New York Post

STREET NAME IS DE-NIED

Actor ‘too alive’ for Tribeca

- By MELISSA KLEIN

Cape Sneer! A Tribeca panel thumbed its nose this week at naming the northeast corner of Franklin and Greenwich streets “Robert De Niro Way” in honor of the Oscar winner’s 80th birthday.

“I just don’t see why he has to have a street named after him . . . He already has recognitio­n. People all over the world know him,” sniffed Community Board 1 member Patricia Moore.

Moore was unimpresse­d that the “Taxi Driver” actor (below) cofounded the Tribeca Film Festival after 9/11 to revitalize the area, saying he didn’t do enough to help those most impacted by the terrorist attacks.

The corner commemorat­ion would mark the headquarte­rs of the Tribeca Film Festival as well as the location of De Niro’s Tribeca Grill and his Tribeca Film Center.

Tribeca Enterprise­s, the parent company for the festival and other De Niro ventures, proposed the idea to mark the “Raging Bull” star’s milestone birthday.

“But perhaps even more importantl­y to recognize an honorable son of the city, who has for over 50 years contribute­d to the cultural and economic growth of a city, of a community and a district which he loves,” said Peter Downing, the company’s creative director.

Among the issues — the “Goodfella” is still among the living. The board’s newly drafted guidelines require an honoree to have been dead for 20 years, or have extraordin­ary accomplish­ments.

The city Department of Transporta­tion could cite only one instance where a street sign was installed for someone still breathing — the 2017 designatio­n of Willie Mays Drive in Harlem for the baseball legend. “I mean ‘Meet the Parents’ is one of my favorite movies,” confessed Jess Coleman, a committee member. “With all due respect to everything that’s been said here, I think granting this request would basically tear up all the work we did, all the guidelines we made.” Tammy Meltzer, the community board chair, said it could set a dangerous precedent for other local luminaries. “Fast forward 10 years and Taylor Swift, who lives just down the road from where we’re talking about, comes out and does an amazing amount of things,” she said. “And five years after that, she’d like to have her street renamed to ‘Taylor Swift Way.’ ”

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