Oscar winner Robert De Niro treated 500 guests, including some of New York’s firefighters and servicemen, to dinner this week in an attempt to help revive city nightlife. The evening began at the actor’s downtown TriBakery café, after which diners boarded a string of open-top buses which delivered them to nearby restaurants.
Robert, who owns several downtown hot spots including Nobu and the Tribeca Grill, is worried about businesses in lower Manhattan suffering in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in New York. Some eateries have reported a near 80 per cent drop in business since the September 11 atrocities.
“Too many people’s livelihoods depend on us returning,” said the native New Yorker. “Downtown was always the city’s heart and soul, and whatever else they have done to us we can’t let terrorists tear that away.”
Firefighter Tony Costance was among those who participated in the evening outing. And while he had just come from a colleague’s funeral, Costance was intent on joining the revellers that evening. “I came tonight because, despite all the pain of recent weeks, I was determined to have a good night out again,” he says. “I think all New Yorkers need to start trying to do the same if the city is going to get back on its feet.”
The Meet The Parents star has also just lent his talents to an upcoming series of adverts aimed at encouraging tourism to the Big Apple. The 58-year-old actor teams up with his Analyze This co-star Billy Crystal in the commercial, and the two are seen in festive costume arguing over the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
Former US Secretary Of State Henry Kissinger, famed TV journalist Barbara Walters, director Woody Allen and outgoing New York mayor Rudy Giuliani all appear in the appeal. More celebrities are currently being enlisted for a second run of adverts.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
