A lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court this week alleges that the mayor of New York City canceled a contract with The Trump Organization’s Ferry Point golf course solely as a political response to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The Trump Organization legal team said the termination was motivated solely by political pressure. The group invested significantly in the project after New York City failed to complete the course, which ranks 77th on the Golfweek’s Best Courses You Can Play in the United States list, as judged by our nationwide network of raters.
The attack, which sent lawmakers running for cover in fear for their lives, left five people dead and dozens injured.
“After the City wasted hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money in its prior failed attempts to complete this project, we stepped in and, at the City’s request (much like Wollman Rink in the 1980s), invested over $30 million of our own money to deliver to the people of the City of New York what has been widely recognized as one of the most magnificent public golf experiences anywhere in the country,” said a statement from the Trump Organization.
The city’s law department released the following statement in response to the suit:
“The actions of Mr. Trump to incite a deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6th caused a breach of the Ferry Point contract and we will vigorously defend the City’s decision to terminate the contract. The City properly followed the termination process detailed in the contract and we look forward to selecting a new vendor for Ferry Point that will further the best interests of New Yorkers.”
The suit is expected to be dismissed because the contract the Trump Organization signed with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation could be terminated “at-will” — though Trump’s company notes that an at-will termination “shall not be arbitrary or capricious.”
Ferry Point is a 222-acre parcel on the southern tip of Bronx County, N.Y. It sits under the northern side of the Whitestone Bridge and includes shoreline along the East River. For decades, it was an open dump, used in the 1960s for household trash and in the ’70s and ’80s as a dumping ground for construction debris. Plans for a capped landfill to include a golf course had circulated in city planning offices since the early 1990s.
A general view at Trump Golf Links Ferry Point. (Mike Pont/WireImage)
“It’s a spectacular piece of land, a major-championship site literally right next to everything, on the city,” Donald Trump told Golfweek in 2012. The course opened in 2015. “It’s important for golf. Golf has been suffering lately, and it’s a major course in the biggest city in the world.”
For such projects, Trump says he doesn’t need to do a detailed cost-benefit analysis. “My feasibility study is my gut,” he said.
Previously, the PGA of America announced in January that Trump Bedminster would no longer host its major championship in 2022. That news came just days after the mob breached the United States Capitol and caused chaos.
“The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster,” came a Tweet from Jim Richerson, PGA of America President.
According to Golfweek’s Eamon Lynch, moving the 2022 PGA Championship had been debated internally at the PGA of America for more than two years, but executives had previously been reluctant.
In 2015, the Grand Slam of Golf at Trump National Los Angeles Golf Club was canceled after he made a comment about Mexican immigrants.