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Lucky Trump: City Gives The Donald Insanely Sweet Golf Course Deal
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 9, 2012
Modified Jan 9, 2012
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Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jan 9, 2012
Modified Jan 9, 2012
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Looks like the city is going to let Donald Trump build himself a PGA-regulation golf course in the Bronx. Cool, right? Our billionaire mayor loves golf. But, wait, there is a catch. The Parks Department if giving The Donald a 20-year deal to run the course at the $184 Ferry Point complex on the Throggs Neck waterfront...and is charging him nothing for the first four years. To paraphrase Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates, Trump will be paying less than a hotdog vendor in Manhattan to run a $125-per-weekend-game course (compared to $36-per-game at other city courses).
And the sweetheart deal gets sweeter. After four years of no rent (though he does have to build a $10 million clubhouse) Donald "will have to pay only seven percent of the gross receipts, or a minimum of $300,000. And by year 16, he pays just 10 percent, or $420,000, to the city." A far cry from the original deal, and much less than other courses in town (A Walk in the Park has a good breakdown of what other courses pay the city here).
So why is the cash-strapped Parks Department doing this? According to Vickie Karp, a spokeswoman for the Parks Department, "Our goal is to provide a public service, not to seek a return on an investment." Oh, THAT explains it! Especially since the nearby public in the nearby Throggs Neck housing project have been vocal that they'd "prefer a much larger neighborhood park with a public pool and recreational center. They’d also like to see funds allocated to fix the deplorable Ferry Point Park located on the west side of the Whitestone Bridge." (On the other hand "homeowners who invested in gated riverfront communities southeast of the site, in anticipation of property values skyrocketing, desperately want the course completed.") Sigh. Whatever, it'll make for a lovely Occupation when it is done in 2013.
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