Under Cover

Departing Wils

Robert De Niro won’t have Madelyn Wils to kick around much longer. Wils, former Community Board 1 chairperson, resigned as president of De Niro’s Tribeca Film Institute March 1 and is planning to stay on as a consultant through the year.

“I have had a great two years there,” Wils, 50, told UnderCover. “Businesses evolve. Things change.”

She said she did not know if De Niro or the actor’s partner, Jane Rosenthal, would hire a replacement and she did not want to talk about the specific changes that led to her departure. Wils is continuing to work on the Tribeca Film Festival, which opens next month.

She said she is exploring different opportunities and did not rule out a job in government. Last year, Virginia Fields, Manhattan borough president at the time, abruptly ended Wils’ reign at C.B. 1 by not reappointing her to the board. She remains a Downtown power player though, sitting on the boards of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and at least for now, the Hudson River Park Trust.

Barbeque in the Heartland

The Seaport is getting some barbeque. Heartland Brewery on South and Fulton Sts. is now Heartland Brewery and Barbecue. Housed in a 125-year-old pub, the three-year-old company will now sell Kansas City barbecue to hungry New Yorkers.

“Barbecue goes great with beer,” said Heartland Brewery owner Jonathan Bloostein. “Sort of like beer and pizza.” With barbecue on the menu, Bloostein hopes to cater to the growing residential market in the neighborhood—the brewery delivers! What does he think of the post-Fish Market days in the Seaport? “It smells better,” he said. It smells so good that he’s cooking up a block party for this spring. Bloostein, who owns four other Heartlands in the city and a Spanky’s BBQ, has plans to shut down the cobbled Fulton block for an afternoon of beer and barbecue.

Picture perfect

Downtown Express’s own husband and wife photography team, Lorenzo Ciniglio and Jennifer Weisbord, has a new addition to their portfolio. Hannah Lily Ciniglio was born eight minutes before midnight on Thursday March 2, weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. “That’s very appropriate for me because I’m a night person,” said new mom Weisbord, 35. Hannah’s namesake, Weisbord’s maternal grandmother, is a night owl, too. Her middle name belongs to Weisbord’s paternal grandmother. The Tribeca residents have been busily photographing their newest model. “I’ve been taking all the pictures,” said Weisbord, although Ciniglio, 36, hasn’t been entirely shutter-shy. “He took the pictures of the birth, I couldn’t really do that.”

Walking the Tribeca line

Joaquin Phoenix may be no Oscar winner, but that’s not stopping him from eyeing tony Tribeca. Phoenix, who starred in the Johnny Cash bio pic, “Walk the Line,” has been shopping Tribeca lofts lately, but has yet to find a keeper, the New York Post reported.

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