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The Trump Files: How Donald Tricked New York Into Giving Him His First Huge Deal

by DeweyHcdvbq Posted on July 11, 2016

Mother Jones

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Until the election, we’re bringing you “The Trump Files,” a daily dose of telling episodes, strange-but-true stories, or curious scenes from the life of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Donald Trump was a relatively small player in the New York real estate world in 1975, but the Commodore Hotel promised to put him in the big leagues. The area around the famous old hotel next to Grand Central Station was decrepit, but Trump saw a rare (and cheap) opportunity to remake the famous property and bring new business to Manhattan’s then-seedy Midtown.

The mayor at the time was Abe Beame, a Brooklyn politician who was close to Trump’s father, Fred. In talking to one of the men responsible for selling the Commodore, Beame described his relationship to the Trumps in simple terms. “Whatever my friends Fred and Donald want in this town, they get,” the mayor said, according to journalist Michael D’Antonio’s recent Trump biography, Never Enough. What Trump wanted was an option to develop the site of the hotel and an unprecedented 40-year tax abatement from the city. He got them—but not without an act of deception.

Trump had the political connections, but he didn’t have much money on hand. He reached an option agreement with the bankrupt Penn Central, which owned the Commodore, but he couldn’t even cover the $250,000 he needed to secure it. Instead, he bluffed. He falsely announced to the press that the option was a done deal and tricked the city government with a paperwork sleight of hand.

“When city officials asked for a copy of his agreement with Penn Central, he sent them the paperwork, minus the signatures that would have made it binding,” D’Antonio wrote. “This omission either went unnoticed or no one cared about it, because the bureaucracy continued to move forward, as if the parties had signed, and Trump had actually paid.” On the strength of the faked option, Trump was able to convince the Hyatt hotel chain that he was a worthy partner with whom it could build a new Grand Hyatt hotel on the site of the Commodore.

The deception worked for Trump, but it may have cost New York City millions of dollars. The city had to forgo $4 million a year over the course of Trump’s 40-year tax break. Trump insisted no other investor would be interested in the property, yet at one point at least one other developer was willing to take on the Commodore while demanding less from the city. Penn Central couldn’t entertain other proposals because Trump was holding the option, even though “Trump still hadn’t paid the option and no papers had been signed,” D’Antonio reported. But investigative reporter Wayne Barrett reported in his book Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth that according to Michael Bailkin, a City Hall official at the time, “no other party had been given an opportunity to submit a bid on the project.”

By the time Trump started knocking down the Commodore in May 1978, D’Antonio pointed out in his book, the supposed Midtown rescue project was barely necessary. Other developments in the neighborhood were already resurrecting the area. “The Chrysler Building was undergoing a $23 million restoration…Mobil and Pan Am each bought the buildings where they were primary tenants, and major work has begun on seven other sites within a few blocks of Grand Central,” D’Antonio wrote. “None of these projects had involved special help from state agencies or tax breaks from the city.”

Read the rest of “The Trump Files”:

