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Add Trump Tower to the list of ways in which the Trump family is being investigated for running afoul of the law.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer found Trump Tower is failing to live up to a requirement of its zoning code that mandates the inclusion of public space on its property, the New York Post reports.
Far from a Trump-specific problem, the building was one of 182 buildings that were found in an audit last April to be noncompliant with zoning agreements that traded public space in exchange for more allowable height and density. The comptroller's office surveyed 333 such buildings, meaning that more than half had failed to live up to their part of the bargain.
Trump Tower was among 34 buildings revisited by a new audit this fall, and among 32 which had not rectified the issue. Public seating areas were blocked by metal barricades in Trump Tower, as well as most outdoor tables. The fountain was also not active at the time of the audit. In a previous visit from the comptroller's office, a bench in the tower's atrium had been replaced by a sales counter for Trump-branded merchandise.
“You can talk about Trump all you want,” Stringer told WPIX-11, as reported by the Post. “But if he’s getting away with this deal, and everyone else is getting away with this deal, then what was the point of making the deal in the first place?”
The New York City Department of Buildings is in charge of enforcing such zoning agreements and punishing landlords that fail to meet their terms. Stringer accused the department of being "asleep at the switch," according to the Post.
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