2 Years After Being Fired, Trump Name Still Towers Over New Rochelle

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — In September of 2021, the Trump Plaza in New Rochelle dumped the Trump Organization in favor of a new management company. It was widely expected at the time that the city's tallest building would walk away from the Trump name as well — two years later, however, the moniker remains firmly affixed to the skyline.

The front desk at the 40-story luxury condo building still answers the phone "Trump Plaza." Like the residents of the tower, the voice on the other end of the line isn't especially eager to talk about the name on the building's marquee other than to say, "No, no name change."

In September of 2021, when the condo owners voted to replace the Trump Organization as the management company in favor of New York City-based AKAM, it seemed that momentum was building for renaming the iconic residential tower as well, but it seems "evicting" Trump from the Trump Plaza marquee proved more complicated than expected.

"Trump Plaza" remains the official designation of one of Westchester's most recognizable buildings. In fact, the Trump Organization website still lists the tower in its online residential real estate portfolio. Both Google Maps and Apple Maps identify the tower as the Trump Plaza. Perhaps, more importantly, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat officially considers the 136.2 meter skyscraper the tallest in New Rochelle, the 8,884th tallest in world, and named Trump Plaza.

So what happened? Did cooler heads prevail? Did the expense of changing the letterhead and signs outweigh any desire to distance the address from the controversial former POTUS?

A spokesperson for AKAM told Patch that they would look into those questions and see if they could provide an update on the property, but, as of now, the change of heart remains a mystery to those of us looking up at the glass and concrete tower from the outside.

SEE ALSO: Trump Plaza New Rochelle Will Vote On Name Change

While a handful of properties have opted to remove the Trump name from their residential buildings, the move isn't always as straightforward as it might seem. The Trump Parc condominium in downtown Stamford dropped the Trump name in 2021, just weeks after the U.S. Capitol attack. About a year later, residents at the Trump Tower City Center in White Plains voted to stop the Trump name.

A Trump managed and licensed hotel in Panama had a much more difficult time removing the Trump name (and Trump employees) from the property. The removal of Trump's name from the former Trump Ocean Club International Hotel followed a drawn-out legal fight between the Trump Organization and the building’s majority owner.

Not everyone thinks that changing the name makes sense. Kerry Wright, a 28-year-old New Rochelle resident, works in the building's office space and doesn't get a vote about the name of the building.

"To me it's just what the building is," Wright said. "It was Trump [Plaza] long before it was all about politics and all that, but it's just a building and that's what its name is. It'd be like changing the name of the Washington Monument."

Love Donald Trump or despise him, the 45th President of the United States will have a place in history, and it seems, for at least the foreseeable future, an indelible mark on the Queen City on the Sound.