De Blasio announces New York City will cut off contracts with Trump Organization
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that New York City will be cutting all of its contracts with the Trump Organization. De Blasio alleged that President Trump was responsible for criminal activity, saying, “inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity.”
Speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, de Blasio said:
I’m here to announce that the city of New York is severing all contracts with the Trump Organization. Our legal team has done an assessment and the contracts make very clear: if a company, the leadership of that company engage in criminal activity we have the right to sever the contract. Inciting an insurrection — let’s be clear; I’m going to say these words again — inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity. So the city of New York will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization; they have profited from these contracts; they will profit no longer.
According to the New York Times, the contracts for two ice-skating rinks at Central Park, the Central Park carousel and the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a city-owned golf course in the Bronx, are set to be severed. The contracts for the ice rinks were due to expire in April.
“Right now the Trump Organization profits almost $17 million a year from these contracts; they cover four different sites; three in Manhattan, one in the Bronx,” de Blasio said. “Different entertainment sites, and look, it’s quite clear: the President of the United States directed a mob to attack the U.S. Congress during the Electoral College vote.”
“It’s almost impossible to believe, but it’s criminal activity,” he said. “And so it’s very clear. And the lawyers looked at it and it was just as clear as a bell that’s grounds for severing these contracts and we’re moving to do that right away… We’re gonna get new vendors to take over. What’s obvious is that these are sites that we want to continue serving the public, but not with an organization led by a criminal. So we will get new vendors to come in and take them over quickly; I want to see the service continue. Of course, we know the history of the Trump Organization; they’ll likely challenge us in court, but we’re on strong legal ground. We’re very clear about that.”
According to Yahoo Finance, the contracts for both Wollman Rink and Lasker Rink in Central Park are set to terminate 30 days after written notice is delivered. The contract to run the park’s carousel, which is currently closed, will take 25 days to close after written notice is provided.
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