Former President Donald Trump's name is coming off a New York City-owned golf course under an agreement reached with the Trump Organization to sell its contract to operate Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point to the Bally's casino chain in a deal estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars.
The contract, a 20-year lease agreement reached in 2015, hinged on approval from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and the city's Parks Department, with both signing off on the deal to transfer the lease Thursday, reports The New York Post.
The lease had been a point of contention for some time, after former Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to cancel it following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol protests.
Bally's, by purchasing the lease, is betting on using the property to help it obtain a gaming license in New York City.
Friday morning, the website for the office of the city comptroller showed that Trump's contract, originally set to end in 2035, will now end on Sept. 21.
Bally's plans to continue operating the site as a golf course. However, it will change its name to "Bally's Links" and take out a huge rock-and-grass area spelling out "TRUMP LINKS" that drivers could see when coming across the Whitestone Bridge from Queens into the Bronx.
"We are supportive of the transfer of the Ferry Point Golf Course to Bally’s, and we are confident they will deliver a high-quality golfing experience to New Yorkers," a Parks Department spokesperson said in a statement.
Insiders would not give an exact price for the agreement, but said Trump would gain a windfall. He got control of the site from then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg in 2013 after city taxpayers had spent more than $127 million converting a former landfill into the Jack Nicklaus-designed course.
Under the agreement, Trump was not required to pay the city during the first four years of the agreement. After that, he paid the higher amount of $300,000 or 7% of gross revenues. The golf course generates between $2.5 million and $5 million in profits annually, and it's estimated that Trump paid the city about $5 million over the last eight years, in addition to spending $10 million building a clubhouse in 2019.
The casino giant hopes, by buying the Bronx location, that it can win a sole state gaming license allowing new development in New York City. Further, the site's location, near a major highway used by an estimated 40 million drivers every year, could help Bally's win against bidders at locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the old Nassau Coliseum grounds on Long Island.
Bally's, in addition to taking over the lease for the 222-acre site that includes the golf course and adjacent parks, has agreed to buy the 17 acres the golf course sits on, as well as another 17 acres near the site to be donated to the Parks Department, sources said.
If the casino is approved, Bally's will build its gaming complex on the spot where Trump's clubhouse is located, according to insiders. The company's plans also include building a tunnel under a highway going through the property to connect the golf course with other sections of the location.
Even though Trump still had 12 years left on his contract, the deadline for final bids in the state's licensing program will come by the end of this year or early next year, leaving Bally's more desperate to get the lease.
Meanwhile, there are no guarantees that New York City will renew Bally's lease on the land when the deal expires in 2035. The company had sought an 80-year contract, which the Park Department declined.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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