Trump Plaza

1030 3rd Avenue | also 1034 3rd Avenue, 1048 3rd Avenue, 1036 3rd Avenue | Upper East Side | built 1983

Open on the map7 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1983

    May 2

    A construction worker falls 33 stories to his death at Trump Plaza

    On the morning of May 2, 1983, Hugh McKinley, a 50-year-old Staten Island man, was working on the 33rd floor of the rising Trump Plaza, at Third Avenue and 61st Street, when scaffolding gave way at 11:10 a.m. Police said he fell 33 stories. He belonged to the Stone Derrickmen and Riggers union.

    Source: Internet Archive

  2. 1984

    March

    Trump Plaza opens with 145 apartments and a list of well-known residents

    The 36-story co-op opened in March 1984 with 145 units, and Donald Trump held 90 percent of the building partnership. Notable residents included John Y. Brown Jr., a former Kentucky governor, and his wife, Phyllis George, along with Dick Clark and tennis star Martina Navratilova. Designed by Philip Birnbaum, it had cost $125 million to build.

    “Trump Plaza was opened in March 1984, with 145 units. Notable residents included former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown Jr.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1984

    April 30

    Trump sues his architect and a rival developer over a look-alike tower across Third Avenue

    On April 30, 1984, Donald Trump sued his former architect, Philip Birnbaum, and Morton Olshan, owner of a planned condominium called the Savoy. He claimed they had copied Trump Plaza's design and taken advantage of his reputation, and he won a court order blocking construction while he sought $60 million in damages. The 42-story Savoy stood diagonally across Third Avenue from the 36-story Trump Plaza.

    Source: upi.com

  4. 1984

    October 9

    A settlement forces the Savoy to be redesigned so it no longer mirrors Trump Plaza

    In October 1984 the lawsuit ended in a settlement. Morton Olshan agreed to redesign his Savoy, dropping the bronze-tinted glass, limestone spans and brass bands that distinguished Trump Plaza. The Trump Organization's lawyer, Scott Mollen, announced the deal, which awaited the signature of Justice Edward Greenfield. Both towers had the same architect, Philip Birnbaum.

    Source: Internet Archive

  5. 1986

    Mobster Fat Tony Salerno is indicted over concrete rigging that included Trump Plaza

    The concrete and concrete workers for Trump Plaza came through the mobster Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno, who was linked to Trump through their shared lawyer, Roy Cohn. Rudy Giuliani and the Southern District of New York indicted Salerno in 1986 on racketeering charges connected to rigged bids for concrete and construction work at Trump Plaza and other buildings of that era.

    “In 1986 Rudy Giuliani and the SDNY indicted Salerno on racketeering linked to the bid rigging of concrete and construction on Trump Plaza…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 1990

    February

    Apartment owners sue Trump over building defects and ask that his name come off

    In February 1990 the apartment owners, organized as Trump Plaza Owners Inc., sued Donald Trump over various defects they said the building had. The suit sought $10.7 million from him and wanted his name taken off the building. As late as 1999 Trump retained a few apartments, the retail space and the garage.

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 2015

    The co-op buys the land under Trump Plaza for $190 million to head off a rent reset

    Trump's 1983 ground lease charged about $1.2 million a year for 40 years, but in 2023 the rent would jump to 8 percent of the land's value, which advisers put at about $16 million a year. In 2015 the co-op board, led by president Marc Cooper, raised $190 million in cash to buy the land. Residents wrote checks for $112 million of it, and Wells Fargo wrote about $50 million in mortgages for shareholders.

    Source: Internet Archive

Further reading

Nearby

All 93 buildings with stories in Upper East Side