Dem NY Lawmakers Want Donald Trump's Name Removed From State Park
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Some Democratic officials in New York are looking to rename Donald J. Trump State Park due to the Republican presidential candidate's controversial statements on the campaign trail.
A decade ago, the real-estate magnate couldn't secure permits to develop a golf course, so he donated 436 acres in Westchester and Putnam to the state to be a park bearing his name.
CBS2's Lou Young reports Trump has avoided paying a decade's worth of property taxes due to the donation.
Some Democratic state lawmakers want to strip Trump's name due to his comments about Muslims, Mexicans and women.
"This has nothing to do with politics, it has to do with the fact that he's infused a particular kind of divisive language into presidential politics that is essentially unprecedented," State Sen. Daniel Squadron, who has introduced a bill to remove Trump's name from the park, told WCBS 880's Sean Adams. "We don't need to have signs all over the place extolling someone who has such damaging rhetoric for this country."
Squadron told CBS2 he has legislation to change the name of the park.
"I have legislation that would change the name of this park," he said. "You know, the names of state parks should reflect the values of our state, should be an honor for someone who the state wants to acknowledge. That's not the case here at all."
Squadron added that "there is no good reason at all" to have those Trump signs along the highway.
"There shouldn't be signs directing people to it, just to promote his name," he told CBS2.
The Journal News reports the condition about the name was spelled out in a letter, not the deed, so there's a question of whether it is enforceable.
Squadron does not believe the state is bound.
"It's certainly a reflection of his motives in doing this which seem to be a combination of tax benefit and self promotion," Squadron said.
Former Gov. George Pataki named the park after the billionaire when he donated the property, but the provision is not in the official deed, so it may not be binding.
Some Yorktown Heights residents are split about removing Trump's name from the park.
"It always annoyed me. It annoys me even more now that he's running for president," Jean Arruda told CBS2.
John Carriello said, "His name is on it for whatever reason. What's going on in politics shouldn't take his name off the sign."
Trump has suggested the state could simply give the land back.
Pataki recently said he regrets naming the park after Trump.