Trump Tower
Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use condominium skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well as the penthouse residence of its developer, the businessman and later U.S. president Donald Trump. Several members of the Trump family also live, or have lived, in the building. The tower stands on a plot where the flagship store of the department-store chain Bonwit Teller was formerly located.
Der Scutt of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects designed Trump Tower, and Trump and the Equitable Life Assurance Company developed it. Although it is in one of Midtown Manhattan's special zoning districts, the tower was approved because it was to be built as a mixed-use development. Trump was permitted to add more stories to the tower in return for additional retail space and for providing privately owned public space on the ground floor, the lower level, and two outdoor terraces. There were controversies during construction, including the destruction of historically important sculptures from the Bonwit Teller store; Trump's alleged underpaying of contractors; and a lawsuit that Trump filed because the tower was not tax-exempt.
Construction on the building began in 1979. The atrium, apartments, offices, and stores opened on a staggered schedule from February to November 1983. At first, there were few tenants willing to move into the commercial and retail spaces; the residential units were sold out within months of opening. After Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and subsequent election, the tower saw large increases in visitation, though security concerns required the area around the tower to be patrolled for several years.
Site
Trump Tower is at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the northern section of Midtown Manhattan, on the east side of Fifth Avenue between East 56th and 57th Streets. It is adjacent to the Tiffany & Co. flagship store to the north and 590 Madison Avenue to the east. Other nearby buildings include the LVMH Tower and Fuller Building to the northeast; the L. P. Hollander & Company Building to the north; the Bergdorf Goodman Building and Solow Building to the northwest; the Crown Building to the west; 712 Fifth Avenue and the townhouses at 10 and 12 West 56th Street to the southwest; and 550 Madison Avenue to the southeast.The building's main entrance is on Fifth Avenue, with a side entrance on 56th Street only for residents. On the sidewalk opposite the main entrance, there is a four-sided brown-and-beige clock, which was created by the Electric Time Company and is nearly tall. In August 2023, The New York Times wrote that the clock had been installed illegally, as the building's owner, the Trump Organization, had neither applied for nor received a permit. The Trump Organization finally applied for a permit in 2015, but the New York City Department of Transportation reminded the Trump Organization of its "2015 notification regarding unauthorized structures" in July 2023.
Architecture
The 58-story Trump Tower was designed by Der Scutt of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects. Developed by the real-estate developer and later U.S. president Donald Trump, it is high. The top story is marked as "68" because, according to Trump, the five-story-tall public atrium occupied the height of ten ordinary stories. However, several Bloomberg L.P. writers later determined that Trump's calculations did not account for the fact the ceiling heights in Trump Tower were much taller than in comparable buildings, and the tower did not have any floors numbered 6–13. According to one author, the building may have as few as 48 usable stories., the building's official owner is GMAC Commercial Mortgage, according to the New York City Department of City Planning.Form and facade
The 28-sided massing was intended to give the tower more window exposure. The large number of sides arises from Trump Tower's horizontal setbacks; this contrasts with other buildings, which typically have vertical setbacks. The exception is at the base, where the southwest corner has several stepped setbacks. The Trump Organization constructed terraces on the building's setbacks in exchange for extra floor area. These were included as part of Trump's agreement with the city during construction. There is a terrace on the fifth floor on the northern side of the building, with a smaller fourth-floor terrace on the southern side. The fifth-floor north-side terrace had several trees and a fountain, while the fourth-floor south-side terrace has little more than a few granite benches.Above the main entrance is a logo with brass capital letters in Stymie Extra Bold font, which reads "Trump Tower". A concrete hat-truss at the top of the building, similar to one used in the Trump World Tower, ties exterior columns with the concrete core. This hat-truss increases the effective dimensions of the core to that of the building allowing the building to resist the overturning of lateral forces such as those caused by wind, minor earthquakes, and other impacts perpendicular to the building's height.
Structural features
The tower is a reinforced concrete shear wall core structure. At the time of its completion, it was the tallest structure of its type in the world. Trump Tower used of concrete and 3,800 tons of steelwork. The use of a concrete superstructure was in contrast to many other skyscrapers, which were built on steel frames. Scutt said a concrete frame was easier to build and was more rigid than a steel frame was. More specifically, it employed a concrete tube structure, which had been pioneered by Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan in the 1960s.Trump Tower has been described as one of the city's least energy-efficient buildings per square foot. In 2017, Trump Tower's Energy Star score was 44 out of 100, below the city's overall median Energy Star score and lower than the 48 out of 100 score recorded in 2015. In May 2019 it was reported that eight of Trump's buildings in New York City, including Trump Tower, failed to meet the city's 2030 carbon emission standards, which were implemented as part of the city's "Green New Deal". The city threatened to fine Trump Organization for each year the infractions went unfixed.
