Trump Golf Links At Ferry Point Opens In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City's first new golf course in more than 50 years is now open.
The Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, which was built on a former landfill in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, officially opened Wednesday morning. Tee time reservations are now being accepted online.
Excited golfers hit balls on the practice green, waiting to tee off for the very first time on the brand new golf course.
"I saw the course driving back from the airport last year and said, 'I can't wait to get out there,'" Erwin Watson of Poughkeepsie told CBS2's Andrea Grymes.
Social worker John Saith of Richmond Hill, Queens said he had to be one of the first on the links.
"I play a lot of city courses and this is considered a premium course so I wanted to experience what that would be like," Saith said.
The championship caliber course is a collaboration between Donald Trump and course designer, golfing great Jack Nicklaus.
It cost a reported $269 million, making it the most expensive public golf facility ever built in the U.S.
The course boasts spectacular views of the waterfront and city skyline.
While the course is open to the public, it is more expensive to play at Ferry Point than other city courses. For a city resident to play 18 holes on the weekend it'll cost $169. If they want to play at most other public city courses it costs up to $48. Non-residents will pay $215 at Ferry Point.
The course says it's well worth the money when you consider other Trump golf clubs cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in membership and dues.
"It is not an exclusive country club, it is an open public golf course to New York City golfers and they're going to get a great bargain but they're going to still get a country club experience," said Ron Lieberman, executive vice president for the Trump Organization.
"It was built by the city to be a world class quality golf course. We are going to hold many, many majors here," Trump's son, Eric, said.
All of this also means hundreds of jobs -- from construction workers to golf course employees, according to Trump.
The course has been about 20 years in the making and has cost taxpayers more than $100 million. Chopper2 flew over the former landfill in 1998 when then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani struck a deal for a $25 million course paid for by private developers.
But the developers went bust and Mayor Michael Bloomberg had the city Parks Department take over. In 2011, Trump stepped in to finally finish the job.
In return, Trump got his name on the course and a 20-year concession deal that had many critics fuming.
The group, New York City Parks Advocates, calls the city's deal with Trump "one of the most fiscally irresponsible deals made during the Bloomberg administration." The group also blasted the cost to play at Ferry Point.
One resident said he would play there, but isn't excited about how the course will impact how much it costs to live in the area.
"My rent will probably go up," said Throggs Neck resident Juan Valdez. "(Property values will go up?) Yes."
During construction, residents had also raised concerns over the emission of methane gas from the landfill.