Police were soon called to the swanky Mercer Hotel in SoHo, downtown Manhattan.
“Upon arrival, it was determined that Russel Crowe threw a phone at a hotel clerk,” the spokeswoman said, adding that the employee had been treated in hospital for a minor cut to the face.
The notoriously short-tempered Crowe, 41, was apparently angry at being unable to put a call through to Australia.
Crowe, who was in New York to promote his latest film “Cinderella Man,” was due to appear in criminal court later Monday.
The Australian actor won a best actor Oscar in 2001 for his portrayal of Maximus in “Gladiator.”