In 1980, when New York developer Donald J. Trump, purchased the old Bonwit Teller building, he promised to preserve old freizes (one shown above) and grillwork and donate them to the Metropolitan Museum Of Art.
Instead, he had them destroyed, claiming it would cost too much to preserve. the art world has been up in arms about it ever since.
In a move that, in retrospect, is Trump’s SOP, he claimed at the
time the preservation would cost $500,000, when a public estimate
guessed it would really cost $32,000.
In one of the first appearances of “John Barron”,
Trump’s alias would address criticism of the move to various
news organizations. He would also lie and claim
“The Met didn’t really want it” and focus on his Trump Tower,
“I must’ve gotten two dozen calls from people wanting
apartments in Trump Tower. It was fantastic promotion”.
Trump would also hire, Kaszycki & Sons, a window-washing firm with little experience in demolition to take down the building. Trump subsequently settled out of court in 1998 for 1.4 million to the polish workers who sued him for “horrid, terrible conditions”.
Bonwit Teller would go on to lease a smaller space in Trump Tower, closing in 1989.
About the photos in our library, a little digging on the ‘nets suggests the name is misspelled, from Wurts to Wurtz.
The Wurts brothers, Norman& Lionel, and later Lionel’s son, Richard were photographers of the era.
Who among us can’t wait for Trump Tower to be destroyed and go away?
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About this week’s poll — did you know there are over 200+ streaming services around the world? Not just movies and tv but music and radio as well.
Again, There’s only one pc in my building. If I’m late replying to comments, my apologies.
And WYFP?