Donald Trump

The line separating Trump's personal business interests and his role as President of the United States continues to blur, as the Washington Post reports today that the Pentagon may lease "a limited amount of space" in Trump Tower. In doing so, the U.S. Defense Department says it will be able to better protect Trump's family, as Melania and Barron have decided to remain in the couple's gilded Trump Tower penthouse, and Donald himself when he is town. The move, however, has one major and obvious sticking point: rent on the space would need to be paid to the Trump Organization—and taxpayer dollars would be used to foot the bill.
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Policy

January 31, 2017

De Blasio defends sanctuary city status, saying withheld funds would be millions, not billions

In the state's capital on Monday, Mayor de Blasio spoke in defense of various policies including NYC's "sanctuary city" designation, WNYC reports. The mayor was in Albany to ask state legislators for funding for items like education, public health and affordable housing. In the face of criticism from Staten Island assembly members Nicole Malliotakis and Ron Castorina (both Republicans), who questioned the mayor's pledge not to aid in the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants by the new administration, de Blasio said he had discussed the issue with then-President-elect Trump, and would continue to resist mass deportation for "moral, economic and security reasons." Though Castorina said de Blasio would be risking the loss of billions of dollars in federal aid, the mayor said the money withheld by the federal government would only be $100-150 million and that his legal advisers say the city could fight back in court.
Sanctuary cities are safer

January 25, 2017

Trump’s modest childhood home sells at auction, see new photos inside

Going, going, gone... Today reports that Donald Trump's childhood home has traded hands once again, officially selling at auction last week to an undisclosed buyer for an undisclosed amount. As 6sqft previously reported, the Jamaica, Queens house was purchased by Manhattan real estate developer Michael Davis for $1.4 million in January from a couple who had owned the Trump memento since 2008 (they shelled out just $782,500). Davis' intent from the outset was to flip the property for a hefty return, and while no auction price has been revealed, early estimates projected a closing figure of around $10 million—much thanks to the Donald's presidential win (Trump himself even joked about buying it on the Tonight Show). New photos from the auction also give us additional views into the modest Tudor abode.
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Celebrities

January 25, 2017

Trump’s infrastructure plan may include $26B+ for NYC’s Gateway Project and Second Avenue Subway

Reporters at McClatchy obtained documents that the Trump transition team provided to the National Governor’s Association detailing 50 projects across the country that would take priority under the President's proposed $1 trillion infrastructure plan, and among them are two NYC-based projects. The Gateway Project, which would repair the aging and Sandy-damaged Hudson River rail tunnels and build a new one, would cost $12 billion and create 34,000 jobs. Phases two and three of the Second Avenue Subway would cost $14.2 billion and create 16,000 direct jobs.
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January 23, 2017

Driving Barron Trump to school won’t leave NYC in total traffic chaos

It appears the Secret Service and NYPD are indeed taking measures to minimize the disruption caused by Melania and Barron staying put in NYC. TMZ writes that instead of implementing full street closures any time the young Trump moves to and from school, streets will be blocked off in a rolling pattern to accommodate the boy's armed motorcade.
more on the plan set out here

January 17, 2017

Trump to name New York developers Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth to oversee new infrastructure council

President-elect Donald Trump has previously outlined his $1 trillion infrastructure plan not just as a means to repair and build bridges and roads, but as a real estate platform for private entities to build and subsequently own public works such as schools, hospitals, or energy pipeline expansions through $137 billion in tax credits. So it comes as no surprise that he's tapped two of his longtime buddies and big-time New York real estate developers to head up the new council that will monitor this spending. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump asked Richard LeFrak and Vornado's Steven Roth to manage this council of 15 to 20 builders and engineers, referring to the men as "pros" because "...all their lives, they build. They build under-budget, ahead of schedule."
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Policy

January 11, 2017

Area businesses estimate $40M in lost revenue because of Trump Tower ‘occupied zone’

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to remain in his Manhattan HQ is causing concern among businesses in the area. Business leaders and local officials spoke out Tuesday at a City Council hearing on the threat that blocked sidewalks and traffic snarls are posing to jobs, tax revenues, tourist appeal and “global reputation,” reports Crain’s. Local merchants claim they’ve taken a significant hit, and that many are considering not renewing their leases or moving elsewhere. Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District president Tom Cusack estimated that local businesses have lost $40 million in revenue since Election Day due to the security maze that the area surrounding Trump Tower has become.
Business leaders call for 'extraordinary action'

Celebrities

January 10, 2017

5th Avenue needs pedestrian lanes to accommodate Trump, says transit expert Janette Sadik-Khan

By Hannah Frishberg

Reserving three of 5th Avenue's five traffic lanes for pedestrians will ease the traffic paralysis that President-elect Donald Trump's continued residence in his 56th Street tower has caused, former NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan argues. In an op-ed for the New York Times yesterday Sadik-Khan, a principal with Bloomberg Associates and a key player in the introduction of the Times Square Pedestrian Plaza, angled 5th Avenue's traffic problem as a bipartisan issue that requires change to get better. With the President-elect saying he plans on visiting his Manhattan home frequently even once he has moved to the White House, it is clear New York will need to adapt or risk forever needing to budget an extra three hours to get through Midtown.
Without big changes, the chaos isn't going to improve

