“In return for the approval of the new zoning, the developer was obligated to pay $100 million in amenity commitments to the city - which included $31 million for the 72nd Street subway and $2 million for the 66th Street subway, it was tied to the cost of inflation. The money was to be given before the project started.

“Those commitments were written into a binding agreement - a Restrictive Declaration - between the City and the developer, Mr. Macri. They were to run with the land for 99 years and were enforceable by adjoining landowners.

“A key legal requirement required that the city had to be informed before any sale of the property could take place so that city officials could “secure from any new developer a binding promise to honor the $100 million amenity commitments.

“When Macri signed a contract with Trump, they ignored that legal requirement. Trump assumed full responsibility for the joint decision to violate this provision...Trump was so sure the city would not invoke its presale notification, he agreed to hold Macri harmless if it did.” From: Wayne Barrett. Trump: The Deals and the Downfall. HarperCollins. c1992

Fifteen months months before the 7-month Review Process is to begin, Mayor Dinkins guarantees Trump 8.3 million square feet for development on the Old Penn Yards site (59th-72nd St.- Hudson River to West End Avenue). Dinkins gives Trump an additional million more square feet. Trump agrees to build a “world-class” park of 25 acres (later reduced to 21.5 acres).  Agreement violates the existing 1982 Restrictive Declaration for 7.3 million square feet. The 1982 RD was written by counsel to the City Planning Commission, Norman Marcus.

$1 million in taxpayer money spent to do preliminary study for moving Elevated Miller Highway (W. 59th - W. 72nd Street)  at the very same time that the rehabilitation of the highway was underway.

Trump needed the Highway moved for two reasons: better views for residents of Trump buildings (mostly condos) translates into higher prices; and more importantly

the roof of a new highway would become Riverside Boulevard, relieving Trump of the expense of building the new road from Route 9A at 59th Street to West 72nd Street.

A new Restrictive Declaration was still being written by Trump's attorney just before the City Council voted on the Riverside South Plan in October 1992. Please note that the 1982 RD was written by the counsel for the City Planning Commission - Norman Marcus - on behalf of the community!

With the new RD in place, the city voided the 1982 Restrictive Declaration; the one with the $100 million in amenity obligations; the one that was to run with the land for 99 years; the one enforceable by adjoining landowners. The city allowed Trump to avoid most of the $100 million in amenity obligations!

If the 1982 obligation of $31 million for the 72nd St. subway station had been tied to just an annual 3% inflation rate, by 1992, Trump would have had to pay a minimum of $44,295,484.00 to fix the subway before he began to build Riverside South.

The city now required Trump to pay only $10 million for the 72nd St. subway and it was to be paid after Riverside South’s buildings received certificates of occupancy. There was no money for the 66th St. subway station.

Why did the City Planning Commission rush to certify the application on May 18 1992?

Was it because a delay in certification would have extended the review process in 1993?

Chase Manhattan Bank agreed to bankroll the entire zoning process for Riverside South, add on the operating losses on the site to the existing mortgage fund the Riverside South Planning Corporation (the civics have 6 out of 7 seats on the Board of Directors, RSPC. Trump has one seat and veto power!)  Chase  pledged $1 million for the first six months and more as needed.

Was the sweetner that rushed the certification process, the $10 million that Trump would get from Chase when it refinanced a mortgage it held on Trump Tower?

Chase stated in Trump's financial filing with “The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Agency’s April 5, 1991” that refinancing would occur only AFTER the new zoning was approved. The new zoning had to be obtained before December 31, 1992. Coalition brought this fact to the attention of the City Planning Commission Planning Commission ignored it.

$11 MILLION IN FEDERAL TAXPAYER MONEY (ISTEA) SPENT TO DO AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT ON RELOCATING THE HIGHWAY.

 Study began in 1994.

Halted by the Federal Highway Administrator in 1995 when he was given evidence by    Congressman Nadler that the moving of the highway was an integral part of the Riverside South Project. Evidence was a submittal from NYCHPD to HUD officials in support of Trump’s application for almost $356 million in FHA guarantees for 4 buildings.

Restarted in 1996 when Rep. Kelly from Long Island put $6 million in the ISTEA-21 bill.