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Trump Tower Must Stop Selling 'Make America Great Again' Hats In Allegedly Public Lobby
By
Nathan Tempey
Published Jan 29, 2016
Modified Jan 29, 2016
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By
Nathan Tempey
Published Jan 29, 2016
Modified Jan 29, 2016
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Donald Trump's real estate company is planning to remove the kiosks that it put in the Trump Tower lobby sometime in the last decade to sell Donald swag, now admitting that the move violated a lucrative zoning arrangement that granted permission to build higher in exchange for maintaining the lobby as a public space. The New York Times reports that the city's Planning Department never signed off on the commercial displays, and have been trying to get rid of them for years.
In July, the city cited Trump, and on Thursday Trump's lawyer argued the case before the Environmental Control Board. The administrative judge did not issue a decision, but according to the Times, Trump Organization executive and attorney Michael Cohen said that he expected a negative result and that the two kiosks would be removed within a month, replaced by the marble bench that had been there before.
(photographynatalia/Flickr)
The paper outlined the background of the situation:
In 1979, when plans were being made final for the 66-story tower, the Trump Organization agreed to build and maintain the atrium and shops as what is known as a privately owned public space. In exchange, Mr. Trump could add roughly 20 stories to the building, about a third of its total height. The additional space, where Mr. Trump has a penthouse, is now worth about $500 million.
Cohen noted that the company had tried to comply in the past but claimed it had been stalled by bureaucratic barriers. The judge apparently wasn't very sympathetic to that.
The lobby makeover is just one example of so-called privately owned public spaces that have worked out much more usefully for developers than for the public. It is also but one example of Trump and his associates speaking in full-of-shit hyperbole.
"Mr. Trump is always compliant with all rules and regulations," Cohen told the Times.
That is a rather interesting statement, to say the least. The very least.
Tagged
crass commercialism
department of city planning
destroying the commons
donald trump
midtown
neoliberalism
oxymoron
privately owned public space
Trump Tower
Nathan Tempey
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