April 8, 2008

US & CANADA | US | NEW YORK

A Tribeca Tale

By Sandra Ramani

Robert De Niro debuts his downtown hotel — but please, no pictures.

view map

Like some covert operation out of The Good Shepherd, Robert De Niro has kept the details of his new Greenwich Hotel close to the vest –- even after doors opened yesterday. Well, the doors didn’t exactly open: security was tight, and anyone who even attempted to snap pictures inside the Tribeca bolthole got the boot. (A flack told globorati that exclusive first pics have been promised elsewhere.)

But ever since the 88-room Greenwich was supposed to open in 2006 (back then it was simply called “Downtown Hotel”), there’s been no shortage of breathless rumors enumerating its super-luxe details. (A Tuscan-style courtyard! Tibetan silk rugs!! Moroccan tile bathrooms!!) Reality, turns out, has surpassed the mark: In addition to such exotic trappings, guestrooms feature 10-foot ceilings, Siberian oak floors and private libraries, while a lantern-lit swimming pool is set inside a 250-year-old Japanese wood-and-bamboo farmhouse.

Now don’t get too excited: the hotel will be closed again April 21-May 5. That’s so De Niro’s Hollywood mob can have its own plush pad for the Tribeca Film Festival –- Bobby’s other baby, which he launched in 2001 as a post-9-11 pick-me-up for his lower Manhattan hood. This year’s star-studded roster includes the U.S. premieres of John Cusack’s new action-comedy War, Inc. and Madonna’s Malawi documentary I Am Because We Are. Afterwards though, when the hotel officially reopens to the rest of us, its godfather has vowed that the spa and clubby lounges will be exclusively for guests. Meaning, for now, we’ll have to make do with the rest of “Bobby Row” — which includes two De Niro-owned restaurants, the Tribeca Film Center & Institute and a luxury condo development. Maybe one day he’ll even open a comedy club — we always did have a soft spot for Rupert Pupkin.