biffisbuff wrote:
Listen to this ... almost everyone can point to a charity or good deed that they participated in...what is more of an indicator is what is this person's life track record....so go ahead and do research on Trump track record....it will make you change your mind...he has gone as far as trying to claim he paid for a skating rink for the good of the city and after investigation?...he lied about the claims....he has a long history of dishonesty and rarely saying truth
ABOUT NEW YORK; Pssst, Here's a Secret: Trump Rebuilds Ice Rink
FOLLOWING the grand opening of the Wollman Rink this week, New Yorkers can now set their sights on the gala grand opening of the Wollman Rink next week.
Donald J. Trump refurbished the Central Park -skating rink two and a half months ahead of his own speedy six-month schedule and $750,000 below his own projected $3 million budget, having taken over the project after the city spent six years and $12 million unsuccessfully trying to get the job done.
''He built the most fabulous rink I have ever seen,'' said Vera Banchet, watching her daughter skate. ''I saw Trump on TV again last night. If I may say so, he is not one to hide his light under a bushel.''
She may. There were the early news conferences, when Mr. Trump announced he was taking over the renovation of the rink, set among trees and rock overlooked by skyscrapers, several of which belong to Mr. Trump himself.
There was the memorable completion-of-the-laying-of-the-pipes news conference on Sept. 10, followed by the-pouring-of-the-cement news conference the very next day.
Aficionados recall the mystery news conferences, held for no apparent reason. One involved Mr. Trump talking to hordes of reporters while three men pushed brooms in the background.
Then there was the-ice-is-down press conference of Oct. 23, not to be confused with the-ice-is-ready press photo opportunity of Oct. 28, spoiled somewhat by unseasonable heat that turned the ice to water. Three days later, there was the rink-completion news conference, featuring world skating champions Dick Button and Aja Zanova-Steindler. MR. TRUMP said he was talking to Lee on the phone the other day -Iacocca, of course - and that Mr. Iacocca thought the rink was great, but wondered how in the world the story merited a full page in Time magazine's Nation section. The story also aired on the ''CBS Evening News With Dan Rather.'' These things just seem to happen when Donald Trump is involved.
''We went to the first few press conferences,'' said Henry J. Stern, Commmissioner of Parks and Recreation, ''but we stopped after a while.''
''Normally,'' said Mr. Stern, ''contractors don't call press conferences to announce their progress. But this was his reward.'' Mr. Trump did the project free of charge, saying it irritated him just watching the fiasco, although he has reaped torrential publicity and much good will.
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At the first news conference, Mr. Stern arrived to find a sign that read: ''Owner: Trump Ice Inc.'' He ordered the sign replaced with one that stated the city still owns the park site.
Mr. Trump's public relations firm, Howard J. Rubenstein & Associates, called Mr. Stern to invite him to a news conference at the site and Mr. Stern replied: ''Thank you for inviting me to my park.'' A deputy commissioner of Parks and Recreation was thrown off the site by one of Mr. Trump's security guards.
''See this railing?'' Mr. Trump asked on an inspection of the rink yesterday. ''Same railing Onassis had on his boat.'' Finishing far under budget meant he had enough money left for burnished teak railings, lots of ornamental wrought iron, massive renovation of the skate house and landscaping.
A visitor yesterday commented: ''The place looks almost too nice, like it's in Minneapolis. It could use a good coat of New York grime.'' MR. STERN said he was most impressed with Mr. Trump's work and that is was just his words that sometimes bothered him. ''Reporters would just keep badgering him to say we were all a bunch of idiots until finally he would,'' Mr. Stern said.
''I guess it says a lot about the city,'' said Mr. Trump at Thursday's grand opening, ''but I don't have to say what it says.''
Mr. Trump said the same approach could be used to overhaul the subway system, for example. The rink project has spurred much discussion about why private developers can accomplish a job cheaper, faster and better than the public sector, and Mayor Koch has called for changing some laws. At the opening a few potential mayoral candidates showed up to wonder aloud why the city couldn't do the job. One of them, Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin, wore his ice skates.
Mr. Trump produced a three-foot pair of scissors, real ones weighing 40 pounds, to cut the ribbon.
Perhaps because Mr. Trump was bringing his, city officials brought some cheezy imitation three-foot scissors. They didn't work. Mr. Koch couldn't get Mr. Trump's scissors to work either, but a spokesman for Mr. Trump said the Mayor just didn't know how to use them.
Mr. Trump has herded at least 12 world skating champions together for ''an extraordinary skating gala'' at the gala -and, yes, perhaps even the final -grand opening next Saturday. The skaters will include Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Scott Hamilton, and Torvill & Dean.
''I don't really care about Trump's ego or the attention he's grabbing,'' said George Rinaldi, a skater at the rink, who echoed the sentiments of many others. ''It's a great rink and he is a great man. Anybody who can get anything done right and done on time in New York is a bona fide hero. He should get a ticker-tape parade.''
Skaters yesterday stopped to profusely thank Mr. Trump. They asked if he was going to skate. ''No thanks,'' the flamboyant developer said. ''There are too many people who would like to see me fall on my rear end.''
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/15/nyregion/about-new-york-pssst-here-s-a-secret-trump-rebuilds-ice-rink.html