Riverside South
The 56-acre 60th Street Railyard represented one of the last large tracts of undeveloped land on Manhattan and, as such, attracted numerous proposals for redevelopment over the years:
- In 1962 the New York Central Railroad proposed Penn Yards, a a mixed-use development on a platform over the yard.
- In 1974 Donald Trump's involvement began when he purchased a $10 million option on the property for an apartment complex in one of his first major transactions. That project collapsed when the proposed public financing fell through.
- In 1981 an Argentinian developer purchased the property and proposed Lincoln West. That project fell through when the developer went bankrupt.
- In 1985 Trump purchased the site for $100 million in a partnership with Abe Hirshfeld. In 1987 he proposed Television City, which would include a new headquarters for NBC along with residential buildings and a massive 152-story tower. That steroidal proposal was shot down by community opposition and a decision by NBC to stay in Rockefeller Center. A subsequent downsizing also failed to satisfy critics.
- In 1989, a group of civic organizations proposed Riverside South, a residential community that would reserve half of the site for a public park. Since he couldn't beat 'em, Trump decided to join 'em and the project was approved in 1992, despite continuing community opposition. Trump's financial troubles in the early 1990's forced him to sell to a group of investors, delaying start of the project until 1997. Although the project ultimately ended up in the hands of the Carlyle Group and Trump was no longer directly involved, his name remained on the development under the moniker "Trump Place".
