New York City Getting Paid Back for Cost of Guarding Trump Tower

(Bloomberg) -- New York City is getting paid back for protecting its most powerful resident.

The congressional budget deal announced early Monday will reimburse more than $24 million that the city's police department spent protecting President Donald Trump's midtown Manhattan residence and business headquarters between Election Day and Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration. Even though Trump has since moved to Washington, New York is still spending as much as $146,000 a day guarding the building because it remains home to First Lady Melania Trump and their son.

“We are getting what we are owed,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a news release announcing the funding, received after months of bargaining among the mayor's administration, the president and members of Congress.

The money was part of $61 million earmarked to pay local governments for the costs associated with the commander-in-chief's part-time stays outside of Washington.

The local cost of protecting the president during frequent visits to his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago estate has reached about $3.7 million, the Palm Beach Post reported last month. In New Jersey's Bedminster Township, officials say their $6.6 million annual budget has been challenged by the costs of guarding the Trump National Golf Club, which they estimate at more than $300,000 to cover seven visits a year, according to the Newark Star-Ledger's NJ.com.

Bedminster paid $3,500 in police overtime, 25 percent of the amount budgeted for the year, for one November weekend Trump spent at the course talking to prospective administration members. Mayor Steve Parker didn't immediately return a phone call about the current cost of Trump-related security.

New York's Trump Tower presented the most expensive security challenge, involving heavily armed police who have had a full-time presence outside the 58-story building since the real estate mogul became the Republican nominee in July. Their presence intensified with his Nov. 8 election, with unmarked cars and plainclothes officers.

The building sits at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, one of the busiest intersections in the city. The police presence and increased crowds have constricted traffic and affected sales at luxury retailers such as Tiffany & Co., Gucci and Prada.

--With assistance from Elise Young

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net, Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, William Selway, Flynn McRoberts