Residents Of New York City Building Vote To Remove Trump’s Name From Building Signage

Residents of an apartment complex in Manhattan voted to remove the words “Trump Place” from the building’s exterior Wednesday, becoming the fourth formerly owned Trump property in the area to do so.

Nearly 70 percent of the building’s residents who participated in the vote supported the re-branding the condominium and distancing it from the the president.

The building’s board members passed a resolution to take down the signage on the building soon after, and plans on removing Trump’s highly visible moniker from the building.

This move will not change the building’s legal name, 200 Riverside Boulevard at Trump Place.

Residents had sought to remove Donald Trump’s logo from the building’s facade shortly after the 2016 election, but were held from doing so after receiving a letter from the Trump Organization threatening legal action.

“Please be advised that [removing the signs] would constitute a flagrant and material breach of the License Agreement,” Alan Garten, chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, wrote in March 2017.

The building, which Trump had helped develop in the 90s, had entered into a licensing agreement with the real estate magnate in 2000 to use Trump’s name on its signs.

But instead of bowing to the Trump Organization’s threat, the building’s directors took matters into their own hands and filed a lawsuit against the Trump Organization earlier this year.

They claimed the licensing agreement they had with the Trump Organization to pay $1 to use the president’s name did not prevent them from taking down the signs if they wished.

Judge Eileen Bransten, the judge in-charge of the case, ruled in favor of the building, granting them the right to remove the signage on the stipulation that the board members get the resident’s approval.

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“We are pleased to have resolved this matter democratically,” members of the Upper West Side building’s board wrote in an email to residents. “Our entire community has engaged in a thorough and respectful deliberative process regarding how to address the signage on our building … We encourage everyone to move forward and respect the will of the community.”

Article by Oresti Avlonitis