Trump's Jones Beach plan raises eyebrows

BY ELIZABETH MOORE | elizabeth.moore@newsday.com

August 17, 2007

Donald Trump has never shied from name dropping -- his own name least of all.

Still, state parks officials have a problem with just how big he intends to carve his name into the side of the restaurant and catering facility he is building on the site of the old Boardwalk Restaurant under a 40-year concession contract at Jones Beach State Park.

Trump on the Ocean sent the rendering to area news organizations this week to kick off its drive for wedding and event bookings starting in the spring of 2009.

"As a New Yorker with an eye on historical significance, I am pleased to be a part of the history of Jones Beach," Trump said in a release Thursday.

But to startled state officials, this latest version of his plans looks a lot more like Palm Springs than Robert Moses. And then there's the name.

"The image is not reflective of what's required under the contract," said parks spokeswoman Eileen Larrabee, who said parks officials first encountered the rendering Thursday in the New York Post.

In addition to surprise over the dimensions of Trump's moniker, "it doesn't look like the materials that we outlined or have agreed to."

A Trump on the Ocean spokesman downplayed the discrepancy, calling it a "conceptual rendering." But the building's designer begs to differ.

"This is solely, 100-percent, down to the square foot, what was approved earlier this year in the blueprints -- they just haven't seen the 3-D visualization of it," insisted Michael Russo, who has managed the project for the architectural firm of Hawkins Webb Jaeger.

Commercial signage is a touchy topic at Jones Beach -- it was taboo when master builder Moses opened the park in 1929. And Trump's lease spells out down to the inch just where, and how big, his signs can be. Under the contract, he gets to put eight "TRUMP ON THE OCEAN" wall plaques on the sides of the catering hall not facing the boardwalk, none more than 18 inches high. But Russo said they're also allowed to engrave the name in the facade in a main sign with the main words less than three feet tall.

"All we did was knock down 'Ocean,' to make it smaller," he said, adding they also thickened the letters in "Trump." "All we know is, we have the right to put up the lettering, and the approximate size of it."

The sign sure looks bigger to state parks officials in the new renderings -- partly because "TRUMP" is the only part of the name clearly visible.

They'll be taking it up with Russo and the rest of the Trump team at planning meetings next month, Larrabee said.

Russo insists they're using the same historically sensitive limestone they promised to use after many months of negotiations with the parks department's historical preservationists -- they're just going for a smoother look than that rough-hewn finish favored by Robert Moses for the original.

Still, he conceded, "It's a work in progress. It's not over."

Trump is to appear with his Jones Beach partner, caterer Steven Carl, at their first promotional event for the facility this weekend, sponsoring Week 5 of the 2007 Mercedes-Benz Bridgehampton Polo Classic with a sampling of their culinary offerings. They promise their catering guests a "utopian atmosphere with breathtaking views and exquisite cuisine."