A ‘TRUMP’ brand helicopter sits near the green during a ribbon-cutting event for a new clubhouse at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point on June 11, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City.
Drew Anger | Getty Images
More years!
A judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration could continue operating a golf course in the Bronx section of New York City, rejecting a city government court’s attempt to cancel its contract with a company owned by former President Donald Trump.
The city terminated the Trump Organization’s contract to operate the Trump Ferry Point 18-hole golf course in February 2021, just weeks after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and disrupted President Joe Biden’s election victory.
At the same time, the city has canceled the company’s contract to operate two ice rinks and a carousel in Central Park.
The city claimed in a letter to the Trump Organization, owned by a notoriously interested golfer, that the Capitol riots made the Trump brand “synonymous with rebellion against the federal government” and thus undermined Ferry Point’s ability to draw “professional tournaments.” -Quality events “in the course.
The company sued the city in June after rejecting an appeal of the decision, claiming the city had violated the agreement, which allowed the Trump administration to run the course for 20 years.
Friday’s ruling states that the lawsuit relies on the city’s reliance on a portion of the agreement, which requires the Trump administration to maintain the course in a way that enables it to “attract quality events to professional tournaments.”
Trump’s lawyers argued that the agreement did not force the Trump administration to attract or host tournament-quality events on the course.
Lawyers for the city argued that the damage the riot did to the Trump brand undermined its ability to attract professional tournaments.
In her ruling Friday, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Debra James wrote that she agreed with the Trump administration that “there is no ambiguity in the contract’s obligation that the applicant must be ‘operating’.”[e] A first-class, tournament-quality daily fee golf course. “
James said that although the city argued that the phrases were vague, “when read in the context of the agreement as a whole, it is not capable of multiple interpretations.”
A spokesman for the Trump organization said in a statement: “We would like to thank the court for making a reasonable decision based on the law and the information.
“As we have said from the beginning, the City’s attempt to cancel our long-term license agreement to operate Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point Park was nothing more than a political retaliation,” the spokesman said.
“Former Mayor Bill de Blasio used the New York City Parks and Recreation Department and the New York City Law Department as weapons to advance his own biased agenda, to score political points, and to interfere in free movement,” the spokesman said. It’s not a victory – it’s a victory for the people of New York City and for the hundreds of our hardworking employees at Ferry Point. “
“We are thrilled that we will continue and manage the work that is widely recognized as the greatest experience of universal golf anywhere in the country.”
The city’s law department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.