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'30 Rock' Star Judah Friedlander Disses Murray Hill

By Amy Zimmer | May 17, 2011 1:27pm | Updated on May 18, 2011 7:00am
Actor Judah Friedlander attends WNBC's Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting celebration at Rock Center Cafe on December 2, 2009.
Actor Judah Friedlander attends WNBC's Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting celebration at Rock Center Cafe on December 2, 2009.
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Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

By Amy Zimmer

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Trucker hat-wearing comedian and "30 Rock" star Judah Friedlander apparently has no love for the East Side neighborhood that's a favorite for the post-collegiate set and the bars they flock to.

"Murray Hill was just named most culture-less neighborhood in NYC of all time," the actor tweeted on his JudahWorldChamp account this weekend.

Friedlander's view garnered some support. Erica America, an on-air personality for Z100 New York, re-tweeted: "I wholeheartedly second that notion."

But Diane Bartow, president of the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association, refuted Friedlander's remark in an email to DNAinfo, claiming the area has everything in its "backyard."

"Let's see, we have the Morgan Library and Museum, the [New York] Comedy Club featuring wonderful plays, the CUNY Graduate Center," she wrote. "The Scandinavia House and its events, Jazz at the Kitano or Blue Smoke.

"I think that says it all!," Bartow wrote. "As it is said, 'much ado about nothing.'"

The neighborhood's ladies have inspired their own brand of wine: Murray Hill Girl red and white, which recently launched at a local shop.

But the area's transformation into a drinking magnet has angered some long-time residents. Some have discussed ways to curb pub crawls in the pub-laden area, as Business Affairs and Street Life Committee of Community Board 6, which spans the east side from 14th to 59th streets, is considering a possible ban on the bar-hopping events.