Traffic & Transit
Trump Sign To Be Removed From UWS Stretch Of West Side Highway
The highway beautification sign near West 79th Street on the West Side Highway is one of the last places in NYC where Trump's name appears.
UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Donald J. Trump highway beautification sign on an Upper West Side section of the West Side Highway is coming down.
The sign sits on the stretch of road just before the 79th Street Boat Basin exit.
On Monday, the Department of Transportation sent a letter to Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, who has led the push to remove the sign, saying that the contract between the DOT and the Trump Organization expired on Nov. 7.
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"The existing sign will be removed promptly," DOT Manhattan Borough Commissioner Edward Pincar Jr. wrote in the letter.
"He (Trump) espoused homophobic, misogynistic, ableist and xenophobic views and used violent rhetoric to stoke fear and breed division," Rosenthal said in a statement to Patch. "Though it may be impossible to remove his name from our collective history, we can and must remove his name from New York's vaunted institutions and infrastructure."
Find out what's happening in Upper West Sidefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The removal follows a petition started in December 2020 to remove the sign, which noted that the New York City Department of Transportation website's own policy is that "Highways can be adopted by individuals, companies, or organizations (but not political candidates and campaigns)."
It added that the sign should have been removed in 2015 when Trump announced his run for presidency and should still be removed due to his stated intention to run again in 2024.
The DOT disagreed when the petition went out in 2020, though, telling the WestSideRag that it was paid for by the Trump organization and not any personal or political entity.
While it is unclear whether the DOT changed its opinion on this, the city agency choosing not to renew the contract for the beautification sign puts an end to the matter.
The Trump name was taken down from various places throughout New York City when he became president in 2016, including from a row of buildings on the Upper West Side known as the Trump Towers.
In 2019, Wollman Rink and Lasker Rink in Central Park also removed the president's name from the facilities' signs.
Read More: Petition Started To Remove Trump Name From West Side Highway Sign
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