Donald Trump

Gateway tunnel project faces another roadblock from the Trump administration

Photo via The Gateway Program Development Corporation

January 2, 2018

Gateway tunnel project faces another roadblock from the Trump administration

The multi-billion-dollar plan to build a second rail tunnel under the Hudson River and fix the deteriorating existing one has hit another setback after President Donald Trump's administration said on Friday it would not fund half of the project. As Crain's first reported, the Federal Transit Administration wrote a letter to Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie in response to their revised plan to fund $5.5 billion of the $12.7 billion project. A top FTA official said the administration would not recognize the prior deal made between President Barack Obama and the states, calling it "a non-existent '50/50' agreement between USDOT, New York, and New Jersey."
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In the middle of the night, Trump Soho gets rebranded as the Dominick Hotel

Image: Trump Soho; Donald Trump via Wikimedia Commons

December 22, 2017

In the middle of the night, Trump Soho gets rebranded as the Dominick Hotel

By Devin Gannon

After an 11-year economic slump, local protests and multiple lawsuits, the Trump Soho condominium and hotel at 246 Spring Street has officially become the Dominick Hotel and Spa. Last month, the Trump Organization cut ties with the property after making a deal with the building’s owner, CIM Group, to step away from the hotel amid a decline in room prices. Between 11 pm on Wednesday and 3 am on Thursday, workers removed the Trump Soho lettering from the facade of the glitzy 46-story hotel, literally erasing President Trump's association with the building.
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Events & Things To Do

NY and NJ commit $5B to the Hudson River tunnel project, but still no word from Trump

Photo via The Gateway Program Development Corporation

December 15, 2017

NY and NJ commit $5B to the Hudson River tunnel project, but still no word from Trump

By Devin Gannon

Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Chris Christie on Thursday announced commitments to totally fund New York and New Jersey's share of the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project. The project aims to fix the 107-year-old tunnel damaged by seawater during Hurricane Sandy. It serves as the only intercity passenger rail crossing into NYC from NJ, a critical link for 200,000 daily passengers. Although two state officials wrote letters to the U.S. Department of Transportation detailing their combined $5.5 billion funding of the project through various agencies, the Trump administration has not agreed to fund the rest of the $12.7 billion project. As Crain's reported, a senior official at DOT called the states' funding commitment "entirely unserious."
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Sales at NYC’s 11 Trump-branded condos fall below average for the first time ever

Trump International via Wiki Commons; Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

December 13, 2017

Sales at NYC’s 11 Trump-branded condos fall below average for the first time ever

By Dana Schulz

As we close in on Donald Trump's first full year as President, it's interesting to look at his business endeavors have fared, and here in NYC, it looks as though the Donald's real estate empire is starting to crumble. According to CityRealty's Year-End Manhattan Market Report, both average sales price and average price per square foot at the 11 Trump-branded condos fell below the Manhattan condo average for the first time ever. Not surprisingly, the Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West was the worst-performing, with average prices falling 27 percent. One of the company's most visible buildings, the condo was often the site of protests against the Trump administration throughout the year.
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Real Estate Trends

Trump dumps Soho hotel after glitzy launch and 11-year slump

Image: Trump Soho; Donald Trump via Wikimedia Commons.

November 27, 2017

Trump dumps Soho hotel after glitzy launch and 11-year slump

By Michelle Cohen

New York City has never, barring perhaps a short stretch of the go-go '80s, been Trump country. But the Trump Organization's high-profile Midtown properties blend with the area's flow of international money and glamour-seeking tourists. Much further downtown, the Trump Soho condominium/hotel at 246 Spring Street has been at best a minor embarrassment in the neighborhood since the ambitious announcement of its birth on Donald J. Trump's TV show "The Apprentice" 11 years ago. Now, what was launched as "an awe-inspiring masterpiece," is being severed from the Trump fold, the New York Times reports. In addition to poor economic performance, the 46-story luxury hotel has attracted opposition from locals since its arrival, protests during Trump's candidacy and scrutiny after the election due to its ties to a Russian dealmaker.
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Photo via pixabay

