The Introduction of Donald Trump to New York City

[no_hypocrisy]

In the early Eighties, a new figure was introduced to Manhattan, Donald Trump.

It was public relations roll-out. New York Magazine had a feature of "Meet The Trumps". Liz Smith of the New York Daily News had "society" press releases about him.

Then Trump was portrayed as a Boy Wonder with the Midas Golden Touch. He took The Grand Hyatt Hotel (near Grand Central Station) and remodeled it with a lot of municipal tax breaks and abatements. Then he built a monument to himself on Fifth Avenue, Trump Tower. Then in an attempt to make himself look like a humble contributor to the good of The City, he fixed Wollman Ice Rink in Central Park. He bought Mar-A-Lago. Then he ensconced himself in Atlantic City with three casinos. And purchased The Plaza Hotel.

He had the trappings of success: Properties in enviable locations. A yacht. An airline. Helicopters to move him around. Attempt to own a football league to compete with the NFL. (Think of it like pre-LIV Golf against the PGA.)

And for a while, he looked like he could do no wrong. So young with so much money. He MUST be a genius. Everyone forgot that he was from Queens, which was truly his motivation for getting this far.

And he sued anyone who got in his way. Put out press releases against his perceived "enemies". (Remember Leona Helmsley?)

I read and watched and kept track of Trump. I knew that having money and status wouldn't be enough for him. He wanted power. Not just power over Manhattan. Or the United States (and us). But a big chunk of the World.

I wish I weren't such a Cassandra.

[SocialDemocrat61]

1. FYI

The Grand Hyatt is next to Grand Central, not Penn Station.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Corrected. You're right.

Thank you!

[SocialDemocrat61]

5. You're very welcome ☺️

[PJMcK]

2. Trump has always been bullshit

New Yorkers knew he was an ass from the get-go.

Everything Trump did was superficial and phony. He failed at everything HE attempted. His PR was nonsense.His only successes came from others’ initiatives.

New Yorkers know crap when they see it!

This is why Trump never made his “move” into Manhattan from Queens. NYC has always known Trump is a phony BS artist. It’s not that New York is a blue state. We’ve had Republicans governors (Rockefeller, Pataki, etc.) and Republican mayors (Giuliani (!), Bloomberg, etc.). It’s that we’ve known Trump was bullshit since the 1980s.

By the way, the Grand Hyatt, Trump’s first big “success” was adjacent to Grand Central Station, not Penn Station.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Corrected. Thank you!

[PJMcK]

7. Not really an issue!

Trump scammed then-mayor Ed Koch into accepting a HUGE tax relief for the hotel meaning that Trump’s profits from the hotel would be tax free. Say what you will about Koch, a Democrat. Many of his policies have turned out to be terrible for the long-term health of our great city. His capitulations to Trump are part of the reason Trump was emboldened in his endeavors.

Curious factoid: the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan was the only property that Trump didn’t slap his name on. It’s no wonder then that it succeeded for years before finally crumbling like all Trump properties. His other buildings in NYC can’t remove his name fast enough. (A friend owns a coop on the Upper West Side that had Trump’s name on the building. During his first term, the coop board voted to remove his name since he didn’t own the property. When the workers showed up to take his name off the facade, they only removed the first letter of his name. I think I remember it was late on a Friday afternoon so for the weekend, the name RUMP was on the front of their building!)

We all detest this monster and the specific details of his disgusting life become a brown blur of continuous bullshit.

Serious question: What kind of person would want to belong to a Trump club? How vapid and stupid-rich would one have to be to think Trump represents success? His followers fall into two groups: stupid rich and stupid poor (who think they’ll be rich one day). Notice that they’re both stupid.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Well-analyzed. As for who would want to belong to a Trump club . . . .

My father would have. He was an unabashed social climber and would have relished telling people that Donald Trump recognized him at Mar-A-Lago and said Hello. (Not that Trump would have asked him to be in a foursome on the golf course . . . . .)

I'm certain you were being rhetorical. I wasn't.

[brush]

6. And all that apparent success came from inherited and stolen money.

He inherited big bucks from his father an stole some his dead brother's inheritance.

It didn't take long after the big build up that things started going bad in Atlantic City and the multiple casinos canibalizing each other.

Casinos are a way to just about print money...to everyone but trump.