Cruz (and Bush) really should do their homework:
Is the Coking story a story of pride of ownership that’s not for sale at any price, or a story of greed? Is it a story of Coking versus Trump or Coking versus the city of Atlantic City, to whom she owed some $25K in back taxes on a building that had been condemned for neglect?
The taxpayers of New Jersey decided to set aside a district for casinos in Atlantic City. All the owners in the designated area sold except Coking. Penthouse publisher Guccioni offered Cokings a million. She wanted more.
“Coking’s grandson, Ed Casey, previously told the Press of Atlantic City.... his grandmother....wasn’t opposed to selling...”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/one-time-trump-nemesis-91-is-moving-on/
Instead of being happy about Trump coming along with a contractor to tear down the steel beam shell Guccioni built over Coking’s tenant house, that she had lived under for years, Coking immediately sued Trump’s contractor for ‘damages’, for six months refusing and then accepting an out of court $90K no-blame settlement.
Coking’s real reason for suing was revealed by her attorney:
“Glenn Zeitz, Coking’s attorney, said Coking settled so she could pay some $25,000 in back taxes - a debt that could cost her the house if not paid by December. He said Coking also needs to repair the house to prevent the city’s demolition department from leveling it.”
http://articles.philly.com/1997-02-19/news/25533159_1_donald-trump-trump-plaza-eminent-domain
“I did something that had never been done before in condemnation work,” Zeitz said. “I filed an answer to that complaint, and then filed a third-party complaint against Trump and against the CRDA, alleging that they were conspiring to violate her civil rights, by taking her property without due process.
“I sued them, and brought Trump into the case,” Zeitz said. “It was, ‘The Widow vs. The Tycoon.’ You want to know what this really was? It was two people with gigantic egos, namely me and Trump...”
“Jim Whelan, a frequent Trump critic who served as Atlantic City’s mayor at the time, told NJ Advance Media... “That property was a dump,” Whelan recalled this past week. “... The property was in disrepair. It was a blight on the city.”
The pushed story that a poor old widow woman was being ‘forced from her home’ was a farce - further exposed when Coking listed the tenant house for 5 million. Trump offered (more than) a million and a free apartment for life at a Trump property. (Coking’s building went to auction last year with a $199K starting bid. Icahn bought it).
In retrospect, had Trump not bought Guccioni’s project, Coking would have lost her home to the tax collector. Had the Redevelopment Agency (taxpayers) and/or Trump coughed up the 5 million, it’s easy to speculate Coking might have laughed all the way to the bank in Palm Springs without so much as a backward wave.
There’s eminent domain abuse, and then there’s individuals taking advantage of name recognition to flip the script and create a villain when there is none.
Good information, but I think you are going to have to show that Trump wasn’t involved in the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority decision to pursue her property.
Well that’s very interesting, thanks for the additional information.