Trump Org Presses Eric Adams For Rights To Central Park Ice Rink After City Hall Spurned Nonprofit Gift

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Huff Post

Mar 15, 2025, 12:19 PM EDT


The Trump Organization is aggressively lobbying the office of Mayor Eric Adams to win its bid to run Central Park’s Wollman Rink, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to THE CITY — squeezing Adams to award a contract even as President Donald Trump’s Justice Department moves to dismiss the mayor’s corruption case.

The city put out a solicitation for bids just days after Trump won reelection in November. The opening for Trump to run the coveted rink also came just weeks after the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy had offered to give the city $120 million to replace the rink and fix up part of the park.

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi and Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue didn’t take the gift offer — and didn’t respond to the conservancy’s followup. After ghosting the conservancy, the Department of Parks and Recreation put up a public notice the morning of Nov. 13 seeking bids to operate the rink.

Within hours, a Trump Organization executive was quoted as stating the company intended to pursue the contract — suggesting advance knowledge of the bid opportunity. If City Hall awards the Wollman Rink concession to the Trump Organization, the president’s family business, it would link the popular tourist destination at the foot of the iconic park to the Trump name once again.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-org-presses-eric-adams-for-rights-to-central-park-ice-rink-after-city-hall-spurned-nonprofit-gift_n_67d5a4ade4b0ae541d66c311

[Deuxcents]

1. Sounds like mob tactics and the mayor will have to pay up..maybe I watch too much tv

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. The organization convicted of fraud in New York State? Why would they entrust a public facility to fraudsters?

Apart from a corrupt quid pro quo, of course.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Over the decades, Wollman Rink had run down due to neglect.

Donald Trump offered Mayor Ed Koch a free rehabilitation of the premises. (Koch had unsuccessfully tried with the City to repair and restore the rink.)

And Trump did it within months. And in 1986, the City honored his donation of service.

But Trump wanted more. He wanted the rink's name changed from Wollman to Trump Skating Rink.

For years, that was the name.

Skating rink operation: 1986–2021

Wollman Rink in 2011
When the rink reopened in November 1986, ticket prices were raised from $2.50 to $4.50, and attendance was up from 130,000 in 1980 to 250,000 in 1987. As part of its agreement with the city, the Trump Organization donated most of the profit to public works, including $50,000 for the rink's electricity costs, and to charity, among them United Cerebral Palsy, Partnership for the Homeless, and Gay Men's Health Crisis.

The Trump Organization held the concession until 1995, when M&T Pretzel Inc. outbid Trump for a six-year contract to operate Wollman and Lasker skating rinks. A Trump-owned subsidiary, Wollman Rink Operations LLC, won another concession in 2001 to operate the rinks until April 30, 2021. Wollman Rink Operations LLC is owned by DJT Holdings LLC, which was owned by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust during Trump's first presidency.

Fast Forward: A 2007 city comptroller review found that Trump's operation had underreported its revenue from the rink by $106,608, thus shortchanging the city.

In 2019, the Trump Organization removed the Trump name from most signs and logos at both Wollman and Lasker Rinks without giving a reason. During its last season of operation, the Trump Organization charged admission fees of $12 for adults from Monday to Thursday, $19 on Friday to Sunday and holidays, and $6 all week for youths 11 and under.

Cancellation of Trump Organization contracts
In January 2021, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city government would be severing all contracts with the Trump Organization, citing Trump's involvement in the previous week's storming of the United States Capitol. The cancellation of the Trump Organization's contracts to operate Wollman Rink, Lasker Rink, and the Central Park Carousel was supposed to go into effect on February 26. The city later allowed the rinks to stay open until the scheduled end of the skating season. The Trump concession expired in April 2021.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wollman_Rink#:~:text=A%202007%20city%20comptroller%20review,Rinks%20without%20giving%20a%20reason.

[electric_blue68]

4. Ohhh, Fuck Off, drumphf and leave the ice rink alone!

Last edited Mon Mar 17, 2025, 01:14 PM - Edit history (1)

🤔 not sure if he once ran it.


Saw many great concerts there in rhe summertime waaaay back!

Eta: ooops, missed the post above! I didn't pay attention to the later contracts; pretty sure I was remembering the 80's renovation.