First family exit boosts biz on Fifth
Relief for tower neighbors as Melania, Barron vacate
With the f irst family now off icially reunited in the White House, the NYPD presence around Trump Tower has been dramatically reduced — and police and nearby businesses are breathing big sighs of relief.
“It’s good,” one law-enforcement source said of First Lady Melania Trump and son Barron moving out of the Fifth Avenue skyscraper to join President Trump in the nation’s capital last week.
“The area can now return to a little normalcy because the security requirements have been alleviated,” the official said. “But the real relief is to the residents and businesses in the area that had been impacted by the security.”
With Trump Tower cleared of nearly all its Trumps — adult sons Eric and Donald Jr., from the president’s first marriage, still keep offices there — the police detail has been scaled back considerably.
Melania and Barron had remained behind in the family’s gilded penthouse after the president’s inauguration so that Barron, 10, could finish his school year in Manhattan. During that time, the tower’s police detail consisted of a lieutenant, two sergeants and 16 cops per shift.
Now, the detail is one sergeant and eight cops per shift.
And stacks of concrete and metal barriers have been removed. Many of the metal barriers were moved one block west for two events on Sixth Avenue on Saturday, a street fair in the teens and 20s and the 32nd Annual Immigrant’s Parade in Midtown.
“We removed fifty or sixty barriers,” one cop said while on Tower duty Friday. “They were here for Trump Tower — but they aren’t coming back.”
An NYPD Winnebago command center that had become a fixture on West 56th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues is also gone.
Many of President Trump’s neighbors and own tenants are thrilled.
“There is no question I’m happy that they are gone! But I can’t say anything!” gushed an employee at the Harry Winston jewelry store on Fifth Avenue at West 56th Street — where for many weeks, the Winnebago blocked its windows.
“With the barricades, you had to go all the way down to Gucci and Tiffany’s to get to our store,” noted a worker at the nearby Dolce & Gabbana. “I’m so f--king happy they are gone now!”
Andres Alberto, manager of the Fontana Gallery luggage and electronics store on Sixth Avenue, said sales were up “since Melania moved out.”
“It’s not back to what it used to be, but it’s something — probably 20 percent, no more,” he said.
“We are not back to what we used to be, because we lost about 40 percent of our business after Trump became president.”
“Honestly, I hope Melania decides she likes the White House enough to stay there for good!” he added.
Meanwhile, one business that was hit hard by the Trump-related security measures is nothing more than a memory.
Central Park Electronics at 1376 Sixth Ave. was forced to lay off workers in a desperate attempt to remain afloat, but has since closed up shop.
Signs say its former storefront will become the home of “J’s Cleaners,” with promises of “fine dry cleaning” and “expert tailoring” coming soon.
And while some tourists bemoaned their diminished chances of seeing a Trump, many told The Post that they’re happy the family is back together.
“She should absolutely be in the White House,” Trump fan Kathy Bardon, 50, of Texas said of Melania.
“I want his family to be together in the White House,” said another Trump supporter, Yelena Kleyler, 75, of Washington, DC.
“I was always on his side from the beginning,” she said.