January 9, 2017

Jared Kushner will leave role as CEO of Kushner Companies

In just 11 more days, Donald Trump will take office as the 45th President of the United States. And just as Trump is gearing up for his four-year term, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump are preparing to take on major roles as well. Last week it was revealed that the pair would be moving into a six-bedroom, $5.5 million mansion in D.C., and now the New York Times reports that Kushner will step down as CEO of Kushner Companies as he transitions from real estate mogul to full-time presidential advisor.
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Manhattan real estate investor bought Donald Trump’s childhood home sight unseen for $1.4M

At the end of last month, 6sqft revealed that an anonymous New York investor had bought Donald Trump's childhood home in Jamaica Estates, Queens with plans to flip it at auction this month and turn a hefty profit. The Post has now learned that the mystery buyer--and democrat-turned Marco Rubio supporter--is Manhattan real estate mogul Michael Davis. Without ever having driven past the Tudor-style home at 85-15 Wareham Place, Davis dropped $1,390,500 on the piece of Trump ephemera, which he still plans to bring to auction next week.
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December 28, 2016

City says Trump Tower evacuations to be ‘a common occurrence’

Yesterday afternoon, after a suspicious package was found in the building atrium, Trump Tower was evacuated along with the entire area between 50th and 59th Streets and Madison and 6th Avenues. Ultimately, it was found to be a bag of children's toys left behind, but in a tweet after the incident, de Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips said such evacuations at the Tower "will be a common occurrence." According to the Daily News, Trump spokesman Dan Scavino sent out a thank you tweet, to which Phillips replied, "No problem. We’ll send you the bill."
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Celebrities

December 21, 2016

Mystery investor buys Donald Trump’s childhood home in hopes of flipping it

Hoping to cash in on Trump-mania, an anonymous New York investor scooped up the President Elect's childhood home in Jamaica Estates, Queens in the hopes of bringing it to auction next month and turning a profit. Mansion Global got the news from auctioneers Paramount Realty USA, who say the bidding will take place on January 17th. Previous reports have estimated that the six-bedroom, Tudor-style home that Trump's father Fred built could fetch up to ten times its most recent $1.2 million ask, or a whopping $10 million.
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Celebrities

December 16, 2016

Trump isn’t the first president-elect with a New York City home base, FDR stayed close too

Just when you thought you'd get to enjoy a low-key pre-holiday Friday, the New York Times compares Donald Trump to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. While just 12 blocks away Trump Tower snarls traffic and confounds anything resembling daily life in the surrounding area with a round-the-clock hive of security details, reporters and protesters—and of course the prez-elect himself, his entourage and various cabinet-members-to-be—Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute director Harold Holzer reminds us of another presidency whose earliest days were spent ensconced in a NYC residence. Of the century-old double-width townhouse at at 47-49 East 65th Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, now the Institute's home, Holzer says, “It was the Trump Tower of 1932-33.” The 65th Street residence was the longtime home of Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Definitely not an apples-to-apples comparison

History

December 15, 2016

NYPD says it needs 200 cops and $500,000 a day to secure Trump Tower

Just over a week ago, Mayor de Blasio asked the federal government for $35 million to cover Donald Trump's increased security for the 73 days from the November 8th election to the January 20th inauguration. Two days later, congress came back with a low-ball offer of only $7 million, to which the Mayor responded that "NYC taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill to protect Trump Tower." Backing him up, the NYPD conducted its own analysis, which, as the Daily News shares, confirms the city's $500,000 a day security bill and concludes that nearly 200 cops are needed each day to secure the area around Trump Tower.
More ahead

Celebrities

December 14, 2016

Ivanka Trump puts her stodgy Park Avenue pad up for sale, asks $4.1M

It looks like America's next first daughter—and quasi-first lady—is looking to slim down her real estate holdings. As Luxury Listings NYC first reports, Ivanka Trump has just listed her apartment at 502 Park Avenue for $4.1 million. The somewhat bland spread hosts two bedrooms and two baths and is outfitted in a palette of cream and powdery blue hues. Although one might think the sale has something to do with her father's recent presidential victory—as not even two weeks ago, CNN reported that she and husband Jared Kusher were house hunting in Washington D.C.—Ivanka, in fact, also owns one the building's penthouses, which she bought for $16 million nearly six years ago. It's also been no secret that the Trump/Kushner brood has been mulling a move into the Puck Penthouses, one of Jared's beautiful ultra-luxe developments.
have a closer look inside

December 7, 2016

Congress will only cover $7M of NYC’s $35M Trump security bill

Just two days after Mayor de Blasio formally requested $35 million in federal funding to cover security at Trump Tower for the 73 days from the November 8th election to inauguration day on January 20th, republicans in Congress decided to earmark a mere $7 million towards protecting the President Elect while he's in the Big Apple. Of the pending decision, the Mayor said, "NYC taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill to protect Trump Tower. DC must step up to pay us back what we’re owed," reports the Post.
The full scoop

