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MONDAY, MAR. 17, 2025

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Dear New Yorkers,

The Trump organization is aggressively lobbying the mayor’s office on its bid to run Central Park’s Wollman Rink, two sources confirmed to THE CITY, even as President Donald Trump’s Justice Department moves to dismiss the corruption case against Mayor Adams.

Trump’s business isn’t the only organization interested in the rink: the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy offered the city $120 million to replace the rink and fix up part of the park.

But they were ghosted by the Adams administration, who instead put up a public call for bids to operate the rink — just days after Trump won reelection.

Within hours, a Trump Organization executive stated that the company intended to pursue the contract.

If City Hall awards the Wollman Rink concession to the president’s family business, it would link the popular tourist spot at the foot of the iconic park to the Trump name once again.

This is only the latest installment of a years-long saga between Trump and the rink — in fact, he’s used Wollman Rink to burnish his claim that he’s a brilliant businessman since the 1980s.

Read more here about how the Adams administration spurned a 9-figure nonprofit gift and instead opened bidding for the ice skating rink.

Weather 🌧️

Chance of rain, mostly in the morning. Highs in the upper 50s.

MTA 🚇

There’s no N train in Manhattan overnight — from 9:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. — all week. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.

Alternate side parking 🚙

It’s in effect today, Mar. 17.

By the way…

The first New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade occurred over 200 years ago in 1762 —14 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Our Other Top Stories

When a group of state prison guards were hit with criminal charges for beating a prisoner to death last month, Gov. Kathy Hochul promised a series of “safety reforms.” Nearly three weeks later, the governor’s promised prison overhaul is on a collision course with the state’s long history of keeping basic information about alleged abuses hidden from the public. Attorneys for the detained Columbia student activist Mahmoud Khalil released video footage of his arrest by ICE officers inside his university housing, as recorded by his wife who is eight months pregnant. “They just handcuffed and took him. I don’t know what to do,” his wife Noor Abdalla says, her voice near tears. The release of the video comes the same day as the Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE had arrested a second Columbia student activist. A decades-in-the-making project to replace the noisy, open-air NYPD shooting range on City Island is moving forward, a notice published Thursday shows. The new, largely enclosed facility will reduce the noise from the shooting range that has been active since 1960 — and has plagued the residents of City Island for just as long.  Protesters rallied outside of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn residence early Friday morning, calling out the minority leader’s abrupt reversal to avoid a government shutdown and allow a GOP-backed spending measure to pass. “We’ve been told for months that the Democrats are going to hold their fire until they have leverage, and then to surrender that leverage — the only one that exists — feels like a real betrayal to his constituency and the country, ” said one organizer. “What gets headlines is talking about Andrew Cuomo — and isn’t that a really unfortunate state of affairs?” So says mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos on the latest episode FAQ NYC. Our hosts speak with Ramos about her position as a “labor Democrat,” her plan for mental health, the battle for a casino license in the city and more. Listen here.

Things To Do

Here are some free and low-cost things to do around the city this week.

Monday, Mar. 17: It’s St. Patrick’s Day! The 264th annual parade travels down Fifth Avenue, starting at 44th Street. 11 a.m. Monday, Mar. 17: Call it the New York Stalk Exchange: meet up with other plant enthusiasts for a plant swap at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library. 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Mar. 19: Join park rangers for Woodlawn Wednesdays, where you can volunteer to help preserve Van Cortlandt Park through maintaining trails, gardening and removing invasive species. 9 a.m.

THE KICKER: A man in Long Island is the first ever in the state to be cured of sickle cell anemia.

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Monday.

Love,

THE CITY

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