November 20, 2017

Number of tourists visiting NYC hits record high despite drop in international visitors

By Devin Gannon

New estimates from the city’s tourism promotion agency, NYC & Company, show that the number of visitors to New York City will increase again this year, making 2017 the eighth straight year of record-high tourism. As the New York Times reported, the city will take in 61.8 million visitors this year, an increase from 60.5 million visitors in 2016. However, the agency does expect the first drop in international visitors to the city since 2009, due to President Donald Trump’s “America First” rhetoric and his revised restricted travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.
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Policy

Photo of Trump Tower via Krystal T’s Flickr

November 10, 2017

Trump Tower prices slide since 2015 presidential campaign

By Michelle Cohen

Sales prices at the tony Midtown condo building at 721 Fifth Avenue have dropped sharply since Donald Trump began his presidential campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal. The median sale price and average price per square foot are down since 2015 and are now reaching the lows experienced during the last financial crisis. Brokers aren't exactly sure whether the "Trump effect" has caused the slump–including issues specific to the tower such as heightened security, protests, and a general antipathy toward all things Trump–or it's part of an overall softening of the luxury condo market.
Is it the Curse of Trump?

Real Estate Trends

A previous rendering of 666 Fifth Avenue, courtesy of Kushner Companies/Zaha Hadid Architects

October 16, 2017

Kushner Companies’ plan for extensive renovations at 666 Fifth Avenue rejected by Vornado

By Devin Gannon

Instead of the 41-story Midtown tower becoming an 80-story office building with hotel rooms and luxury housing, 666 Fifth Avenue will now get a much more simple upgrade. According to Bloomberg, Vornado Realty Trust, the project’s partner alongside Kushner Companies, told brokers the property will remain an office building, with“mundane” renovations planned. As one of the most financially troubled developments for Kushner Cos., the Fifth Ave project has been losing money since its purchase was first coordinated by Jared Kushner, currently a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, in 2007.
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Policy

De Blasio releases plan for New York City to follow Paris climate agreement

Photo via pixabay

October 4, 2017

De Blasio releases plan for New York City to follow Paris climate agreement

By Devin Gannon

Following President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement in June, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order that committed New York City to honor the standards of the accord, which is an international negotiation aimed to mitigate climate change worldwide. On Tuesday, de Blasio released an action plan that details ways to lower the city’s carbon footprint, reduce 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030 and introduce a citywide single-stream recycling program by 2020. New York City is the first metropolitan area to release a Paris Agreement-compatible action plan, according to the report.
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Policy

Donald Trump’s Empire State Building doodle expected to fetch $12,000 at auction

Sketch via Julien’s Auctions; Donald Trump via Wiki Commons

September 28, 2017

Donald Trump’s Empire State Building doodle expected to fetch $12,000 at auction

By Dana Schulz

Update 10/20/17: Crain's reports that Trump’s doodle has sold at auction for $16,000. The buyer has not been named, but a portion of the sale will benefit Connecticut National Public Radio station WHDD-FM. He may not have had any formal political experience before taking office, but Donald Trump was certainly well versed in doodling. In July, a 2005 charity auction sketch he made of the NYC skyline, which not surprisingly depicts Trump Tower front and center among anonymous buildings, sold at auction for an incredible $29,184. And now, as reported by the Guardian, a similarly elementary sketch he did of the Empire State Building is also headed to auction, where it's expected to fetch up to $12,000, a portion of which will be donated to National Public Radio (NPR). Interestingly, Trump did the signed drawing in 1995, the year after he began his fraught attempt to take ownership of the landmark building.
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No one wants to rent Ivanka Trump’s Park Avenue apartment