Celebrities

December 2, 2016

Officials launch petition to have federal government pay for Trump Tower security, not New Yorkers

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member Dan Garodnick won't have New York City shafted with the bill for “White House North.” The pair have launched a petition demanding that the federal government pony up whatever cash is needed to keep Trump Tower secure during the president-elect's term of office. As 6sqft previously reported, Trump hopes to spend weekends and even some weeknights at the Midtown tower over the next four years, particularly as wife Melania will stay put until son Barron finishes school—and more simply because Trump likes waking up in his own bed. It has been estimated that turning Trump Tower into a 24/7 armed fortress will cost New York City taxpayers $1 million a day, and the total bill over the president-elect's four-year term could swell beyond $1 billion.
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Celebrities

November 28, 2016

Taxpayers could be footing $3M annual bill to move Secret Service into Trump Tower

Plans are underway to turn what the New York Times calls “White House North” into an armed bunker as the president-elect’s family defers D.C.. As 6sqft reported last week, Donald Trump has said he'd like his family to remain in Trump Tower, though the gilded Fifth Avenue fortress that Trump, wife Melania and son Barron call home is particularly difficult to secure. The round-the-clock protection the family has been receiving from the NYPD has come at a cost to the city of over $1 million a day. Now, the New York Post reports that the Secret Service is in talks with the Trump Organization over plans to occupy two floors of the 68-story tower. It's standard policy for the federal agency to provide full protection for every president at their various homes–it cost around $2 million a year for the U.S. Coast Guard to protect George H. W. Bush’s estate in Kennebunkport, Maine during his presidency, for example. But in this instance taxpayers would be paying the incoming president's own company for the space in a lease deal which could cost more than $3 million a year.
Wait, what??

Celebrities

Image Kushner Co./LIVWRK

November 28, 2016

Spotlight on Jared Kushner, real estate wunderkind and unexpected presidential advisor

By Emily Nonko

Our newest president’s right hand man got his start—much like Donald Trump—as a New York real estate developer. Kushner Companies is a private family real estate company now run by Jared Kushner, husband of Ivanka Trump and son of Charles Kushner, who founded the firm in 1985. Kushner, as Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was an early […]

Where I Work

Police presence around Trump Tower, via latecapitalism/Instagram

November 22, 2016

It costs NYC more than $1M a day to protect Donald Trump

Though part of Fifth Avenue will remain open in front of Trump Tower, the overall logistics of securing the area surrounding the building are still a bit of a nightmare for the NYPD and Secret Service, who must deal with traffic snarls, protests, security checkpoints, and angry pedestrians. If this wasn't enough of a cause for concern, CNN Money reports that the cost of protecting Donald Trump is more than $1 million a day, a figure that won't decrease any time soon since the president elect claims he'll spend weekends in his penthouse and Melania and Barron will continue to live there until the end of the school year. Plus, all of Trump's adult children and grandchildren live in the city and are therefore entitled to Secret Service protection.
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Celebrities

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November 21, 2016

Fifth Avenue shutdown won’t happen even though Trump’s family will stay put

Between swarms of protestors outside the building and Donald Trump's claims that he'll spend weekends at his penthouse, the NYPD has spent the last week mulling a shutdown of Fifth Avenue in and around Trump Tower. And even though Melania and ten-year-old Barron will remain in the 24-karat gold-covered triplex instead of moving to the White House, Mayor de Blasio announced that the stretch of the Avenue in front of the building will remain open to vehicular traffic, adding that, "We have never had a situation where the president of the United States would be here on such a regular basis. But the N.Y.P.D. is up to the challenge, and the City of New York is up to the challenge."
And it's quite the challenge

Celebrities

November 16, 2016

Starchitect Frank Gehry may self-exile to France now that Trump’s been elected

Outspoken starchitect Frank Gehry is taking the whole "I'm moving if Trump wins" thing quite literally. The Canadian-born, LA-based architect told French paper La Croix just before the election that President Francois Hollande assured him he could go into exile in France if Trump became president. But as ArtNet points out, a possible relocation may have more to do with a personal beef than political leanings. In 2010, Gehry's 8 Spruce Street surpassed Trump World Tower as the city's tallest residential building, and we know how feisty the Donald gets when it comes to size...
The rest of the story

November 16, 2016

VIDEO: Go inside Donald Trump’s personal office in Trump Tower

Donald Trump has already made it clear that he hopes to ditch convention and spend weekends in his Trump Tower penthouse during his presidency (despite the unprecedented traffic snarls and security issues it'll cause). In addition to sleeping in his own bed, this will allow him to work out of his personal office. The 26th floor space is covered in awards, sports memorabilia, family photos, and an unsurprisingly narcissistic collection of magazines with yours truly on the cover. Business Insider uncovered two videos from last year--one from the Washington Post, one from the Wall Street Journal--where Trump provided tours of the office, and it looks like our next president may be working on international politics with one of Shaquille O'Neal's sneakers sitting next to him.
Watch both videos here

Celebrities

Upper West Side buildings to dump Trump name following petition

Trump Place Apartments courtesy of Nick Normal’s Flickr

November 15, 2016

Upper West Side buildings to dump Trump name following petition