By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — Robert De Niro affixed a small black sticker to the glass door of Locanda Verde Thursday afternoon to show his support for the 9/11 Memorial.
The brief photo op outside the actor’s TriBeCa restaurant launched the 9/11 memorial’s “Signs of Support” campaign, which encourages businesses to donate $100 or more to the memorial foundation. Donors receive a window sticker that says, “We Support the 9/11 Memorial. Forever Changed. Forever Connected.”
“Every single customer who walks into this restaurant will see that the restaurant supports the memorial,” said Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
De Niro, who is a board member of the memorial foundation, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not speak to the gathered crowd as they placed the sticker on Locanda Verde’s main door at Greenwich and North Moore streets shortly after noon on Thursday.
“What do you think? Level?” the mayor asked before he smoothed the sticker into place. De Niro nodded.
Daniels said afterward that he hopes the stickers will give the community the same feeling of rallying behind a common cause that they had immediately after 9/11.
Several dozen businesses are already participating, including Century 21, JPMorgan Chase and now De Niro’s TriBeCa restaurants, including Nobu and Tribeca Grill.
The 9/11 memorial is scheduled to open in 444 days, on the 10-year anniversary of the attacks, with the belowground museum opening a year later, Daniels said.
