New Yorkers in Exile

[BullNBear52]

Trump Hopping Mad Over Bid to Build at Jones Beach
October 18, 2010, 7:06 am After promising in typical Trumpian modesty to replace a restaurant at a landmark New York beach with “the finest dining and banquet facility anywhere in the world,” Donald Trump is seething four years later that visitors still must pass what he calls “a rat-infested dump.”

When he announced plans in 2006 for “Trump on the Ocean” at Jones Beach, designed by legendary urban planner Robert Moses, the real estate tycoon envisioned a facility with sweeping views of the Atlantic and beachfront dining for as many as 1,400. What he didn’t anticipate was persistent civic opposition, or skeins of bureaucratic red tape, The Associated Press reports.
“The word I’d use is incomprehensible,” Mr. Trump told The Associated Press in a recent telephone interview. “I was going to build a magnificent building on the boardwalk that would have made Robert Moses envious and proud. It would have been the best building in the entire state parks system.”

Trump won his latest legal battle with the state last month when an appeals court granted permission for a basement, despite the facility’s location in a flood zone a few hundred yards from the Atlantic Ocean’s pounding tides. But Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office is considering an appeal, and there’s also a court fight over whether Trump owes back rent. In another lawsuit, Mr. Trump is seeking $500 million in damages for delays.

The Associated Press continued:

Some critics also questioned the wisdom of attracting $500-a-plate weddings to a beach developed for working-class visitors. Others worried about the traffic impact.

“This was our state historical park, the people’s park, being given to a private developer,” said Pat Friedman, a Garden City Park civic leader, who became the primary leader of the opposition to the Trump project. “Since when do we give our property away? Maybe he’ll give us one of his hotels?”