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Alliance Rallies for Trump at Jones Beach
Originally published in the 2011 September 22 edition of The
Wantagh-Seaford Citizen. In the midst of a sea of supporters last week calling for the government to let Donald Trump build his Trump on the Ocean catering hall at Jones Beach, opposition activist Pat Friedman met Mr. Trump for the first time. “He extended his hand to me and thanked me for publicly supporting him for president,” the Garden City South activist told The Citizen. But then, shoulder-to-shoulder with him, she quickly turned the tables, telling him: “I beat you once...and I’m going to beat you again.” She’s referring to her activism against Mr. Trump for doing what she sees as his running “rickshaw” over the government, and can cite precise days and times when Mr. Trump entered into what she calls an, illegal contract with the state government in 2006 when he wasn’t even a bidder for the contract. She says Mr. Trump is the main proponent of stalling to get the project completed, and may not have the funds available to build it during these difficult economic times.
But Rafe Lieber, executive director of the Alliance to Revitalize Jones Beach – which had hundreds of supporters last week in favor of building the catering hall to create jobs and increase revenues for the state – told The Citizen she should be blaming the state, and not a private developer, for the protracted problem. Mr. Lieber is blaming the state for the Trump on the Ocean holdup because he believes that the basement problem, which is the main issue in litigation in the courts, is one that can be overcome. “Do you think that, in the face of mandatory evacuations, if a hurricane is bearing down on us, the catering hall would be open?” he asked. He added that there would unlikely be tidal wave forces on a sunny day, either. A judge ruled in favor of the original development to move the project forward, Mr. Lieber said, and it is the state that appealed, and has held up the process. The Citizen has reported in these pages that the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in late 2008 agreed to a modified design, with the approval of design consultants of the Trump Organization, that would amend Mr. Trump’s original design. The original design included up to three kitchens in the basement of the new catering hall employing over 30 people in an area no more than 3-4 feet above sea level. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation balked at such an arrangement because of its responsibility to safeguard residents against the dangers of flooding, and requested the state modify the original design without an occupied basement. To underscore its point, the state put out a statement last week that said “The events of three weeks ago – the restaurant location was washed over by flood waters during Hurricane Irene – underscores the state’s belief that the facility design must meet building safety requirements for new construction in sensitive flood-prone locations.” But Mr. Lieber says it makes sense to have a kitchen in the basement that does not intrude into other spaces of the catering hall. A state document dated October 22, 2008, and signed by Daniel S. Kane, then-deputy commissioner of operations, said that “The Part 502 flood plan management criteria for state projects do not favor construction of a basement with hardened walls below the base flood level....Additionally, the market today for catering and restaurant service requires adequate square footage on the first and second floors to attract enough patrons to make it a financially viable operation for a private investor.” The document said the Regional Board of Review’s decision to deny application for a basement was based on the petitioner [Mr. Trump] not carrying out its burden of proving that granting a variance [for a basement] would not substantially adversely effect provisions for health, safety and security. In the redesign, the document said the enormity of equipment and equipment types had been substantially reduced in the redesign. “The basement now includes minimal storage and minor equipment.”
A new referendum? “That’s ridiculous,” Mr. Lieber said of the referendum. He said that the property Mr. Trump wants to build on is state property, so there is no jurisdiction for the county to hold a vote on whether something is built there or not. He added that it would cost over $1 million to set up the county for a referendum, much like the county had to pay for the coliseum referendum. He also told The Citizen that the once-contentious issue of local school districts and fire districts not sharing in any tax revenues from the property is moot because the land would be leased, not sold. “I am all for a pilot program taking place between Mr. Trump and local agencies” if it can increase revenues for those localities, he said. He did agree with Mrs. Friedman that if questionable behavior took place during the contract signing, going to the state attorney general was the right thing to do. Mrs. Friedman contends that Steve Carl was the only bidder to put in a bid for the property at the time, and did it a day after the deadline. Besides being late entering the bid, she said he never provided financial documents declaring his financial acumen at leasing the property. “All of a sudden Donald Trump appears, and he takes over the process and now it’s Trump on the Ocean,” Mrs. Friedman said.
The Rally The project, he said, is so far supported by the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce and the South Merrick Civic Community Association (SMCCA). Said Joe Baker, SMCCA president, “I think the project should go ahead.” He said the recent history of the county suggests that everything being proposed has been stopped, or knocked down. “We need jobs and revenue,” he concluded. |
