. The Gowanus Lounge is publicizing an E-Waste Recycling Drive sponsored by the East Side Ecology Center that's an opportunity to drop off hardware that may harm the environment if just chucked in the trash.
• One-time good Samaritan Junior Suarez is now suing ConEd for the trauma he experienced comforting the severely burned tow-truck driver Gregory McCullough.
• A very interesting piece in the Times on the evolution of Elvis Presley as racial barrier-breaker to unfairly perceived racist.
• Privacy is for hitchhikers: Divorce lawyers are using E-Z Pass to nail philandering spouses in court.

We're just going to get this out of the way: Justin Timberlake is bringing deep-fried pickle-sicles back. The modern day song and dance man has gone and opened his very own restaurant called Southern Hospitality (at 1460 2nd Ave and 76th St). It opened last night to a crowd of A-listers people you may have heard of, hankering for some barbecue. Amongst the items offered are deviled eggs, pulled pork, mac-n-cheese, fried catfish, and yes...the aforementioned pickle treat (we hope JT took his indigestion pills last night).

: Season 2

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on East 79th St. in Manhattan, another bank robbery on East 89th St. in Manhattan, and a police scooter accident at Adams and Tillary Sts. in Brooklyn.
• A parking ticket fixer was sentenced to three-to-six years in jail for arranging false-documented excuses to get people out of parking tickets.
• Robert Deniro and Al Pacino are teaming up as detectives tracking a serial killer in a new film. 50 Cent will join them as a helpful drug dealer informant character.
• Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp. isn't about to cooperate with The New York Times or its China-based correspondent.
• No NYC tryouts for the latest incarnation of American Idol.
• Curbed notes an Upper West Side townhouse that can be yours for just a K-note under a half billion dollars, courtesy of a typo.
• An SUV struck two pedestrians in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, before crashing into a storefront. The female pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
• The "limited time only" lobster roll at Cosi gets a Midtown Lunch review: "There’s no way it’s healthy, and if you are not a fan of mayo you will probably hate this sandwich."

You may be familiar with James Sanders' book Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies, which celebrated New York City's role in movies and is a must for any fan of New York, architecture, or film. But even if you haven't, you get a chance to experience it in beyond the pages: Starting tomorrow, Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall will be the setting for a Celluloid Skyline exhibit. There will be huge "scenic backing" paintings from old films, film footage, artifacts, displays and more that will show NYC's role in production and as a "mythic city" of the movies. Here's a description:

[The exhibit] will also carry visitors into the dream city of the movies, through “immersive” elements that allow visitors to feel as if they are actually inhabiting the various environments of the filmic city – streets, skyscrapers, rooftops, theaters, waterfronts, interiors – allowing viewers to come away with a greater understanding not only of the moviemaking process, but of the urban character, texture and significance of the real city.

Continue reading "Celluloid Skyline at Grand Central Tomrorow"

It really seems like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have co-starred in a lot of movies together, but they haven't. Sure, they had a couple of scenes together in "Heat", and both starred in "The Godfather 2" (though they never shared screen time) - but that's about it as far as collaborating has gone for these two legends in their own time.

Has the Tribeca Film Festival been using 9/11 as way to garner publicity and interest in their event? NYMag reports that an anonymous emailer sent out a press release today "accusing the Tribeca Film Festival of lying when they claim that Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, and Craig Hatkoff founded the festival in response to the 9/11 attacks."

Are Robert DeNiro and David Bowie battling it out in a sort of festival turf war? Though both turned up at the Vanity Fair party thrown in honor of New York's Tribeca Film Festival - it seems there's some animosity in the air...or at least in the press. Bowie's High Line Festival begins on May 9th, just three days after DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival ends. NY Mag describes the difference between the two:

, for instance), he takes his subject matter even more seriously in this tale of a dutiful daughter with a dangerous teenager, her kooky hairdresser sister [pictured], their undead mother, the elderly aunt, and the nosy neighbor. You don't want to see the story of this sextet of fabulously flawed women struggling to live in a man's world end, it's all so compelling and enchanting.