Interior
Lower stories
Originally, Trump only wanted to build an office building on the site, but the plot was in the Fifth Avenue special zoning district, which allowed more floor area for mixed-use towers with public space. In return for providing privately operated public space, Trump received floor area ratio zoning bonuses that amounted to, allowing him to add several floors to the building. The public spaces in Trump Tower include the main lobby, the lower-level concourse and restrooms, and two outdoor terraces on the fourth and fifth floor. Under city law, POPS must be accessible from the street, provide a place to sit, and not require the public to purchase anything.The Trump Organization built a five-story, atrium, which serves as the tower's main lobby. The atrium is connected to the Fifth Avenue lobby to the west and 590 Madison Avenue's atrium to the east. Under the POPS agreement, the atrium is supposed to be open to the public from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. When the tower opened, the Fifth Avenue Association awarded the first-prize "mixed use building" award to the atrium, the association's first such award in five years. Sometime prior to 2008, the Trump Organization removed the public bench and installed a counter selling Trump-branded merchandise in the public space passageway inside the Fifth Avenue entrance. They were fined $2,500 in 2008 but the counter remained. By 2015, a second counter had been added. In 2016, the Trump Organization was fined $14,000 and ordered to remove the sales counters and reinstall the bench.
The tower's public spaces are clad in 240 tons of Breccia Pernice, a pink white-veined marble. The atrium contains a indoor waterfall along its east wall, which is spanned by a suspended walkway, shops, and cafes. The atrium's escalators and structural columns are clad with mirrored panels. Six levels of balconies overlook the atrium. Four gold-painted elevators transport visitors from the lobby to higher floors; a dedicated elevator leads directly to the penthouse where the Trump family lived. The atrium was originally supposed to be furnished with multiple, trees, which were transported at a cost of $75,000, but Trump, who supposedly did not like how the trees looked, personally cut them down after impatiently waiting for contractors to remove them via a tunnel. Retail outlets include Gucci's flagship store at ground level.
The terrace accessible from the fifth floor of Trump Tower is located on the roof of 6 East 57th Street, with entrances from that building and from Trump Tower. The terraces on the upper floors are open during the opening hours of the retail businesses. Due to poor signage in the lobby, the upper-story POPs are difficult to find.
Restaurants
The building contains several establishments for eating or drinking, including 45 Wine and Whiskey in the lobby, and Trump's Ice Cream Parlor, Trump Cafe, and Trump Grill in the basement.Trump Grill was generally panned as gaudy-looking and the food bland-tasting. Vanity Fair called it a contender for "the worst restaurant in America," with different menus for different customers and "steakhouse classics doused with unnecessarily high-end ingredients." Eater rated the food as "totally unadventuresome and predictable, though competently prepared, like food you might find in a country club." New York magazine wrote that "despite what the sign reads, countless restaurants trump this spot." In December 2016, Yelp reviews of Trump Grill averaged two-and-a-half out of five stars, while Google reviews averaged three of five stars. Health inspections in 2018 reported "evidence of mice or live mice" in and around the kitchen, according to records obtained by the New York Daily News, in violations the inspectors called "critical".
The Trump Bar in the lobby of the tower was remodeled and renamed 45 Wine and Whiskey in 2021 and opened in November. It featured 39 photos of Trump, and the drinks were described as overpriced.
Eater reviewed the three other establishments as well, finding them to be commonplace compared to Trump Tower's stature. The ice cream was described as "almost too soft to be scooped," and the cafe contained food such as a "rubbery and overcooked" hamburger patty and some "inedible" steak fries. The reviewers at Eater also wrote that the bar offered a small, overpriced drink menu and snacks that "do little to affirm the luxury that the place aspires to." Vice magazine also reviewed the bar and found it to be overpriced, with "a strong pour of watered-down vodka and a few Manzanilla olives" costing twenty dollars. New York magazine, reviewing the cafe, found the food to be "safe classics" that contrasted with the cafe's grandeur.