Officials in New York City have chastened hotel owner Robert De Niro following moderations to the Greenwich Hotel.

De Niro – who has also made a name a Hollywood actor – is part owner of the property, which was renovated following approval by New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2004.

However, moderations did not match the specifications in the original design, with De Niro now having been ordered to reduce the size of a penthouse roof atop the property in order to ensure it better fits with the surrounding historic district.

De Niro, himself a TriBeCa resident, argued: “We worked on this project a long time; to make it as good as we could make it, and make it a place that I want to stay in.

“It was a labour of love,” he added. “We’ve really worked quite hard on it, and so anything that would be offensive would be offensive to me.”

No date has been set for changes at the hotel

However, his pleas fell on deaf ears, with commission members voting ten to zero in favour of forcing a change.

Architects Axel Vervoordt has proposed a replacement design, stating during the hearing: “It’s like creating a new style of, how do I say, basic architecture.

“It belongs as much to the future as it does to the past.”

While the new design was approved, no deadline was set for making the change.

Following the vote, committee chairman Robert Tierney said Mr De Niro’s star power had been of little use to the actor – who is known to many as the star of Meet the Fockers.

“There was no rush here,” he said.

“This was a slow and deliberative process.”