Mayor Bill de Blasio says New York City will end business contracts with President Donald Trump after last week’s uprising in the Capitol
NEW YORK – New York City will end business contracts with President Donald Trump following last week’s uprising at the Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.
“I am here to announce that New York City is breaking all contracts with the Trump Organization,” de Blasio said in an interview on MSNBC.
De Blasio said the Trump Organization makes about $ 17 million a year from its contracts to run two rinks and a carousel in Central Park, as well as a golf course in the Bronx.
The city can legally terminate a contract if a company’s management engages in criminal activity, the Democratic mayor said. “Inciting an uprising – let’s be very clear, let’s say it again – inciting an uprising against the US government is clearly a criminal activity,” he said.
An email requesting comment was sent to the Trump organization on Wednesday.
The move to end Trump’s business contracts in the city he used to call home is the latest example of how the Jan. 6 breach by violent Trump supporters hurt the Republican president’s business interests.
The PGA of America voted on Sunday to take the PGA Championship away from its New Jersey golf course next year, a move that came after social media platforms shut down Trump’s accounts and Shopify shut down online stores affiliated with him.
De Blasio had previously said the city was exploring its legal options to terminate Trump contracts. He said on Wednesday that city attorneys have determined that if Trump sues the move, the city will win. Trump “incited a crowd to attack the Capitol,” De Blasio said, adding, “The lawyers looked at it and it was as clear as a bubble that is reason for breaking these contracts and we’re going to do that right away. to do.”
However, the split with Trump’s namesake company won’t happen immediately. De Blasio said in a press release that the termination of the contract to run the Ferry Point Golf Course in the Bronx is “complex and expected to take several months.”
The termination of the contract to run Wollman Rink and Lasker Rink in Central Park will take effect 30 days after written notice, de Blasio said. The termination of the contract to run the carousel, which is now closed, will take effect 25 days after written notice.
The city is looking for new vendors for all attractions, the mayor said.
Removing Trump’s name from the ice rinks, carousel and golf course won’t erase him from New York City. He will still operate the Trump Tower on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and the Trump International Hotel in Central Park West. Trump moved his official residence from Trump Tower to Florida in 2019.