Three Trump Place buildings are ditching the president-elect's name
A small victory for those aghast at the election outcome: Donald Trump may have prevailed in the presidential race, but he has lost his association with three Upper West Side buildings. Bloomberg reports that at residents' behest, three of the properties in the Trump Place complex on Riverside Boulevard will dump their name and go by their street addresses.
There are six buildings in the complex, and the three managed by Equity Residential, at 140, 160, and 180 Riverside, will have the gold letters reading "Trump Place" on their facades removed. Prior to the election, Linda Gottlieb, a resident of 160 Riverside, created a Change.org petition imploring Equity to remove the name; 600 people signed. A spokesman for Equity told Bloomberg that the company had a contractual obligation to use the Trump name, but the contract has now ended.
**This story originally ran on November 16, 2016.*
The other three buildings, meanwhile, at 200, 220, and 240 Riverside, are overseen by Trump International Realty. As Brick previously reported, some residents of 220 Riverside, too, are seeking a name change, and circulated a letter noting that 81 renters and owners have signed a petition asking the board for a renaming.
As of now, there are no official plans underway to make a change. When reached for comment about the Equity-managed buldings' decision, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said, "This recent change is simply the enforcement of a pre-existing agreement which has been in place for years. It was mutually agreed upon."
It isn't such a shock that many residents want to shake the Trump name, given that NYC consistently leans blue; last Tuesday, less than 20 percent of New Yorkers voted for Donald Trump. One Trump Place resident told us that she found it embarrassing to live in a building with his name on it, and her children in particular find it "viscerally uncomfortable."
The Trump sign at those buildings on the Upper West Side is now reduced to a pile of fake gold letters (spotted by @LambethHochwald) pic.twitter.com/AJCI0IgjuA
— Brick Underground (@BrickU) November 16, 2016
Further downtown, at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, residents are also feeling frustrated—because of the throngs of both protesters and supporters that have amassed there since the election. The New York Post reports that some of the New Yorkers who live in the skyscraper—Trump himself resides in the penthouse apartment—are fed up with the crowds and chaos, and are preparing to move out.
Compass president Leonard Steinberg pointed out to Mansion Global that there's an upside to all the hubbub, though: improved security. Other real estate analysts told the publication that it remains to be seen how Trump's presidential victory will impact interest in—and the values of—his other branded properties.
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