"If you're poor and depend on the government, shame on you. But if you're rich and depend on the government, good for you!" Donald Trump is building one of the most expensive golf courses ever made, and he only has to pay $10 million for the clubhouse, and won't have to pay rent for the first 5 years. Taxpayers will shoulder the burden of the remaining $226 million. This is not a joke. [url]http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/trump-golf-ferry-point-cost-city-236-million-article-1.1752901[/url] [quote]The price keeps growing for Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, the course the Parks Department has spent the past 14 years building at the foot of the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx. The city now expects to spend an astonishing $236 million to complete the Ferry Point project by next spring over a former landfill, according to new figures compiled for the Daily News by the Independent Budget Office. That includes $181.4 million for the 190-acre golf course itself, plus another $54.6 million for 30 acres of adjacent new parkland and a waterfront esplanade, the IBO says. The total is more than 10 times the original cost when construction started in August 2000. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg enlisted The Donald to take over Ferry Point project in the Bronx after developer bailed. Since then, cost has jumped $45M. Desiree Navarro/WireImage The Donald must spend only $10 million to build a clubhouse, and he will pay no rent to the city for the first five years. Even though the course will not open until spring 2015, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg held a symbolic ribbon cutting there in October with golf legend Jack Nicklaus, who designed the course, and with Donald Trump, the developer City Hall selected two years ago to operate it. What Bloomberg did not mention then is that construction costs have continued to climb during the past two years — by another $32 million for the course and another $13 million for the adjacent parks, according to the IBO. Trump could end up paying less in annual fees to the city than some hot dog vendors do for their stands. Ferry Point, in other words, will be one of the most expensive golf courses ever built, not too far behind the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles ($260 million) or the new local favorite for Wall Street executives, the Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City ($250 million). It will even surpass the luxurious Bayonne Golf Club ($160 million) in New Jersey. The others are exclusive private clubs and were built with private money. Ferry Point, on the other hand, is being financed by the taxpayers. It is still labeled a public course despite greens fees that are expected to cost more than $125. NYC PAPERS OUT. Social media use restricted to low res file max 184 x 128 pixels and 72 dpi Christie M. Farriella for New York Daily News Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point will cost the city $236 million when finished, according to new figures. Parks Department officials dispute the IBO’s figures. They concede construction costs have escalated the past few years, but they claim the course itself will cost just $127 million. “A large fraction of this [construction] cost was from the excavation and removal of municipal solid waste and other environmental remediation that we performed as . . . mandated by new environmental standards,” Parks Department spokesman Arthur Pincus said this week. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is flanked by the flags of the City of New York, left, and Boston, during a news conference in the Blue Room of New York's City Hall, Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Bloomberg says the city would keep up security on landmarks and subways, and he asked New Yorkers to stay vigilant. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Richard Drew/AP Bloomberg held a symbolic ribbon cutting at the course in October, but it will not open until spring 2015. But years of construction delays and bungled oversight by the Parks Department made matters worse, a 2007 audit by former Controller Bill Thompson found. After the project’s original developer dropped out, Bloomberg opted in early 2012 for Trump, who has a reputation for successfully operating high-end golf courses, to salvage the project. “We stopped the bleeding and we got the project to the finish line,” Ron Lieberman, Trump’s vice president for management and development, said Thursday. Lieberman promised to draw major national golf tournaments to New York City. Many consider this a sweetheart deal for Trump. The Donald must spend only $10 million to build a clubhouse, and he will pay no rent to the city for the first five years, Lieberman acknowledged. After that, Trump could end up paying less in annual fees to the city than some hot dog vendors do for their stands. Certainly less annual rent than many existing municipal golf course operators. Any way you look at it, the city triple bogeyed this one, and we know who is paying for it.[/quote]