De Niro Group ‘Shocked’ at Losing N.Y. Project

A day after New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani announced a deal to build a movie studio at the old Brooklyn Navy Yard, actor Robert De Niro and Miramax Films co-Chairman Harvey Weinstein said they were “shocked and perplexed” that the $120-million-plus project had gone to rival partnership New York Studios.

De Niro, Weinstein and Jane Rosenthal--who runs Tribeca Productions with De Niro--on Thursday disputed the mayor’s contention that there was no firm agreement when he got the trio to join him at an upbeat news conference announcing the project in May.

“The mayor told us we had a deal, all that remained to do was dot the I’s and cross the T’s,” the trio said in a written statement. “There is no question that our proposal, from the leading film producers on the East Coast, is better for Brooklyn and the needs of the city.”

Giuliani said Wednesday that the rival group, headed by two young Brooklyn businessmen, would move more quickly to build as many as 12 sound stages, pay $60 million more and not require a $25-million loan from the city.