By Devin Gannon

After months of being on the market, the Manhattan pad of President Donald Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump just won’t rent, despite three substantial price chops. The first daughter first purchased the two-bedroom, two bathroom condo at 502 Park Avenue in 2004 for $1.5 million. Upon her father’s election, Ivanka listed the apartment at Trump Park Avenue in November for $15,000 per month. In February, the price dropped to $13,000 per month. On Tuesday, the asking price was $10,450 per month, a 30 percent price cut since the presidential election, according to Bloomberg.
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Trump is claiming a $45K tax break by calling Trump Tower his primary residence

Photo of Trump Tower courtesy of Krystal T’s Flickr

September 18, 2017

Trump is claiming a $45K tax break by calling Trump Tower his primary residence

By Devin Gannon

While this week marks just the third time President Donald Trump has visited New York City since his January inauguration, property taxes he filed after the election designate Trump Tower as his primary residence. As the Real Deal reported, Trump will save $45,000 by calling his penthouse his main home, utilizing a tax credit known as the “coop condo abatement.” The credit can be used by owner-occupied co-ops and condos and takes off 28.1 percent of property taxes for the unit. Because of the tax abatement, the president has saved a little under $200,000 on his taxes over the last five years.
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Refugees are renting out Trump’s childhood home during this week’s UN General Assembly

Photo courtesy of Laffey Fine Homes from a previous listing

September 18, 2017

Refugees are renting out Trump’s childhood home during this week’s UN General Assembly

By Devin Gannon

With President Donald Trump back in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this week, a group of refugees is staying at the president’s childhood home, renting the Queens property through Airbnb. The Jamacia Estates home at 85-15 Wareham Place is being rented by Oxfam, an anti-poverty organization, to bring attention to the refugee crisis (h/t NY Post). The group invited four refugees to talk with journalists at the rental, highlighting their concern with Trump’s travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries and all refugees that was introduced in January. After facing multiple legal challenges, the Supreme Court allowed the refugee policy to remain temporarily, but justices will hear arguments about the travel ban on Oct. 10.
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A rendering of 666 Fifth Avenue, courtesy of Kushner Companies/Zaha Hadid Architects

September 14, 2017

Problems at 666 Fifth Avenue tower linked to Jared Kushner’s White House role

By Devin Gannon

In 2007, Kushner Companies purchased a 41-story tower in Midtown for $1.8 billion, which was the most expensive real estate deal ever in the U.S. at the time. The transaction of 666 Fifth Avenue, coordinated by Jared Kushner, now a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, was ill-timed, making the purchase just before the economic recession. As the Washington Post reported, the Fifth Avenue project is one of the most financially troubled for Kushner Cos., with one-fourth of office space empty, and its lease revenue not covering monthly interest payments. While Kushner has divested his stake in the property to avoid conflicts of interest, the property's value has dropped and foreign entities have withdrawn financial support. Currently, Kushner’s dealings are under investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, as part of the broader investigation into Russian collusion with the Trump campaign.
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Trump appears receptive to funding multi-billion Gateway tunnel project

The path for a future Hudson River tunnel is being preserved at Hudson Yards, photo via Amtrak

September 8, 2017

Trump appears receptive to funding multi-billion Gateway tunnel project

By Devin Gannon

Even though the U.S. Department of Transportation withdrew in July from the board that oversees the Gateway Program, President Trump is keeping an open-mind about the nearly $30 billion project that would add a second rail beneath the Hudson River. According to the Daily News, during a meeting at the White House between New York and New Jersey elected officials and the Trump administration, the president showed interest in the project and appeared to support having the federal government pay for half of the cost. The new train tunnel under the Hudson would provide a critical link between NJ and Penn Station.
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Queens official wants Trump State Park renamed to honor Charlottesville victim

