Homeless shelter operator quits bid
to dump Trump at Bronx golf course
Donald Trump speaks alongside former Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the opening of the Trump Golf Links in The Bronx, Oct. 16, 2013. Spencer T Tucker/NYC Mayor’s Offi ce
BY CLAUDIA IRIZARRY APONTE
AND KATIE HONAN
This article was originally
published on Sept. 29 by THE
CITY.
A leading homeless shelter
operator has pulled out from a
deal to take over a Bronx public
golf course after the Trump
Organization exits the links at
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s demand.
“CORE Services Group,
Inc. has decided to withdraw
from consideration,” an attorney
for the Brooklyn-based
nonprofi t wrote in an email
to executives with the city Department
of Parks and Recreation
and the golf course operator
Bobby Jones Links on
Wednesday, Sept. 29.
THE CITY exposed CORE’s
unlikely involvement Monday,
Sept. 27, after public records
revealed Parks’ proposed 13-
year deal to put a company
registered by CORE CEO Jack
A. Brown in charge of the deluxe
Jack Nicklaus-designed
18-hole course near the Whitestone
Bridge.
“We are disappointed that
we are unable to move forward
with this project at this
time and help bring workforce
training and jobs to communities
in New York City that are
underrepresented in the sport
of golf,” a spokesperson for
CORE, which has $544 million
in current contracts for family
and single adult shelters, said
in a statement.
“We will continue our work
breaking barriers and creating
new opportunities for all
New Yorkers.”
Asked Tuesday morning
about THE CITY’s report on
the future of the Trump Golf
Links at Ferry Point, de Blasio
said that CORE would be “only
working on some of the staffing.
It is not the organization
that’s operating the whole golf
course.”
That organization, Parks
offi cials said, will be Bobby
Jones Links. Yet the Atlantabased
golf course operator has
not responded to multiple inquiries
from THE CITY and is
not listed in any public records
related to Brown’s company,
Ferry Point Links LLC.
Ex-President Donald
Trump sued the Parks Department
BRONX TIMES R 20 EPORTER, OCT. 8-14, 2021 BTR
after de Blasio yanked
the Trump Organization’s 20-
year concession to run the
course well before the halfway
mark — reacting to Trump’s
role in instigating the Jan. 6
insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The mayor also nixed
Trump’s control over two ice
rinks and a carousel, all in
Central Park.
‘Political Retaliation’
Speaking to THE CITY
Monday, an attorney for
Trump vowed to also take legal
action against any new
Ferry Point concessionaire.
Trump claims de Blasio
has no right to evict him, with
his lawyer arguing the twiceimpeached
former president
is a victim of “political retaliation.”
But Parks says it’s moving
full speed ahead to get a
new operator in place after
Trump’s time ends Nov. 14.
A hearing of a city review
board of the no-bid contract
with Ferry Point Links LLC
remains scheduled for Oct. 12.
“We have received and accepted
a notice from CORE informing
us of their withdrawal
from our Ferry Point golf
course Negotiated Contract
process,” Crystal Howard, a
Parks Department spokesperson,
said in a statement. “We
are happy to say that, as Bobby
Jones Links’ intended operator
role made up 90% of the
responsibilities proposed, we
will continue the process with
them as the new course operator
as planned.”
On Tuesday, de Blasio said
the city is “in a strong legal
position — the Trump Organization
is not. We believe we’re
going to win that one straightforward.”
THE CITY, www.thecityny.
nyc, is an independent, nonprofi
t news organization dedicated
to hard-hitting reporting
that serves the people of New
York.
The Trump Golf Links in The Bronx, March 15, 2021.
John Hanson Pye/Shutterstock
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