![]() ![]() Trump then installed then-wife Ivana as president, the first woman to hold that title, only to soon publicly embarrass her at a press conference by saying, "My wife, Ivana, is a brilliant manager. He bought the hotel for more than $400 million, entirely with borrowed money. ![]() By 1988, he finally got what he wanted, thanks in part to the financial troubles of The Plaza's then-owner, Westin. Trump was fixated on buying the hotel since the '70s. That was the '80s, of course," she told Satow. I don't see how you could have lived there without sunglasses it was so bright. "I said I would love to, so we went up there and it was like a gold whorehouse. Ivana Trump in front of the Plaza, 1987 Joe McNally // Getty ImagesĪccording to Satow, when former manager Alphonse Salomone's widow Bernadette visited during Donald Trump's seven-year tenure as the hotel's owner, she was asked if she wanted to see her old suite. Two prostitutes mugged a politician outside the hotel's entrance, an incident that contributed to Central Park South being nicknamed "Prostitutes' Promenade." Trump Led the Plaza to its First Bankruptcy-and He Spied on His Enemies And there were more incidents: A doctor was attacked by someone wielding a knife when he answered the door to his suite and two couples were robbed at gunpoint coming out of a gala. Though it was signed by "Black September," a Palestinian terrorist group, it turned out to be the work of a housepainter in need of money to start a restaurant. The year after notes were sent to the hotel threatening to blow it up unless a ransom was paid. In 1972, more than a dozen staff were taken hostage by armed men who raided the hotel safe and stole $265,000 worth of treasure, including an emerald tiara. There was also the Etan Patz disappearance and the citywide blackout of 1977. The city almost went bankrupt in 1975 before being saved by the teachers union and a sanitation strike left a heap of garbage next to The Plaza that was seven feet tall and five feet wide. New York Daily News Archive // Getty Images The 70s Brought Bomb Scares, Prostitutes, and Armed RobberiesĬorruption, terrorism, crime, and a financial crisis were the hallmarks of New York life in the 1970s. ![]() A German Spy Was Living at the Hotel When America Entered World War I There were also sophisticated thermostats that made sure temperatures remained ideal at all times and ultra-modern refrigeration equipment that not only provided ice for drinks, but also worked to cool a storage room for guests' fur coats on the 17th floor. A ventilation system was installed to purify the oxygen that flowed into the building. When it opened its doors, it was the most expensive hotel in the city's history and it made sure guests understood why. Long before air filtration systems became de rigueur in luxury homes, The Plaza did it first. Butler died from fractured ribs, a broken breastbone, and severe internal bleeding, while the other two sustained serious injuries. Instead, one July morning, ironworkers ganged up on them and beat them with tools and fists. Cullen, and William O'Toole were hired as security guards to keep the peace. In the summer of 1906 during The Plaza's construction, tensions between union and nonunion laborers were high, often resulting in union workers violently harassing and intimidating their non-union counterparts. ![]()
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