trumpedRising over the gray waters of Cayuga Lake, the 1500 ft high Trump Ithaca pierces the low lying cloud cover that hangs over this small upstate NY community 298 days of the year. On a clear day, however, the view from the observation deck on the top floor of the tower is matchless, taking in not only the entire city of Ithaca but the fabled Cornell campus as well, which appears from your imperial vantage point, like some kind of matchbox village cluttered with rival architectural styles.
"This is where the guys who made their quick $200 million in the market come to look at the buildings they endowed over there on East Hill," remarked Fred Skickel, Trump Ithaca manager. "Before the Donald put up his hotel, there was no place for these high rollers to stay when they visited Ithaca. You expect some guy who gets picked up for work every morning in a 40 ft. long stretch limo to stay at the Hilton Garden or Holiday Inn?"
Skickel has reason to be proud of Trump Ithaca's paradigm of ostentatious consumption. Each of the 50 luxury apartments housed on the top floors of the tower boasts a 60 ft swimming pool, wood burning firepaces, a fully stocked Victorian library, authentic 19th Century paintings, canopied beds and other amenities designed to flatter the most jaded robber baron. Every weekend, the lobby is home to a special Farmer's Market where succulent organic beauties culled from the local micro-farm boutiques are available at prices designed to put a Mercedes in the poorest dirt farmer's garage.
Mayor Carolyn Peterson, seen here with her predecessor, Alan Cohen, at the Trump Ithaca groundbreaking, has been criticized for bestowing what some consider absurd tax abatements to a billionaire developer like The Donald, is unrepentant about her administration's emphasis on upscale projects at a time when unemployment is high and rural poverty is deepening for many of the community's residents. "Folks don't come to Ithaca to see bums picking cans on the Commons." Mayor Peterson smiles and pats her prim social worker's coif, adding, "They come here to get away from the rat race of New York City for a weekend, check out how their Nathan or Amber is doing at Cornell, or reminisce about Slope Days of yesteryear. Ithaca needed a real high end hostelry. People at that level need to feel that Ithaca understands and appreciates their lifestyle. After all, they're likely to donate a building to Cornell or IC, or buy a parcel of land upstate to build the perfect retirement nest. Ithaca is no only gorges, it's money." Peterson grins demurely and glances over at the signed photograph of Donald Trump perched on her desk.
When asked how this boundless generosity targeted at a jet-set dealmaker like Trump impacts Ithacs's poorest residents, Peterson shoots back, "Look, there is a definite trickle down effect. I'm told that you have to get a ticket to scour the dumpster behind Donald's building. Just like a butcher shop!" Mayor Peterson claps her hand gleefully at her analogy. "You can't get filet mignon at Loaves & Fishes." Peterson was referring to the local soup kitchen which feeds over a 100 guests daily.
Comments invited at: ezrakidder@gmail.com - Peace, Ezra at 3:51 AM
