The decision sends the matter back to the city “for further proceedings”. It was not immediately clear what it might have been. The city’s Legal Department said it was disappointed with the decision and is reviewing the legal options. The Trump Organization declared the decision a victory for the company and a “victory for justice”. The city’s move to cancel the Trump Golf Links contract at Ferry Point Park was “nothing more than a political vendetta,” the company said in a statement. Days after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to try to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory on January 6, 2021, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he was canceling the golf course contract. De Blasio said Trump instigated the uprising by hitting rioters. Trump has denied any responsibility for the January 6 violence. Instead, he said the 2020 election had led his supporters into action and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others had failed to provide adequate security. Around the same time, the American PGA canceled an upcoming tournament at one of Trump’s golf clubs in New Jersey. De Blasio took advantage of this decision as evidence that Trump had violated what the city described as a contract requirement to maintain a course that could attract professional tournaments. De Blasio and Biden are Democrats. Trump is a Republican and his company statement on Friday accused de Blasio of using city services “to advance his own party agenda, gain political points among his supporters and intervene in free enterprise.”
Many lawyers and contract experts were skeptical from the start that the city would prevail. The terms of the contract never specifically stated that Trump was obliged to attract tournaments, only forcing him to maintain a course that is “first-class, tournament quality.” Manhattan District Court Judge Debra James agreed that nothing in the contract required Trump’s company to attract professional tournaments to the Bronx. The city’s claim that the Trump Organization violated the convention “has no legal basis,” James wrote. The city’s Legal Department said it was disappointed with the decision. “Anyone who has a city concession is respected at a high level,” the service said. The contract allowed the city to cancel without stating the reason. But the city will then have to compensate the Trump Organization for building a club along the way. The decision is another sign that the Trump Organization is recovering from the backlash of businesses after the Capitol riots. Several banks refused to cooperate with the Trump Organization after the riots, increasing the ghost that the company could not borrow again. However, the company recently took out a new $ 100 million loan for commercial and commercial space it owns at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. Trump’s company also recently struck a deal to sell its Washington hotel, which lost money to a $ 375 million Miami-based investment fund, far more than many hoteliers thought possible.