As the city continues to beat the drum against trans fats, Mayor Bloomberg is taking every single opportunity to tell people why they are bad for you. At a press conference yesterday, he said, "If you want to eat fries, nobody's taking away your ability to eat fries. I love McDonald's fries." It's just that restaurants should use fatty oils that just don't have trans fats! We expect McDonald's to be sending a truck of fries to City Hall shortly.

- Robert DeNiro is donating his collection of movie scripts, notes, costumes, etc. to the University of Texas at Austin - Bobby, NYC wanted your glasses from Bullwinkle & Rocky, anyway (though the guns from Taxi Driver...)

The killing of police officer Daniel Enchautegui (left)continues to be investigated, as the two suspects, Daniel Armento and Lillo Brancato, were charged with second degree murder. Police now believe that Armento, 48 years old, and Brancato, 29 years old, were searching for Valium when they broke into a Bronx home. Enchautegui, who was off-duty and at home next door, had heard the break-in. Police believe that Echautegui identified himself as a police officer, but was still shot by Armento; though wounded, Echautegui managed to shoot both men. Armento and Brancato had started the night at a Bronx strip club, Crazy Horse, but went on the prowl for drugs. They broke into a house where they had previously purchased Valium; the Post reports that Armento was too fat to squeeze through a window, so Brancato had to go in. What they didn't know was that the owner had died and the house was empty. The two men are recovering at Jacobi Hospital, with the police and DA's office waiting to take them into custody.

With Halloween in three days, our attention must be turned to those who cannot speak about their costumes: The animals. Tomorrow, at Fort Greene Park, dog owners will converge with their canines in awesome outfits for the Great PUPkin. But what about kitty cats? The Post's Julia Szabo put up this photograph of her cat Huey in a festive costume from Posh Paws on the Upper East Side, but we suspect Huey was given a kilo of catnip, because we've had very little success in convincing the cats we know to wear outfits (except for this U. Michigan fan). We can't help but think back to Robert DeNiro's words from Meet the Parents, when he implies that cats are more intelligent than dogs: Maybe dogs are a glutton for our punishment, but they look so damned cute when they happen to wear balloons in order to look like a bunch of grapes. Maybe cats are silently protesting any costumes because the selection of outfits is so limited.

- The two teenage girls who died on East Houston Street a week and a half ago died of heroin-and-cocaine overdoses

Besides filming the new Robert DeNiro-directed The Good Shepherd in New York City and becoming an honorary Cambodian citizen, and besides shtupping America's Favorite Friend's husband and being hotter than hell, Angelina Jolie is making news with the announcement that MTV will air a "video diary" of her trip to Africa. Jolie and Jeffrey Sachs - yes, that Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, the noted economist who works for Columbia's Earth Institute and advice UN Secretary General Kofi Annan - traveled to Africa with Sachs' team that is trying to stop poverty and hunger. Though Angelina gets top billing, we love how the name of the show actually is "The Diary of Angelina Jolie & Dr Jeffrey Sachs in Africa." Way to go, MTV, for trying to give world economists a higher profile - even though your audience wants to know whether Stephen will choose Kristin or LC.

Perhaps more distressing than his latest film roles, everyone's favorite tough guy, Robert De Niro, wept an exhibit of his late father's paintings in France. Perhaps it's a nod to Father's Day, and of course it's sweet that a son would get so verklempt at seeing his father honored...but, well, Gothamist just prefers our De Niro fix tough, crazy, or mercenary.

Last night Gothamist waited an hour in the rain at Tribeca Film Festival, as only a few volunteers handled the long lines for ticket pick up. Although we were drenched and missed our movie, we did get to see Kermit the Frog dressed in a suit (hugging Robert Deniro) as well as Stella's Michael Showalter (we held back from screaming Wet Hot American Summer lines) before presenting his romantic comedy The Baxter, which you can preview here.