Photo via Wikimedia

September 7, 2017

Queens official wants Trump State Park renamed to honor Charlottesville victim

By Devin Gannon

Assembly Member Nily Rozic, a Democrat who represents Queens, is expected to introduce a bill that would change the name of a state park named after President Donald Trump. Rozic’s bill would rename the park to honor Heather Heyer, the woman killed last month by a white supremacist in Charlottesville. As BuzzFeed first reported, a similar push was made in both houses of the state legislature and from local members of Congress in 2015 and 2016. Trump donated the 436 acres of land to New York State in 2006 on the condition his name be “prominently displayed.”
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Policy

Trump could earn $14M from the sale of a Brooklyn housing complex he co-owns

Starrett City photo via Matt Green on Flickr, President Trump photo via Wikimedia

September 7, 2017

Trump could earn $14M from the sale of a Brooklyn housing complex he co-owns

By Devin Gannon

The owners of Starrett City, the largest federally subsidized housing project in the country, recently announced they found a buyer for the $850 million Brooklyn development. Located in East New York, Starrett City sits on 145 acres and includes 5,881 affordable apartments for 15,000 residents. As the New York Times reported, President Donald Trump partially owns the housing development and will benefit from the sale of the property. Since the sale requires federal approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and state officials, this puts the president on both sides of the agreement, creating a potential conflict of interest for him.
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Photo of Trump Village West via Trump 4 West

August 21, 2017

Loss of affordability at Coney Island’s Trump Village highlights issues with the city’s Mitchell-Lama program

By Devin Gannon

Built by Donald Trump’s father, Fred, in 1964, Trump Village in Coney Island features seven 23-story towers with 3,700 co-op and rental apartments. To pay for the $70 million project, which would total $564 million today, Fred Trump used Mitchell-Lama, a government program that granted financial incentives in exchange for setting aside affordable housing. The typical rental contract lasts 20 years, and after that, landlords can opt-out of the program. As Crain’s reported, Trump Village became one of the first co-ops to exit the Mitchell-Lama program in 2007, letting residents sell their apartments for whatever the market allowed. Owners of 38,000 Mitchell-Lama apartments, representing 28% of the program's housing, have left in the past 20 years. But as the value of these apartments, which were once affordable, keeps rising, New Yorkers looking for affordable housing there, and other former Mitchell-Lama apartments, may be out of luck.
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De Blasio and Cuomo announce plans to eradicate ‘symbols of hate’ in New York

Image via Alisdare Hickson/flickr

August 17, 2017

De Blasio and Cuomo announce plans to eradicate ‘symbols of hate’ in New York

By Devin Gannon

After a violent weekend led by white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, New York officials have announced plans to review and remove controversial public structures. Mayor de Blasio said on Wednesday the city will conduct a 90-day review of “all symbols of hate on city property,” by putting together a panel of experts and community leaders who will make recommendations for items to take down (h/t NY Post). On Wednesday, Governor Cuomo called upon the United States Army to reconsider its decision to keep the street names that honor Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, two Confederate leaders, at Fort Hamilton. Cuomo also announced the removal of the busts of Lee and Jackson from CUNY’s Hall of Fame for Great Americans in the Bronx.
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Donald Trump’s childhood home in Queens is renting for $725/night on Airbnb

Photo courtesy of Laffey Fine Homes from a previous listing

August 9, 2017

Donald Trump’s childhood home in Queens is renting for $725/night on Airbnb

By Devin Gannon

President Trump, who is currently in New Jersey on a 17-day vacation, announced that he will travel to Trump Tower this Sunday. While his Midtown penthouse will be getting a lot of attention this weekend, his childhood home in Queens is also making headlines. The home at 85-15 Wareham Place is up for rent on Airbnb, according to a recent listing on the company’s website (h/t NY Post). The modest Tudor style home in Jamaica Estates is listed for as much as $725 per night. The home features five bedrooms, sleeps 20 people, and includes a life-size cut out of POTUS in the living room. Even though the president only lived there until he was four years old, according to the listing, “this is a unique and special opportunity to stay in the home of a sitting president.”
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Celebrities

