This Land is Trump’s Land…

The NYC Parks Department, infamous for its controversial and often downright anti-public good decision-making, has awarded Donald Trump public land in the Bronx’s Ferry Point Park  to build a PGA regulation golf-course.

Aside from the fact that history has told us that we should really stop awarding building contracts to The Donald, this deal with the golden-haired greed meister comes with additional public insult that Trump will not pay fees to the city for the first four years. AND, after that will pay only 7% of gross receipts, until year 16, when he will pay 10% to the city.”  

Adding to the fact that it would take someone with 4th grade math skills to see that this is a terrible deal for the city, Mayor Bloomberg was quoted saying: “I’m not sure he got a great deal… These are not terribly profitable things in this day and age. More golf courses are closing than opening across the country.”

So, if more golf courses are closing than opening, and this is a terrible time for this kind of investment, why is the city doing this?

Isn’t there an enormous risk that Trump will not see the return on his investment and abandon the course, leaving the city with the choice to either run the course themselves at a loss or close it, leaving public land to waste away.

Why not just forget the golf course, which with it’s high usage fees ($100 per 18-hole game) will not be accessible to many residents in the surrounding neighborhoods, and build a public park that this community wants and needs?