Trump Files #1: The Time Andrew Dice Clay Thanked Donald for the Hookers
Trump Files #2: When Donald Tried to Stop Charlie Sheen’s Marriage to Brooke Mueller
Trump Files #3: The Brief Life of the “Trump Chateau for the Indigent”
Trump Files #4: Donald Thinks Asbestos Fears Are a Mob Conspiracy
Trump Files #5: Donald’s Nuclear Negotiating Fantasy
Trump Files #6: Donald Wants a Powerball for Spies
Trump Files #7: Donald Gets An Allowance
Trump Files #8: The Time He Went Bananas on a Water Cooler
Trump Files #9: The Great Geico Boycott
Trump Files #10: Donald Trump, Tax-Hike Crusader
Trump Files #11: Watch Donald Trump Say He Would Have Done Better as a Black Man
Trump Files #12: Donald Can’t Multiply 16 and 7
Trump Files #13: Watch Donald Sing the “Green Acres” Theme Song in Overalls
Trump Files #14: The Time Donald Trump Pulled Over His Limo to Stop a Beating
Trump Files #15: When Donald Wanted to Help the Clintons Buy Their House
Trump Files #16: He Once Forced a Small Business to Pay Him Royalties for Using the Word “Trump”
Trump Files #17: He Dumped Wine on an “Unattractive Reporter”
Trump Files #18: Behold the Hideous Statue He Wanted to Erect In Manhattan
Trump Files #19: When Donald Was “Principal for a Day” and Confronted by a Fifth-Grader
Trump Files #20: In 2012, Trump Begged GOP Presidential Candidates to Be Civil
Trump Files #21: When Donald Couldn’t Tell the Difference Between Gorbachev and an Impersonator
Trump Files #22: His Football Team Treated Its Cheerleaders “Like Hookers”
Trump Files #23: The Trump Files: Donald Tried to Shut Down a Bike Race Named “Rump”
Trump Files #24: When Donald Called Out Pat Buchanan for Bigotry
Trump Files #25: Donald’s Most Ridiculous Appearance on Howard Stern’s Show

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The Trump Files: How Donald Tricked New York Into Giving Him His First Huge Deal

Posted in ATTRA, bigo, Casio, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Trump Files: How Donald Tricked New York Into Giving Him His First Huge Deal

Silly String Is Illegal Here—But Only on Halloween

by DeweyHcdvbq Posted on October 31, 2014

Mother Jones

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Halloween is finally here! It’s time to celebrate macabre mischief, ghouls and gluttony, and of course, tricks and treats. But there’s one scary alliterated substance you should steer clear of—especially if you are in Hollywood. On the streets of Tinseltown, getting caught with Silly String is considered a serious offense—but only on Halloween.

Signs have been posted across Hollywood Photo taken by Gil Riego

Generically called “aerosol string,” Silly String is basically brightly colored plastic propelled from an aerosol can. Like confetti but for terrible people, its primary purpose is to annoy or to instantly reveal who the most obnoxious person at a party is. Both sticky and slimy, it is hard to clean up, is bad for the environment, and—surprise!—can be dangerous if you eat it.

As awful as Silly String is most days, it is apparently more awful on Halloween. That’s why, in 2004, Los Angeles Councilman Tom LaBonge sponsored an ordinance to outlaw the stuff for one night only. City officials were sick of cleaning it up, and dealing with the brawls they said were provoked by Silly String sprayings. More than 100,000 people flock to Hollywood to celebrate Halloween and the Silly String remediation costs were said to exceed $200,000.

So, starting at midnight last night and extending until noon tomorrow, should you happen to cross the threshold into the LAPD’s Hollywood Division’s jurisdiction, you better not be packing any String.

Specifically:

No Person, as defined in Municipal Code Section 11.01(a), shall possess, use, sell or distribute Silly String at, within or upon any public or private property that is either within public view or accessible to the public, including, but not limited to, public or private streets, sidewalks, parking lots, commercial or residential buildings, places of business, or parks within the Hollywood Division during Halloween.

The ordinance comes with a pretty heavy set of un-silly sanctions. Just carrying a can of Silly String could get you charged with a misdemeanor, slapped with a $1,000 fine, and jailed for as long as 6 months. That’s a stiffer penalty than you’ll get for misdemeanor pot possession ($100 fine), breaking into a zoo enclosure ($250 fine), bicycling or hunting while drunk ($250 and $500, respectively). It’s more on par with petty theft, and more severe mayhem like being disorderly while drunk or getting minors drunk.

So while you are free to spray away in most places today (litter ordinances permitting), why not do everyone a favor and take a hint from Hollywood? Just keep it in the can.

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Silly String Is Illegal Here—But Only on Halloween

Posted in Anchor, Everyone, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, LG, ONA, PUR, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Silly String Is Illegal Here—But Only on Halloween