Robert De Niro Hotel Races Setback In Development 6/18/08

Movie star Robert De Niro's New York hotel development is facing a setback - building commissioners in the city have ordered him to scrap the luxurious penthouse suite and start again.

De Niro's $43 million (£21.5 million) Greenwich Hotel opened its doors in April (08). The most expensive room is a vast suite on the top of the six-story building in the city's TriBeCa district. But New York building bosses have told him to trim down the room, because it's too big and too visible from the street.

A spokesperson for the Landmark's Preservation Commission says, "It's bulkier, and it occupies about 1,200 more square feet on the roof. The commission directed them to modify the rooftop and it's up to the developer to come up with plans to do so."

De Niro responded with an apology to the commission for the expansion, claiming that although his 88-room building is a "labor of love", he is determined to follow the commission's strict guidelines.

He says, "We worked on this project a long time and tried to make it as good as we could - that was the intent. Anything that would be offensive to anyone would be offensive to me."