Trump Can Operate Bronx Golf Course Pending Lawsuit, Judge Rules

(Bloomberg) -- The Trump Organization can continue to operate New York’s Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx while its lawsuit over the city’s cancellation of its contract proceeds.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Debra James on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the city from taking the course back while the case is pending, saying it hadn’t shown it will suffer “great” hardship if the company is allowed to operate the facility temporarily.

The city ended $17 million worth of contracts with former president Donald Trump’s company in February after the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, including deals to operate a carousel and two ice rinks in Central Park. The company, which had a Nov. 14 deadline to leave the course, sued the city in June.

“We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision allowing Trump Ferry to continue using the public parkland after termination,” the city’s Law Department said in a statement. “We strongly believe the court will ultimately uphold the termination of Trump Ferry.”

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New York said the Trump Organization breached a provision of the contract that required it to “operate a course capable of attracting professional tournament-quality events,” according to the lawsuit. 

The city argued that the PGA of America’s announcement in January that it wouldn’t hold its annual championship at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, course led it to believe that no golf organization would associate itself with the Bronx course if it was connected to Trump after the Capitol riot, according to the suit.

The Trump Organization said it had fully complied with its obligations to operate the links-style, Jack Nicklaus-designed facility, which opened in 2015, as a “first class, tournament-quality, daily-fee golf course.” The company said Mayor Bill de Blasio was politically motivated in terminating the contracts and that the city used the events of Jan. 6 as a pretext to end them.

The case is Trump Ferry Point LLC v. Mitchell J. Silver, 155933/2021, New York State Supreme Court, New York County.

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