Erasing Donald Trump's name from New York City is getting mighty expensivehttps://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2021/10/25/erasing-donald-trumps-name-from-new-york-city-is-getting-mighty-expensive-n424652Early this year we watched a rather ridiculous story unfolding in New York City, where soon-to-be ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio declared war on Donald Trump and his entire business empire. Having determined that the January 6 riot was all some sort of insidious plan by the former President to destroy democracy or something, Hizzoner vowed to “run Trump out of the city” by canceling his business contracts and closing his operations. He targeted the Central Park Carousel, two skating rinks in the park, and a golf course in the Bronx. The city later backtracked on the closure of the skating rinks after a public outcry, but the Mayor vowed to continue his battle. ... The plan was not well thought out and it’s looking increasingly likely that the Big Apple will have to cough up tens of millions of dollars (covered by the taxpayers, of course) and give the money to the target of de Blasio’s wrath. (NY Post)
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The contract for the skating rinks was allowed to run its course and then de Blasio brought in a new outfit to run it, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. They immediately raised the rates for a family of four to visit by fifteen dollars. ... The Carousel wound up being closed all summer because the city couldn’t find anyone to run it.
Trying to boot Trump out of the Bronx golf course turned out even worse. When Trump’s attorneys originally drafted the contract for his organization to refurbish and maintain the course, they worked all sorts of protective clauses into the agreement. Trump’s contract to operate the Ferry Point Golf Course still has 13 years to go. Current calculations of the penalties for early termination without cause indicate that the city will need to pay the Trump organization more than $30 million.
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This started out as a hunting safari where Bill de Blasio was going to claim Donald Trump’s scalp as a trophy and become a hero to the progressive left. The entire project has now imploded ... . And Bill de Blasio is about to slink out of office in ten weeks or so and leave the taxpayers of New York City holding the bag. This was just such a classic de Blasio scheme from the beginning and these results were totally predictable.
IMO, since de Blah-Blah targeted Trump for purely partisan reasons, damages due from the city - and de Blah-Blah personally - should be much more than the mere contractual terms.
