This article was originally published on Sept. 29 by THE CITY.
A leading homeless shelter operator has pulled out from a deal to take over a Bronx public golf course after the Trump Organization exits the links at Mayor Bill de Blasio’s demand.
“CORE Services Group, Inc. has decided to withdraw from consideration,” an attorney for the Brooklyn-based nonprofit wrote in an email to executives with the city Department of Parks and Recreation and the golf course operator Bobby Jones Links on Wednesday.
THE CITY exposed CORE’s unlikely involvement Monday, after public records revealed Parks’ proposed 13-year deal to put a company registered by CORE CEO Jack A. Brown in charge of the deluxe Jack Nicklaus-designed 18-hole course near the Whitestone Bridge.
“We are disappointed that we are unable to move forward with this project at this time and help bring workforce training and jobs to communities in New York City that are underrepresented in the sport of golf,” a spokesperson for CORE, which has $544 million in current contracts for family and single adult shelters, said in a statement.
“We will continue our work breaking barriers and creating new opportunities for all New Yorkers.”
Asked Tuesday morning about THE CITY’s report on the future of the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, de Blasio said that CORE would be “only working on some of the staffing. It is not the organization that’s operating the whole golf course.”
That organization, Parks officials said, will be Bobby Jones Links. Yet the Atlanta-based golf course operator has not responded to multiple inquiries from THE CITY and is not listed in any public records related to Brown’s company, Ferry Point Links LLC.
Ex-President Donald Trump sued the Parks Department after de Blasio yanked the Trump Organization’s 20-year concession to run the course well before the halfway mark — reacting to Trump’s role in instigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The mayor also nixed Trump’s control over two ice rinks and a carousel, all in Central Park.
‘Political Retaliation’
Speaking to THE CITY Monday, an attorney for Trump vowed to also take legal action against any new Ferry Point concessionaire.
Trump claims de Blasio has no right to evict him, with his lawyer arguing the twice-impeached former president is a victim of “political retaliation.”
But Parks says it’s moving full speed ahead to get a new operator in place after Trump’s time ends Nov. 14.
A hearing of a city review board of the no-bid contract with Ferry Point Links LLC remains scheduled for Oct. 12.
“We have received and accepted a notice from CORE informing us of their withdrawal from our Ferry Point golf course Negotiated Contract process,” Crystal Howard, a Parks Department spokesperson, said in a statement. “We are happy to say that, as Bobby Jones Links’ intended operator role made up 90% of the responsibilities proposed, we will continue the process with them as the new course operator as planned.”
On Tuesday, de Blasio said the city is “in a strong legal position — the Trump Organization is not. We believe we’re going to win that one straightforward.”
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