NEW YORK _ New Yorkers living in three large apartment buildings overlooking the Hudson River are getting their wish to "dump Trump" _ at least from the name of the property.
The buildings, which are part of a complex called Trump Place, are removing the president-elect's name because of a petition by almost 600 residents who said they were offended by Trump's rhetoric during his polarizing campaign.
"The purpose of this change is to assume a neutral building identity that appeals to all current and future residents,'' residents of the rental buildings were informed Tuesday in an email. There are 1,325 units in the three buildings, which will in the future be known simply by their addresses: 140, 160 and 180 Riverside Blvd.
During the presidential campaign, residents complained that the Trump name was an embarrassment, especially in a city with a large immigrant population. Over the summer, people often threw eggs at the facades of the buildings.
One resident complained that a taxi driver cursed him out after realizing when he dropped him off that he lived in a Trump building.
"People were hysterical about it," said Sandra Brod, 74, a resident. "It was all anybody could talk about, whether you were going to the supermarket or dropping a kid off at school."
A longtime fixture on the New York real estate scene, Trump was involved in the development of the 57-acre project on the site of an old railroad yard on Manhattan's west side. He no longer owns the buildings, although most of them still bear his name. Marty McKenna, a spokesman for Chicago-based Equity Residential, which manages the complex, said the discussions about removing the Trump name had begun before last week's election.
"We have been discussing this for a while," he said.
For the moment, the decision will not affect other buildings in Trump Place. At one condominium, the management last month rejected a petition by homeowners for a name change, saying, "This board celebrates the diversity of all who live here, we do not favor any over others, and in an exceptionally contentious political season, we've attempted at all times to maintain a neutral position."
Although he is a New Yorker, Trump's candidacy did not engender much hometown pride. Democrat Hillary Clinton received 87 percent of the vote in Manhattan. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, in an interview with a radio station Monday, made comments suggesting that he favored the street protests against Trump.
"We have to recognize that all over this country, the more disruption that's caused peacefully ... the more it will change the trajectory of things," he said, according to The New York Daily News.
