Great piece, Ross, and better than just NY-area nostalgia.
Trump — despite the endless taunts that he is only stupid or crazy — is a complex character. But whatever adjective one throws at him (and 100 different ones would be justified, and 95 of them would stick), he is very much a product of NYC and the boroughs. Your essay brought me back to another time, and actually made me not despise Trump for 5 whole minutes.
A fine puzzle piece in the great jigsaw that is our national leader and head looney tune; he equally disturbing and vexing, compelling and repellent.
We should definitely compare notes -- my mom grew up in Kew Gardens/Jamaica Estates and her uncle (Jacob Grumet) was involved in various aspects of NYS politics and law. (honestly it's easier to just paste his skeletal wiki page than explain all the details https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_B._Grumet). When he was on the NYS Commission of Investigation (which has been repeatedly defunded by the state it's tasked with investigating - who would have thought??), the building and housing practices in the city and state were obviously under investigation, which obviously involved Fred Trump. Long story short, this is a quote from Wayne Barrett's book: “Is there any way of preventing a man who does business in that way from getting another contract with the state?” commission chairman Jacob Grumet asked Trump. (There isn't)
Btw, I grew up in Nassau County (by Queens border) and that Village Voice article you linked to about Wolff is bringing up a lot of names I haven't seen in writing in awhile!
Oh wow! This is all great stuff. And yes, meeting Wolff years ago was quite fascinating. He could recall so much. And he, of course, despised Donald Trump, haha.
There's this very good book by Marc Dunkelman coming out that goes deep into it and I'd say the PR was half true, at least. The city as you know was in rough shape and there were genuine delays from the Koch administration and Parks Dept that Trump helped alleviate, as a private developer. Of course, it wasn't all entirely Trump's doing. But he understood the optics of it very well.
Interesting. And a fictionalized scene with the young Donald Trump in your new book. That should be good. This stuck out a bit: “… the frothing MAGA fan base…” To be fair, I guess the democrats didn’t have much to ‘froth’ about, just a senile stuttering old grifter.
I remember Henry J Stern and Koch mocking Trump in the press about Wollman Rink. When Trump got it done I remember the insults continuing to flow in The NY Times. It was a good lesson for me as a much younger person that facts didn’t seem to matter much.
The plywood that surrounded the rink was down, it was pleasant watching the skaters from the road. It’s clear to me now, but it was confusing to me at the time.
Nice piece. It predicates the Trump we see today: a product not of Manhattan but of Queens: a 718, a BBQ, a person without class. I have an anecdote: it's 1978 at the velvet rope outside Studio 54, many young people seek admittance. We were preppies from good schools. We were admitted while the 718s were kept at bay. P.S. ,I love Donald Trump. No Bush-like preppie could ever do what he has done.
Great piece, Ross, and better than just NY-area nostalgia.
Trump — despite the endless taunts that he is only stupid or crazy — is a complex character. But whatever adjective one throws at him (and 100 different ones would be justified, and 95 of them would stick), he is very much a product of NYC and the boroughs. Your essay brought me back to another time, and actually made me not despise Trump for 5 whole minutes.
A fine puzzle piece in the great jigsaw that is our national leader and head looney tune; he equally disturbing and vexing, compelling and repellent.
We should definitely compare notes -- my mom grew up in Kew Gardens/Jamaica Estates and her uncle (Jacob Grumet) was involved in various aspects of NYS politics and law. (honestly it's easier to just paste his skeletal wiki page than explain all the details https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_B._Grumet). When he was on the NYS Commission of Investigation (which has been repeatedly defunded by the state it's tasked with investigating - who would have thought??), the building and housing practices in the city and state were obviously under investigation, which obviously involved Fred Trump. Long story short, this is a quote from Wayne Barrett's book: “Is there any way of preventing a man who does business in that way from getting another contract with the state?” commission chairman Jacob Grumet asked Trump. (There isn't)
(https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2018/10/why-donald-and-fred-trump-got-away-with-it/178060/) = link for quote
Btw, I grew up in Nassau County (by Queens border) and that Village Voice article you linked to about Wolff is bringing up a lot of names I haven't seen in writing in awhile!
Oh wow! This is all great stuff. And yes, meeting Wolff years ago was quite fascinating. He could recall so much. And he, of course, despised Donald Trump, haha.
Wollman rink was the first time I heard about Donald Trump. He had good PR about it. And maybe the PR was even true. I don't know.
There's this very good book by Marc Dunkelman coming out that goes deep into it and I'd say the PR was half true, at least. The city as you know was in rough shape and there were genuine delays from the Koch administration and Parks Dept that Trump helped alleviate, as a private developer. Of course, it wasn't all entirely Trump's doing. But he understood the optics of it very well.
It was true. My sport is figure skating so I followed what was happening to Wollman rink. Trump got it done .
The city just could not move along with the project.
Interesting. And a fictionalized scene with the young Donald Trump in your new book. That should be good. This stuck out a bit: “… the frothing MAGA fan base…” To be fair, I guess the democrats didn’t have much to ‘froth’ about, just a senile stuttering old grifter.
I remember Henry J Stern and Koch mocking Trump in the press about Wollman Rink. When Trump got it done I remember the insults continuing to flow in The NY Times. It was a good lesson for me as a much younger person that facts didn’t seem to matter much.
The plywood that surrounded the rink was down, it was pleasant watching the skaters from the road. It’s clear to me now, but it was confusing to me at the time.
Nice piece. It predicates the Trump we see today: a product not of Manhattan but of Queens: a 718, a BBQ, a person without class. I have an anecdote: it's 1978 at the velvet rope outside Studio 54, many young people seek admittance. We were preppies from good schools. We were admitted while the 718s were kept at bay. P.S. ,I love Donald Trump. No Bush-like preppie could ever do what he has done.
great piece — love your writing 👍