October 24, 2019

About Those Vanishing Trump Signs

By Andrea Salcedo

Metro Reporter

It's Thursday.

Weather: Enjoy the outdoors today. It should be sunny with a high of 65.

Alternate-side parking: In effect until Sunday (Diwali).

Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

For nearly two years after President Trump took office, the big letters greeted a group of Upper West Side condo owners whenever they arrived home: "T-R-U-M-P P-L-A-C-E."

Last fall, they petitioned to have them removed from their high-rise at 200 Riverside Boulevard, joining a growing movement in New York — the president's hometown, where he is unpopular — to try to wipe the Trump brand from public view.

Now in a twist, his own company, the Trump Organization, recently, and quietly, removed the Trump name from signs at two ice rinks it operates in Central Park.

At Wollman Rink, at the park's southern end, where Mr. Trump's name had once appeared in big red letters on the inner walls of the rink's boards, it was absent on Tuesday, replaced by "Wollman Rink NYC Central Park" logos.

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." Still, the Trump name was much less conspicuous that it had been when the last skating season ended.

The Trump Organization told city officials it was making the change, but it did not offer an explanation. It did not respond to requests for comment.

Company executives have said in the past that public opinion of the president had not affected the Trump Organization's business.

Where else the Trump name has disappeared

After Mr. Trump entered the 2016 presidential campaign, his name became divisive among liberal New Yorkers and tourists who wanted to distance themselves from his politics — and the wine, steaks, hotels and apartment complexes with his name.

140, 160 and 180 Riverside Boulevard: In 2016, gold letters spelling out "Trump" were removed from three large apartment buildings on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Hundreds of tenants at the buildings had signed a petition to "Dump the TRUMP name."

The Trump SoHo hotel: With each controversy involving the White House, business declined and workers quit, hotel staff members told The Times in 2017. The hotel eventually reduced its prices and closed restaurants.

By late that year, the Trump Organization said it had reached a deal with the hotel's owner to change the building's name. It has since rebranded as the Dominick.

200 Riverside Boulevard: The "T-R-U-M-P P-L-A-C-E" letters had adorned the tower for nearly 20 years, but in 2018 only 23 percent of residents who participated in a building poll wanted them to remain.

The condos' board took its case to a state court, where a judge ruled that the bronze letters could be pried from the 46-story building.

Central Park's carousel: The Trump Organization has operated the attraction since 2011. For a time, "Trump Carousel" was on at least one sign, but yesterday there were no signs of the name.

One place the name remains

The Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx has lost revenue and attendees, and last year it was the site of a protest over immigration policies.

From about April to June 2018, the golf course grossed just under $2.3 million, according to city data. Four years ago, it took in over $1 million more for the same period.

The Trump Organization told The Times in 2018 that overall attendance was down, but that more New Yorkers were booking rounds of golf.

Derek Norman contributed reporting.

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The Mini Crossword: Here is today's puzzle.

What we're reading

The "golden eggies" are gone: A vendor ban has left a busy corridor in Flushing, Queens, devoid of street food. [Eater]

A St. John's University lacrosse team captain was charged in the stabbing and near disembowelment of his roommate, the police said. [New York Daily News]

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Coming up today

Immerse yourself in "WATERLICHT," a light installation at Columbia University's Lenfest Center for the Arts in Manhattan. 7:30 p.m. [Free with R.S.V.P.]

The documentary "Vision Portraits," about working artists with visual impairments, screens at the City College of New York in Manhattan. A talk with its director follows. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

Head to a Bongga Ka 'Day open house to learn about L.G.B.T.Q. Filipino culture and history at Ztylez Studio in Queens. 5 p.m. [Free]

— Julia Carmel

Events are subject to change, so double-check before heading out. For more events, see the going-out guides from The Times's culture pages.

And finally: A 'green wave' to slow cars

The Times's Winnie Hu reports:

The mounting death count is a grim reminder that biking on New York City streets can be dangerous: The 25 cyclists who have died so far this year is 15 more than all of last year — and the highest in two decades.

This week, New York City unveiled an initiative designed to help make streets safer: timing traffic lights so that anyone traveling between 10 and 15 miles per hour can glide through consecutive intersections, hitting one green light then another.

Officials called the initiative a "green wave."

On most streets in the city, the speed limit is 25 m.p.h. On streets with re-timed signals, traffic is expected to move at a slower and steadier flow, according to traffic experts. That flow could reduce potential conflicts — including when cyclists run red lights or drivers race to beat a light, they said.

Traditionally, the green wave concept was used to move cars. Later it began to be used to improve the cycling experience; first, in 2007, in Copenhagen. By 2015, it was picked up by San Francisco, Portland, Ore., Denver and Chicago.

In New York, the plan has been operating on a stretch of Hoyt and Bond Streets in Brooklyn since December.

Many cyclists have benefited from the program without even knowing it.

"I just thought I got lucky, but it's nice they're doing it on purpose," Anthony Scelza, 21, said as he rode on Hoyt Street recently. "I like keeping my momentum."

Over the next year, the program will expand to Clinton Street in Brooklyn, Prince Street in Manhattan and 43rd Avenue in Queens.

Some motorists, predictably, were unhappy with the plan. "Every light you've got to keep stopping," said Daniel Ortiz, 41, who drives to work in Downtown Brooklyn.

It's Thursday — take it easy.

Metropolitan Diary: Tumbling

Dear Diary:

There was nothing more restful to me than strolling up Broadway after a day at my advertising job.

People thought I was crazy to walk from 16th Street to my apartment on East 83rd. But as long as there was no rush, I found it to be the perfect way to decompress and enjoy the city.

Most days I would walk with my best friend, the copywriter at the agency, and shoot the breeze about anything and everything.

One time, we somehow got onto the subject of being total losers at sports, specifically in junior high school when teams were being chosen. It had always been a lesson in humiliation for both of us. We both looked athletic, but we both totally lacked coordination or interest.

"But I was good at tumbling," I said.

"Seriously?" my colleague said.

"Watch this!"

I dropped back a few steps and proceeded to do my first cartwheel in 20 years in front of the Rivoli Theater, a movie palace that is now long gone.

"Very impressive," my colleague said.

Just then a woman sitting in traffic honked her horn and rolled down her window.

"You bent your knees," she said.

I walked back to my starting point and did another one.

"Now that," she said, "is a cartwheel."

— Tom Ickert

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