NEW YORK (AP) — His name has been printed in this city’s tabloids, anchored to its buildings and cemented a special kind of unabashed confidence in New York. Now the city that put Donald Trump on the map and that he loved so much is ready to give him what he deserves.
Shunned by its voters, ostracized by its protesters and now rebuked by its juries, the people of New York have one more thing to splash Trump’s name on: Indictment No. 71543-23.
“I wanted to be in Manhattan. She loved Manhattan. He had a connection to Manhattan,” says Barbara Res, vice president of the Trump Organization. “I don’t know if he’s accepted it and I don’t know if he believes it, but New York turned on him.”
None of Trump’s romances have lasted longer than his courtship with New York. No other place could match his mix of glitzy and extravagant. His unrequited love for the city is Shakespearean, but Trump went a step further, rising to the presidency only to become a local anti-hero.
Trump was born and raised in Queens, the son of a real estate developer whose projects were located primarily in Queens and Brooklyn. But the young Trump longed to cross the East River and make a name for himself in Manhattan. By the 1980s, he was already a fixture in New York. And in a city that prides itself on being the center of the world, Trump saw himself as king.
However, the feeling was never really mutual. Trump left a trail of unpaid bills, laid off workers, and ordinary New Yorkers who managed to see through his shameless self-promotion.
He may have been a singular character, but in a city of 8 million stories, his was one more.
He may never have been an ordinary New Yorker, riding the crowded subway in the morning or buying a hot dog from a street vendor, but to many he remained a benign if hulking presence.
Now, when he returns north, he spends most of his time at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey. The man who for a long time avoided crossing bridges and tunnels is again separated from Manhattan by a river.
With the recent news of charges against Trump, the story of his deteriorating romance with New York is gaining a sense of finality. ___ Bobby Caina Calvan contributed to this report. Matt Sedensky is on Twitter as @sedensky
