De Niro Embroiled In Hotel Row

De Niro was granted planning permission for the seventh story for The Greenwich hotel in 2004, but now city officials have complained that the finished building looks nothing like the approved blueprints.

The star and his architect have asked New York's Landmarks Commission to retroactively "legalise" the new design and will appear before a panel of officials on 17 June (08) to fight their case.

But if De Niro fails to win the commission's approval, he will be forced to tear down the penthouse and rebuild according to the specifications of the original designs.

Landmark Commission spokesperson Elisabeth de Bourbon tells the New York Daily News, "We approved the addition of a seventh story in November 2004.

"Yet the structure that was built is steeper and its footprint bigger, making it significantly more visible (from the street) than originally allowed."

De Niro's boutique hotel, located in Manhattan's fashionable Tribeca district, opened in April (08), with rooms starting from $625 (GBP313) per night.