New York City Will Pull Contracts With Trump Organization: De Blasio

New York City will end all business with the Trump Organization after President Donald Trump encouraged mobs to storm the Capitol in Washington, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

“The contracts make very clear: If the leadership of a company is engaged in illegal activity, we have the right to sever the contract, the mayor said Wednesday on an appearance on MSNBC. “Inciting an insurrection against the U.S. government clearly constitutes criminal activity.”

The city expects a legal challenge, but “we’re on strong legal ground,” de Blasio said. “They have profited from these contracts. They will profit no longer.”

Eric Trump, the president’s son, who helps run the family business, said the group plans to “fight vigorously,” in a statement.

“The city of New York has no legal right to proceed, they will owe the Trump Organization over $30 million,” Trump said. “This is nothing more than political discrimination.”

New York will join a parade of businesses that are refusing to work with the besieged president after he encouraged a mob of supporters to storm the Capitol last week. He has been abandoned by Deutsche Bank, the PGA of America and the Cushman & Wakefield real-estate services firm, and a swathe of corporations are promising to end contributions to Trump’s supporters in Congress.

The Trump Organization has more than $17 million in contracts with New York City. Many are for iconic tourist attractions, including a golf course, a carousel and two ice rinks. One, the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park, generated $9.4 million in income for the Trump Organization, according to its most recent financial disclosures. The contracts for the carousel and rinks were set to expire in April 2021, with the golf course contract ending in 2035.

The administration will be notifying the Trump Organization that the city will cancel its agreements to operate the Central Park Carousel, Wollman and Lasker skating rinks and Ferry Point Golf Course in accordance. The contracts for the carousel and the ice rinks, would end in coming weeks, the Mayor said.

The process for terminating the Ferry Point Golf Course is more detailed and is expected to take months, De Blasio said in a statement.

The contract with the city to operate the golf course stipulates that it must be eligible for major tournaments, and the PGA’s decision Sunday to pull out of a 2022 scheduled PGA championship at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, would appear to abrogate that term, de Blasio said.

The de Blasio administration has looked into canceling its agreements with the company several times in the past six years, including in 2015 after Trump made remarks attacking Latinos during his first presidential campaign.

De Blasio said the city will choose new vendors to operate the concessions in the park. “They’ll probably challenge us in court. We’re on strong legal ground,” he said. “We will get new vendors to come in and take over quickly.”

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