NYC to terminate Trump contracts after Capitol uprising

Mayor Bill de Blasio says New York City will end business contracts with President Donald Trump after last week’s insurgency on the U.S. Capitol

NEW YORK – New York City will end trade contracts with President Donald Trump following last week’s insurgency on the U.S. Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday.

“I’m 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 in profits from its contracts to run two ice rinks and a carousel in Central Park as well as a golf course in the Bronx.

The city can legally terminate a contract if the management of a company engages in criminal activity, the Democratic mayor said. “Inciting an insurgency – let’s be very clear, let’s repeat the words – inciting an insurgency against the US government is clearly 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 once called is the latest example of how the January 6 violation by violent Trump supporters is affecting the business interests of the Republican president.

The PGA of America voted on Sunday to remove the PGA Championship from its New Jersey golf course next year, a move that came after social media platforms disabled Trump’s accounts and Shopify removed stores online affiliates with it.

De Blasio had said earlier that the city was examining its legal options to end the Trump contracts. He said on Wednesday that city lawyers had determined that if Trump continued with the decision, the city would win. Trump “instigated a mob to attack the Capitol,” de Blasio said, adding: “The lawyers looked at him and it was just as clear as a bell that justifies breaking these contracts and we will do that immediately. .

The split with Trump’s eponymous company won’t happen immediately, however. De Blasio said in a press release that the termination of the contract to manage the Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx is complex “and is expected to take several months.”

The termination of the contract for the operation of the Wollman Rink and the Lasker Rink in Central Park will take effect 30 days after a written notice is sent, de Blasio said. The termination of the carousel’s operating contract, now closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will take effect 25 days after written notice.

The city will be looking for new vendors for all attractions, the mayor said.

Removing Trump’s name from the rinks, the carousel and the golf course won’t erase him from New York. It will continue to operate the Trump Tower on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and the Trump International Hotel on Central Park West. Trump moved his official residence from Trump Tower to Florida in 2019.