The $237 million Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in The Bronx hosted over 28,000 rounds in the twelve months after its April 2015 opening, amounting to nearly $3.8 million in greens fees. With taxpayers footing a $1 million bill for water and sewage, “it’s like the city is actually paying [Trump] to run a luxury golf course that caters to the rich,” one consumer advocate said.
Donald Trump scored a hole-in-one in his first year operating a new public golf course in The Bronx, the New York Post reported, racking up a city-best $8 million in revenues while taxpayers shelled out $1 million to pay the course’s water and sewage bills.
The $237 million Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point hosted 28,291 rounds between its April 2015 opening and the end of March, the Post reported, citing city records. That amounted to nearly $3.8 million in greens fees, and including other revenues—such as $615,412 from merchandise sales and $514,223 from golf-cart rentals—Ferry Point’s gross receipts totaled $8.07 million, topping all city-owned courses.
Under an unprecedented 20-year lease handed out during the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Post reported, Trump doesn’t have to pay the city a cent the first four years Ferry Point is opened, records show.
By year five, he has to fork over 7 percent of gross receipts, or a minimum of $300,000. By year 20, he pays 10 percent, or a minimum of $470,000 to the city, the Post reported
Meanwhile, the course charges New Yorkers $144 on weekdays and $172 on weekends to play 18 holes—more than triple what all other city-run courses charge, the Post reported
Because the city, under Bloomberg, also agreed to pick up the course’s water and sewage fees, Trump has already been reimbursed $1.05 million in water and sewage costs for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, city officials told the Post. And he will be reimbursed another $1.09 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, officials estimate.
While Trump is still responsible for spending $10 million of his own money to build an on-site clubhouse, such an addition is projected to significantly drive up his revenues further, because it would host large catered events, the Post reported.
Some critics blasted what they called a sweetheart deal after seeing the first-year numbers. “It’s like the city is actually paying Donald Trump to run a luxury golf course that caters to the rich,” Geoffrey Croft, of the watchdog group NYC Park Advocates, told the Post.
Monica Klein, a spokeswoman for current Mayor Bill De Blasio, declined to address Trump’s earnings , but said the mayor “would not go out of his way” to do future city business with him.
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for The Trump Organization, declined to address the course’s fees or reveal how much of a profit the company made, the Post reported.
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