Word: trumping
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...many others. Closed in 1980 for repairs, the rink over the next six years became a paradigm of the fouled-up city construction project, complete with horror stories of bureaucratic fumbling and outrageous expense. Not until last July, when New York Real Estate Mogul Donald Trump, 40, whose fortune has been estimated at upwards of a billion dollars, took over the job of rebuilding the 33,000-sq.-ft. rink, did Wollman show signs of being completed in time for the 1986-87 skating season. Trump offered Mayor Edward Koch a deal: let him have a crack...
...Trump kept his part of the bargain: he completed the rink in 3 1/2 months instead of the six he had said he would need, and for $750,000 less than his $2.9 million budget. Though the publicity-conscious Trump had much at stake in finishing the rink quickly, his rescue effort nonetheless is a revealing example of how a private developer, unfettered by the myriad regulations that bedevil local government, can execute projects with dispatch. "Donald Trump did a terrific job," said Koch last week. "We have many legal constraints on us not applicable to the private sector that...
...result of the way the city is forced to do business. On any contract above $50,000, a regulation called the Wick's Law says that a minimum of four contractors must be hired, with the business going to the lowest bidders, who may not be the best performers. Trump used ten of his most trusted subcontractors. Said he: "Yes, they worked hard for me because they know there is a lot of work coming at them from us. But they were also the best in the business. We know who can deliver and who can't." Under city rules...
...Trump had one other important advantage: he paid the bills. He wrote checks to suppliers and subcontractors as soon as work was completed, without forcing them to wait for payment approvals from the city. Though he did not do it frequently, he was free to pay overtime to meet his deadline, an incentive seldom allowed in city contracts...
Determined to buy the best refrigeration equipment possible, Trump sent a team to Canada, where there are some 4,000 skating rinks. After consulting with Canadian experts, Trump bought brine Freon chillers (cost: $640,000), which are powerful enough to make ice in July. The units were too big to fit through the building's doors, so Trump removed the roof, lowered the machinery inside, then replaced the roof. Trump, a man of expensive tastes, could not resist a luxurious touch: instead of using pine for the rest stands, as the city had planned, he chose polished teak...