As closing arguments began in President Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud trial in Manhattan on Thursday, his name disappeared from a golf course in the Bronx that had long welcomed drivers to the borough with a large sign reading “TRUMP LINKS.”
The golf course is under new management, and Mayor Eric Adams attended a rebranding event on Thursday at the course, formerly known as the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point. The new operator, Bally’s Corporation, revealed a new sign: “BALLY LINKS.”
The sign’s removal was another example of Trump’s withdrawal from New York City — the city he once called home and where he became a celebrity. Last year, Bally’s Corporation purchased the license to operate the 180-acre golf course that the city had tried, and failed, to wrest from the control of Mr. Trump’s company.
Mr. Adams, a Democrat who has been critical of Mr. Trump, did not take the opportunity to knock the former president on Thursday. But he made clear that he viewed the change as a way to boost tourism in the Bronx.
“Let’s make sure this is a turning of a corner of the greatness of the great borough with great people that have great expectations,” Mr. Adams said.
The change in management was welcome news to some Democrats in New York. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio, after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, tried to terminate the Trump Organization’s lease of the public golf course, arguing that the city had the right to do so because the former president had engaged in criminal activity. The argument failed in court.
Bally’s is hoping to win a casino bid at the Bronx site — part of a competitive battle for up to three casino licenses in the New York City area.
The golf course joins other projects in the city that have expunged the former president’s name, including hotels and apartment buildings. In late 2017, the owner of the Trump SoHo paid to remove Mr. Trump’s name from what is now the Dominick Hotel.