After lease dispute, Secret Service vacates Trump Tower for trailer outside

Photo of Trump Tower via Krystal T’s Flickr

August 4, 2017

After lease dispute, Secret Service vacates Trump Tower for trailer outside

By Devin Gannon

The Secret Service has left its central command post inside Trump Tower after an argument between the agency and the Trump Organization over the lease agreement for the space. While the Secret Service previously placed its supervisors and backup agents one floor below the president's apartment, the Washington Post reported that in early July, the agents were relegated to a trailer on the sidewalk. Although President Trump has not been to his eponymous tower since he was inaugurated in January, the Secret Service still treats Trump Tower as the president’s permanent residence.
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Celebrities

Donald Trump’s sketch of the Manhattan skyline sells for $29,184 at auction

Donald Trump’s 2005 Manhattan skyline sketch with Trump Tower in the center. (Nate D. Sanders Auctions)

July 28, 2017

Donald Trump’s sketch of the Manhattan skyline sells for $29,184 at auction

By Michelle Cohen

Update 7/28/17: Artnet reports that Trump's doodle has sold at auction for $29,184. “It’s a piece of art from a U.S. President, so it’s attracted interest from not just Trump followers, but also presidential memorabilia collectors,” Michael Kirk of Nate D. Sanders auctioneers told the art site. “It’s received a lot of global press, so the interest level has been high. The piece has received some five times more than our normal auction traffic." A charity auction sketch made by future president Donald Trump in 2005 will be headed for the auction block once again, according to the Washington Post. The drawing shows the artist's rendition of the Manhattan skyline with Trump Tower anchoring the center spot in a crowd of anonymous buildings.
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Nearly complete tunnels under Hudson Yards need more funding to finish

Photo of Hudson Yards Amtrak tunnel encasement via Tutor Perini

July 21, 2017

Nearly complete tunnels under Hudson Yards need more funding to finish

By Devin Gannon

Currently, the first part of two box tunnels under the Hudson Yards development, below 10th and 11th Avenues on Manhattan’s west side, sits mostly finished. While construction of the final piece has yet to begin, when it’s complete the remaining section would link the tubes to the proposed new tunnel under the Hudson River, providing better access to Penn Station. However, according to the New York Times, both tunnel projects, which fall under the multi-billion dollar Gateway Program, lack the funding needed to finish.
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July 7, 2017

Hudson River tunnel project’s price tag jumps nearly 50 percent to $13 billion

By Devin Gannon

According to a report released Thursday by the federal government, constructing a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River and repairing the existing one could cost nearly $13 billion, almost a 50 percent increase from an earlier $7.7 billion estimate. Transit officials say they are moving forward with the project because of its urgency; the two-track tunnel, which takes Amtrak riders and NJ Transit commuters to and from New York City, is over 100 years old and was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy. According to Crain’s, the report, which evaluated the plan’s environmental and economic impacts, follows the recent withdrawal of the U.S. Transportation Department from the Gateway corporation board.
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U.S. Department of Transportation backs out of group overseeing Hudson River tunnel project

The two tunnels under the Hudson River that need repair, image via Amtrak

July 5, 2017

U.S. Department of Transportation backs out of group overseeing Hudson River tunnel project

By Devin Gannon

Despite forming an infrastructure task force made up of two New York-based developers, the Trump administration has withdrawn from the board of the Gateway Program, a $23.9 billion project that would add a second rail beneath the Hudson River. According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said it is not their “practice to serve in such a capacity on other local transportation projects.” As the number of commuters entering the city from NJ continues to grow, the purpose of the Gateway Program was to double rail capacity between the two states as well as fix the Hudson River tunnel’s crumbling infrastructure, which was damaged by severe flooding during Hurricane Sandy. If one of the two tubes needs to be shut down before a new tunnel is built, train capacity into NY would be reduced by 75 percent.
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