Robert De Niro says breaking into his NYC home after the Christmas season was ‘an unfortunate situation’

Robert De Niro opened up about breaking into his Manhattan townhouse, telling The Post it was a “sad situation” – and that he felt “bad” about a serial burglar allegedly caught opening Christmas presents under his tree.

The Oscar winner, 79, made the comments as he left a closed custody hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court over his divorce from ex-wife Grace Hightower.

“It’s just a sad situation – unfortunate for everyone,” De Niro said of the Dec. 19 burglary attempt while wearing a mask, hat and holding a newspaper to cover part of his face.

“It’s all sad,” he added. “I felt bad about this whole situation. I felt sorry for this man.”

A few days before Christmas, the Irishman actor’s rented mansion on the Upper East Side was broken into as he slept. Prosecutors said Shanis Aviles, 30, the accused burglar, used a knife and a “crowbar-like tool” to break into the home and was found by cops fiddling with his belongings.

De Niro’s divorce lawyer, Caroline Krauss, said Tuesday that it’s sad “that someone feels the need to do something like that, to which the star replied, ‘Yes.’

Asked if the incident scared him, the Taxi Driver actor and New York native replied, “No.”

Aviles allegedly broke into De Niro’s apartment around 2 a.m. and rummaged through his belongings in the basement, living room and upstairs, prosecutors said at a Manhattan criminal court hearing last month.

“She opened the Christmas presents under the tree and repacked what she wanted in a big bag,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dylan Los Huertos said during Aviles’ arraignment.

The accused thief even allegedly used the actor’s iPad and iPod and was arrested with his headphones in her pocket, prosecutors said.

De Niro was sleeping upstairs at the time of the incident, sources said.

Aviles has pleaded not guilty to burglary charges and is being held on $40,000 bail at Rikers Island. She is due back in court on Wednesday, court records show.

Meanwhile, lawyers for De Niro and Hightower declined to comment on the brief divorce hearing, short of confirming that the couple had yet to patch things up.

In the courtroom, De Niro removed his hat to reveal a shaved head, which he later said was due to “ringworm”, before saying that the bald head was for the upcoming role. “It’s complicated,” De Niro said.

On Tuesday, Manhattan Superior Court Judge Ariel Chesler closed the courtroom from the public, citing “confidential custody” issues in a divorce case.

The Raging Bull star quietly filed for divorce from Hightower in 2018. They were together for 20 years with a five-year break after the first divorce in 2003. They renewed their vows and remarried a year later.

The couple fought for custody of their 11-year-old daughter Helen Grace.

Hightower, a philanthropist and actress, had also previously demanded half of the income De Niro earned from Hollywood and commercial ventures, but an appeals court in 2021 denied that request.