Robert De Niro’s 80th birthday will be celebrated this autumn with a three-day fan convention called “De Niro Con,” set by the Tribeca Festival. At a reception recently, Mayor Eric Adams provided Martin Scorsese the opportunity to pay a heartfelt homage to his close friend and working partner.
Even though there was thick smoke from Canadian wildfires spreading across the city, the gathering at the festival headquarters on Greenwich Street before the opening night was well attended by an audience that included Mark Ruffalo, Pam Grier, and Matt Damon, who co-produced the documentary Kiss the Future with Ben Affleck and Sarah Anthony.
De Niro Con will feature screenings, discussions, and speeches by the actor’s longstanding friends and acquaintances from September 29 to October 1 at Spring Studios in New York City.
Martin Scorsese thanks fate for having met Robert De Niro 50 years ago
Martin Scorsese, De Niro’s lifelong friend and a collaborator on ten films, expressed gratitude for their chance encounter when they were both 16 years old more than fifty years ago. He complimented the 9/11 event and praised De Niro for staying “devoted over the years to his craft and the arts” in New York City, calling it “the most vibrant, alive location.”
Referring to his film Killers of the Flower Moon, which opens October 6 domestically, Scorsese said, “But the point is that the good fortune is something that can’t be summed up in one sentence or, or in some platitude of any kind. I mean, if you can see the movies that say that says it because it’s based on trust and love. And that’s how those films were made, including the last the latest one,”
“We all grew up on you,” says Mayor Adams
Mayor Adams, on behalf of the New York inhabitants, paid his respects to Robert De Niro. He said “ “You deserve this key to the City of New York because you have opened our hearts for years and for generations. We all grew up on you. I don’t care what ethnicity, what community — South Jamaica, South Bronx, Lower East Side. Doesn’t matter where you are. Everyone knew this New York taxi driver was able to drive this to new abilities that we are now. Thank you, brother, for this.”
De Niro said he was “honored to accept that recognition on behalf of my 8½ million neighbors.”
Mayor Adams had advised residents of New York yesterday to avoid going outside if they could to avoid breathing in the smoke from numerous forest fires near the Canadian border. It was a first for the city, where many people were wearing masks on the streets.
The mayor had expected a multi-day event with poor air quality, but as of Wednesday night, it appeared to be better than it had been earlier.
