Yet Another Building Wants to Dump the Trump Name

The growing international army of building owners who want to dump the word TRUMP from their facades has an old recruit doing battle in a New York City courtroom and a new recruit enlisting in Connecticut. 

New papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the condo board’s effort to remove the T-word from their building at 200 Riverside Boulevard on the Upper West Side, the Daily News reports. In February 2017, unit-owners voted 158 to 59 in favor of removing the Trump signage from the building, just as three nearby rental buildings have done. But the condo board opted not to follow through with the move after receiving a letter from the Trump Organization threatening a lawsuit. The board then filed its own lawsuit in January asking a judge to grant them permission to remove the letters, protecting them from a more costly legal battle. 

The new court papers reveal that members of the NYPD’s counter-terrorism unit even briefed the board on a threat assessment of their 48-story, 376-unit building last year. “The building is not perceived as a significant terrorist target (especially as compared to Trump Tower and other more prominent Trump-branded buildings),” minutes of a May town hall meeting read. “The building is viewed at the ‘bottom end’ of Trump buildings in terms of risk.” Ouch. 

Meanwhile, up in Connecticut, Stamford might be joining the ranks of Soho, the Upper West Side, Toronto, Queens and Panama. Some residents of Stamford’s Trump Parc condominium want to remove the T-word from their building, and a vote for a name-change might be around the corner, 6sqft reports. According to the Stamford Advocate: “Some owners, in recent interviews, said a vote on the Trump name is now more likely as property values continue to decline and some owners and realtors say the name drags down prices.” 

Which is worse – a condo with declining value, or a condo in a building that’s rated at the bottom end of Trump buildings? No wonder the army keeps growing.