A 1980s New York City Battle Explains Donald Trump’s Candidacy
Nov 1, 1986 - New York City, New York, U.S. - Donald Trump holds the red ribbon steady while Olympic ice skating champion Dorothy Hamill and Scott Hamilton cut it during a gala ceremony down in the sunken, tree-shrouded gulch just off Central Park South to celebrate the finished renovation of the Wollman Ice-Skating Rink in Central Park. Trump paid for the entire renovation out of his own pocket, with the understanding that he'd be reimbursed upon completion up to an agreed-upon limit. The finished rink came in at US1.95 million, Trump said, which was US750,000 below the limit.
Photographer: Scott Mc Kiernan/ZUMAPRESSIn June of 1986, Donald J. Trump was a second-tier developer in a city crawling with ambitious builders. He had a single skyscraper to his name, and was probably best known as the part owner of the New Jersey Generals in the flailing United States Football League, his taste for shiny finishes and his regular fulminations attesting to his own importance. But by November, he became, essentially, the candidate we know today, a colossal tabloid celebrity who maintains, bombastically, that he can manage government better than any politician. What changed? More than anything, what made Trump Trump was the drama surrounding the refurbishing of Wollman Rink, the ice skating oval located in the Southeast quadrant of Central Park.
As always with Trump, it’s hard to parse the reality from the publicity. At the time, New York City's government notoriously didn’t work. The city was still just a decade removed from municipal bankruptcy. Crack was everywhere. Murders were hovering around 2,000 a year. The city had actually begun to come back to life from its 1970s depths, with bricks and mortar sprouting in the lots left vacant by riots and two decades of disinvestment, but the recovery was hardly visible.