Can a Manhattan Condo Building Dump Its 'Trump' Name? Such a Move Would Break a Licensing Agreement, Attorney Warns

Can a Manhattan Condo Building Dump Its 'Trump' Name?
Looking south along Riverside Boulevard at buildings of Trump Place (by Jim Henderson, via Wikimedia Commons)

Controversy is not only surrounding Donald Trump's second year into his presidency, but also the buildings in New York City that bear his name.

As reported by the New York Post, a condo building called Trump Place at 200 Riverside Boulevard could face a lawsuit on whether it can remove the 'Trump' name from its exterior.

The building currently carries the name following a licensing deal from 2000, according to The New York Times. The agreement described Donald Trump as “worldwide renowned builder and developer of real estate who enjoys the highest reputation in these fields among others.”

However, DJT Holdings,  a company affiliated with Trump, could extricate itself from the deal if the building goes bankrupt or stops being a condo, according to the licensing agreement.

Harvey Koeppel, a former resident at 200 Riverside, told the Times that a majority of the building's residents favored the name removal, based on an anonymous survey conducted from last February.

Alan Garten, an attorney for the Trump Organization, sent a letter to the building's condo board back in March as residents were to talk about the issue. He warned that removing the letters T-R-U-M-P off the building would be a “flagrant and material breach of the license agreement,” reported the Times.

Now the condo is reportedly asking a Manhattan court on whether it has the right to use or dump the letters of the Trump name without breaking the agreement.

An attorney for the building, Harry Lipman, said that the board's residential committee has not made a decision on whether the letters should be removed or not.

Since Donald Trump's win in the 2016 presidential election, the Trump name has been taken off of some properties in Manhattan, including most recently a condo-hotel in SoHo.

David Chiu is an associate editor at The Cooperator.

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