Robert De Niro attains what Travis Bickle never could: a key to New York City
New York City Mayor Eric Adams presented De Niro with the key at a Tribeca Film Festival reception where Martin Scorsese also gave a loving tribute to the actor
Just under a half-century since Robert De Niro attempted to cleanse New York via vigilante justice in Taxi Driver, the city that never sleeps has offered up some thanks in return. At a Wednesday night event in Greenwich Village, Tribeca Film Festival announced its first-ever “De Niro Con” will take place over three days this fall, in celebration of the actor’s 80th birthday. During the reception, Mayor Eric Adams presented De Niro with a key to the city.
“De Niro Con” will run from September 29 until October 1 at New York City’s Spring Studios, and feature screenings, panels and talks by the countless friends and colleagues the actor—who founded Tribeca alongside Jane Rosenthal in 2001—has collected over the years. Scorsese, De Niro’s hallmark collaborator, got ahead of the curve and offered a tribute to his friend at the Wednesday reception.
Scorsese, who has worked with De Niro on 10 films over their respective careers, called it “good fortune that we somehow met at the age of 16 over 50-some-odd years ago.”