The Trump name has been taken off of several Upper West Side buildings, and now it’s being minimized at other local attractions that once advertised his connection. The Trump Organization took the name off of both Wollman and Lasker rinks for this season, the Washington Post first reported.
Now, as skating season begins, the president’s name is gone from the boards around each rink where large red “TRUMP” signs once surrounded skaters. It is mostly gone from the desk where visitors rent skates: There, the white tarp used to hide the Trump name wasn’t quite big enough for the job, so a “T” still sticks out.
The Trump name was once emblazoned on just about everything at Wollman Rink — zamboni included. Photo by Andy Ihnatko.
The organization didn’t offer an explanation. The Times reports that the names returned in a different form by Wednesday.
By yesterday afternoon, the name had made a slight comeback at the rink, in the form of a tagline on the boards that said, “Operated by the Trump Organization.”
The name was also removed at some point from the Central Park Carousel, also operated by the Trump Organization.
Councilman Mark Levine has been trying to replace the Trump Organization as the operator.
Can we get his name off the Westside Highway going south at the West 79th St. exit …it’s causing accidents of distress!!!!
It has been inked several times and spray-painted.
Hey Billy –
I just passed the West 79 Street exit today going south…. Good job on letting everyone know!
Someone spray painted it in black with the FU on it.
It was Trump who got Wollman rink back open when the bumbling idiots that make up our government were unable to. But hey what does that matter, everyone just keep mindlessly repeating Orange man bad.
Bill, there are plenty of ice rinks trump can renovate and not pay bills in Moscow which is where he will need to find sanctuary from the law when he loses bigly in 2020. Of course, he loathes sanctuary cities so maybe his PutinMaster will find him some real estate in the Siberian tundra. Ice golf is very popular there. Though I doubt he’ll have as much time to play there as he does as, ahem, president.
Right!!!
Trump stiffed the contractors on Wollman Rink and claimed all the glory. Typical Trump behavior.
Not a Trump fan but he does know his way around construction… he sent his Chief Engineer from 725 5th Avenue, Joe Morrissey, a true Irish gentleman and poet to take charge of the project. And of course he pulled it off. As the NYT said in a long article at the time, there are many reasons why a developer can make the government look bad on a project like this. First, they have no legal requirement to go out on a convoluted bidding process the way governments do, they can just award the work to competent people. And developers know who those people are.
Well. Yeah. Trump just didn’t PAY the contractors. Sorry. He is vile. He is just excellent at self-promotion.
This is a “victory” for so many of my fellow Zabar’s shoppers. Good, enjoy it, he’s still the president and will be re-elected (quite easily if Warren is the nominee).
Would you care to clarify what you mean by your “fellow Zabar’s shoppers?” Another attempt to pit Jews against non-Jews, UWSHebrew?
This has nothing to do with being Jewish or not
The comment was meant as a disruptive comment about the people who go to Zabars to pay huge amounts of money for food that they could get elsewhere for much less while paying no attn to the homeless etc they are stepping over to get in.
Robert, I wish this were the intent of UWSHebrew’s comment. Unfortunately, his/her frequent comments here do not suggest any concern with class, but only with elevating conservative views above all others as though they are simple FACT. UWSHebrew’s other schtick is to conflate Orthodox Judaism with complete moral superiority. Mind you, I am Jewish–but I see these comments for the repugnance they are.
No, his intent here, as usual, is to pit Jews against other Jews.
See, “UWSHebrew” dislikes liberal and/or non-religious Jews and says things like Zabar’s shoppers to try to lump the UWS Jews together as ultra left wingers and anti-Trumpers, etc.
His schtick is getting really old, not sure why I even wasted my time writing this. His goal is to get us all riled up with his nonsense and he usually succeeds.
GG:
I appreciated your writing this. It always helps to know that you’re not the only one with a certain impression.
Yes–GG, I also appreciate your writing this. UWSHebrew pursues a very sad goal in pitting religious and non-religious Jews against one another. I’m not sure which is sadder–the goal itself, or the fact that UWSHebrew is so fixated on it. There are better venues for hatred than WSR (if hatred’s what rings one’s chimes).
Just becase Trump fixed up a crumbling skating rink ( which I’m grateful for) doesn’t mean 1. He had to put name ALL over the rink (very self indulgent) and 2.DOESN’T make him a good president! My two cents, for what it’s worth!
What does Zabar’s have to do with this?
I do agree that he will be re-elected if Warren is the nominee. I wish the rest of my fellow Democrats would wake up and leave their liberal echo chambers and recognize that.
On what basis does Liberal Leon assert that trump will be re-elected if Warren is the nominee? She is ahead in almost all the polls, is an extremely good debater, and has a program that addresses the working class people who felt ignored by Hillary. Maybe the issues detailed by Warren and Bernie don’t resonate with Liberal Leon, but Medicare for All, getting rid if student debt, finally addressing childcare and family leave, addressing the cost of college, making labor law fairer to unions, etc. all resonate with working class people.
The folks parroting the “Trump will be re-elected” line are just following the standard Trump propaganda formula: repeat it enough and people will believe it.
VOTE NO on Number 2 on Election Day.
My family and I have been ice skating at Lasker and Wollman for years. I am grateful that Trump fixed up these rinks. It’s no wonder that Mark Levine’s district is a mess since he’s spending so much time on silly things like trying to remove Trump as operator for our Central Park attractions.
And people still think it is where our effort should go?
It sure sounds like Levine spends more time trying to “get” Trump than he does getting us our parking permits (which he said he’d do).
I would like to see Barack Obama’s name on the rink. He was a great president.
Yeah, and he looked so classy, chewing gum at the Cummings funeral today.
UWSers are so busy with these petty “I hate Trump” invectives that they don’t even have time to enjoy their 401Ks going through the roof.
Have you read those ballots? Vote NO on all of them. And stop with the ridiculous things like erasing names off of buildings.
Seems incredibly petty
Improving these rinks is actually one of the very few positives that Trump has done in his life. Seeing his name makes me nauseous but in an effort to be slightly even-handed, I have to give credit where credit is due.
Our elected officials could rally around the police and get them back on the streets. They could work with community activists to reduce gang-related violence on the UWS. They could demand services for the homeless who are increasingly aggressive.
Nope, not here on the UWS. Let’s get our priorities straights: removing a Republican name from a building or skating rink represents true victory for the people.
The Wollman family purchased the rights to name the rink and those rights were violated when Trump eclipsed the branding of the rink. It’s great that Trump took an interest in the rink but putting his picture on the water bottles and stamping his name over Wollman is not his right it’s his vanity project. Does he care about providing a place for families to skate or is he just obsessed with seeing his name emblazoned across the city?
Get your facts straight. The Wollman family did NOT purchase naming rights. The rink was named after the Wollman family who donated funds to construct it. It is still called the Wollman rink, NOT the Trump rink. A Trump entity operates the rink/restaurant and donates the profits to public works and charity. The contractors whom Trump engaged to fix the rink also worked for no profit. He not only got the job done but came in ahead of schedule and under budget.
Just waiting for this Russian Regime to end. This has been the worst presidency, ever – we might as well hand the keys to the White House over to Putin and call it a day.
Of course there’s no war with Russia. He’s Putin’s stooge