Page 154 - Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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B E P A TIENT

ter for years and were considering a move to New Jersey, which
would save them money due to lower taxes and lower real estate
prices.
My idea was to offer NBC enough space to comfortably
relocate to the West Side while still being able to build my resi-
dential project as planned. I then realized the site was ideal for
television and motion picture studios, regardless of whether
NBC was interested. I decided to call this part of the project
Television City. That would attract attention and hopefully
generate some excitement. I would also plan to build the world’s
tallest building on the site and announced that to the press. You
can imagine the interest that generated.
Just as had happened before with Wollman Rink, Mayor
Koch and his allies were against any and all of my ideas. People
said I wasn’t being reasonable, but the controversy I stirred up
managed to keep this project in the news. I’m big on promotion
because promotion works. It helps to get things done. It helps to
get the public interested in what will ultimately benefit them.
However, the city was stonewalling my project. Koch was still
bruised from my success with Wollman Rink, and he certainly
didn’t want to see me with any more victories.
Let’s just say those interim years between 1984 and 1996
were usurped by the ridiculous antics of the city. You’ve gotten
a taste of that already with Wollman Rink. However, this 12-
year period is when my tenacity was given a true test. This was
the largest development ever approved by the New York City
Planning Commission and the biggest project ever undertaken
by the private sector in New York City. A couple of times I
thought, is this really worth it? Then the challenge itself would
keep me going. When I say never give up, that applies to me,
big time.
I used seemingly detrimental factors to my benefit: For
example, in the early 1990s, things were not good in New York
City, but that meant that it was easier to get the zoning I

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