Picture courtesy of Wollman Park Companions
A proxy struggle towards Trump’s anti-New York agenda has come to our metropolis’s parkland, and we should not enable Trump to win it.
For generations, Wollman Rink, on the coronary heart of Central Park, has been extra than simply an ice-skating venue; it’s been a spot of pleasure, neighborhood, and accessibility for all. Yearly, New Yorkers from throughout town, kids, mother and father, guests and extra flock to Wollman for the chance to skate within the iconic setting. It belongs to the folks of this metropolis, to not non-public pursuits that fail to signify our values.
And but, town is now contemplating giving Wollman Rink to the Trump Group in what would quantity to a betrayal of New Yorkers and yet one more instance of Metropolis Corridor cozying as much as the Trump agenda.
That should not occur.
The harm Donald Trump and his administration are doing to New York is already obvious. He’s attacking our price range, threatening to chop cash from important applications like Medicaid, Head Begin, and college meals. He’s attacking our neighbors, trying to remove the rights of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood. He’s attacking our instructional establishments, attempting to shut the Division of Training and withholding cash from our universities. And he’s attacking our most susceptible, from immigrants and asylum seekers to SNAP and housing voucher recipients.
By probably welcoming the Trump Group into our public areas, we aren’t simply making a bureaucratic resolution—we’re sending a message that our metropolis’s values might be compromised, that the struggling of our most marginalized communities is negotiable. Metropolis Corridor should reject this bid and make it clear that Trump and his Group should not welcome in our cherished public house.
This wouldn’t be the primary time the Metropolis rightfully rejected Trump and his message of hate. In 2021, within the wake of the January 6 rebel, the Metropolis decided that doing enterprise with a corporation so carefully tied to an assault on our democracy was unacceptable and the Trump Group misplaced its proper to function metropolis concessions. The corporate’s observe file—marked by monetary misconduct, fraud, and self-serving enterprise practices—solely underscores why it shouldn’t be entrusted with stewarding public belongings once more, and will disqualify it from consideration.
Fortunately, New York has alternate options that truly align with our Metropolis’s pursuits and values. The Central Park Conservancy, a revered and long-standing steward of the park, has put ahead its personal formidable proposal to make sure that Wollman Rink stays a world-class house for all New Yorkers.
New Yorkers deserve management that stands agency in its commitments and stands as much as Trump – whether or not it’s in our parks, in our colleges, or in our price range. And New Yorkers need to know, will Metropolis Corridor defend our values and the integrity of our public house? Or will the Metropolis hand over Wollman Rink to people who find themselves hell-bent on inflicting ache on our communities?
If our Mayor is just not prepared to say it, I’ll: Donald Trump is diametrically against all the pieces New York Metropolis Parks stand for and is waging a lawless assault on our metropolis and our values. We should do all the pieces we will to maintain his identify, insurance policies, and presence out of town and off Wollman Rink.
