Uh, remind us never to get into a fight with Drena De Niro? The 42-year-old's ex-boyfriend, construction worker Austin Young, tells the Post today that the trained Thai boxer gave him something of a beatdown last night, one that included her ripping up a potted palm tree and smashing it into the sidewalk. “For 15 minutes she whaled [sic] on me and yelled at me,” Young told the tabloid. “I can take a punch, but she whaled [sic] on me, like, 10 times. She’s a Thai boxer, and a very good one.” more ›

HBO is moving ahead with making a movie about infamous Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff—and the cable network wants Robert De Niro as the "$65 billion" man. According to Deadline, HBO just optioned the book, "The Wizard Of Lies: Bernie Madoff And The Death Of Trust," by NY Times reporter Diana Henriques and is in talks with De Niro. more ›

Well, it looks like somebody just talked his way out of an invite to President Trump's inauguration gala! During a chat with NBC's Brian Williams at the Tribeca Film Festival, actor Robert De Niro trashed Trump for continuing to insist that Obama wasn't born in the U.S. "I won't mention names, but certain people in the news the last couple weeks, just, what are they doing?" De Niro told Williams, according to Movieline. "It’s crazy. They’re making statements about people that they don’t even back up. Go get the facts before you start saying things about people. It’s like a big hustle. It’s like being a car salesman. Don’t go out there and say things unless you can back them up. How dare you? That’s awful to do. To just go out and speak and say these terrible things? Unless you just wanna get over and get the job. It’s crazy." more ›

We all thought that Robert De Niro's testimony in court would prove to be the most dramatic moment in the art theft trial of a gallery director accused of pocketing $77,000 from the sale of De Niro's father's paintings. But it turns out that all the really nutty, overly-dramatic stuff was actually going on behind-the-scenes between deliberating jurors who name-dropped Hillary Clinton, cursed at each other, and brought 20 million Afghan refugees into the mix. more ›

Actor Robert De Niro was in court yesterday testifying against a gallery director accused of pocketing $77,000 from the sale of his father's paintings. Salander-O'Reilly Galleries owner Lawrence Salander was already sentenced to six years in prison for the $120 million fraud scheme over the summer, but De Niro claimed that gallery director Leigh Morse stole two of his father's paintings and sold them, pocketing the profits for herself. more ›

After years of criticism that rivaled the reviews of Godsend, Robert De Niro appeared in front of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to present revised renderings for a controversial two-story penthouse at the Greenwich Hotel in TriBeCa. The Observer was on the scene, noting that when De Niro and son, a real estate broker, entered, "with preservation consultants, land-use attorneys and architects in tow, three paparazzi sprang into action, as well as half-a-dozen reporters with point-and-shoot cameras. It was a rare event for the ninth floor of One Centre Street." more ›

Did actor Roberto De Niro have his driver do his dirty work for him? According to the NY Post, his driver Vladimir Labissiere pepper sprayed a TMZ videographer earlier today at LaGuardia Airport after he had filmed the actor. This took place just before 11 a.m. in the Delta Terminal, but reportedly De Niro had already passed security and didn't witness the incident, which began with some verbal sparring. Labissiere managed to hit not only his target with a dose of the spray, but a passerby as well; he fled the scene immediately and the NYPD are trying to track him down to question him about the incident... which we assume is all on tape and will be hitting TMZ any minute now. more ›

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. more ›

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. more ›

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! more ›

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. more ›

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. more ›

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.” more ›

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. more ›

• 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! more ›

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. more ›

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." more ›

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." more ›

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. more ›

• 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). more ›

: Season 2 more ›

• 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. more ›

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. more ›

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." more ›

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: more ›

, 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. more ›