COUNCIL VOTES TO REMOVE TRUMP PLAZA DESIGNATION
Chicago may well have earned Donald Trump’s unflattering “war zone” label after piling up 17 homicides last weekend and 633 already this year.
But don’t tell that to a City Council filled with Democrats.
On Tuesday, the Council followed through on its promise to strip the Republican presidential nominee of an ego tribute he covets: the honorary “Trump Plaza” designation outside the 96- story Trump International Hotel & Tower on the Chicago River that bears his name in huge, white letters.
There was no debate, in spite of the political points to be scored. That might have had at least a little something to do with the bloody weekend.
After the meeting, downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly ( 42nd), who spearheaded the move to take down the Trump Plaza sign, was asked how there can be any caricature of Chicago too distorted when the bloodshed on Chicago streets continues unabated.
He pointed to a new report that declared Chicago the No. 1 city in North America for investment and development.
“To suggest that Chicago is more like an Aleppo or a Baghdad is unfair. Yes, Chicago is struggling with some big issues right now like most major cities are. But that doesn’t mean you paint this city with such a broad brush,” Reilly said.
“We are creating jobs here. We’re stealing headquarters relocating here every month. To suggest that we are only defined by one of the bigger struggles we’re having is unfair and irresponsible— especially for someone in the hospitality industry [ who is] trying to scare people away from this great city.”
Still, Reilly was asked whether he had “lost the moral high ground” in his running argument with Trump because of the unrelenting gang violence on Chicago streets.
“I’m incredibly concerned about these police statistics. That is absolutely unacceptable. We do have an issue we’re dealing with related to violent crime. This City Council is poised to approve a budget that will add more police officers to the street, and we certainly need more cops to help with these problems,” Reilly said.
“When he gets up there on the national stage and trashes Chicago basically telling folks not to visit this great city, he’s actually making it harder for us to solve our public safety problems by investing in more cops because we need more revenue. That’s why he’s losing his honorary street sign.”
As for the honorary street designation, one of the Trump Plaza signs already has been stolen and not replaced. So only one more needs to be removed. That will be done post- haste, thanks to a socalled “pending passage” letter that Ald. Anthony Beale ( 9th) promised to sign.