Look up and you’ll spot a soaring black-and-gold glass tower reflecting the sky, with a shiny silver globe sculpture spinning out front-welcome to the Trump International Hotel and Tower, right at the northwest corner of Columbus Circle where Central Park West meets Broadway.
Now, picture the year 1970-bell-bottoms, the smell of hot pretzels, and yellow cabs racing by. This very spot was not lined with glitzy glass, but dominated by the Gulf and Western Building, a solid, somewhat chunky office block dressed in aluminum and marble, surrounded by a plaza where movie-goers would slip underground to a swanky theater. It rose as the proud headquarters of Gulf and Western Industries, with rumors that its upper floors would sway so much in a windstorm that workers got a bit seasick-imagine typing a letter while your office gently rocks!
The glamour you see today didn’t come easy. The land beneath your feet once played host to horse hooves and laughter at Durland’s Riding Academy, and for a while, a pair of low-rise buildings showed off a gigantic Coca-Cola sign flashing temperature and time to passersby. Even William Randolph Hearst-the newspaper tycoon-dreamt of building his media empire headquarters right here, thinking Columbus Circle was destined for fame. Good call, even if he was a bit ahead of his time.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the old office tower had seen better days-nobody wanted to touch it, partly because bits of the facade might blow off in a storm and because the structure had so much asbestos, even the bravest insurer winced. The building shifted from one owner to another until finally, in the mid-1990s, a dramatic rescue mission began.
Enter a cast of characters: the GE Pension Fund with the money, Galbreath Company with the plan, and Donald Trump… well, with the flair. “Why not turn the creaky office block into Manhattan’s most glamorous hotel and residence?” they asked. Cue a $230 million transformation led by star architects Philip Johnson and Costas Kondylis. Scaffolding wrapped the tower like a birthday present as the old gray marble skin was swapped for dark glass and gold steel. (Trump famously debated just how shiny he could go with all that gold-eventually settling for a matte finish, after a feng shui consultant insisted it should “reflect the clouds.” You can thank feng shui for the globe out front, too: that 30-foot-wide metallic sculpture was inspired by the Unisphere in Queens, not far from where Trump grew up.)
For years, this corner grew ever more lively, from the busy movie theater below to the elegant restaurant up top-named, rather literally, “Top of the Park.” After the big makeover, the hotel opened on the lower floors with luxury suites, and up above, the kind of condos that make real estate agents sing with joy. Chef Jean-Georges himself set up shop on the ground floor, serving New French cuisine in a space that’s earned Michelin stars. Try the desserts if you ever decide to book a table-word is they’re almost as sweet as the skyline view.
But the drama wasn’t only inside. A few decades back, this building became notorious for its “dizzying effect”-literally swaying in Manhattan gusts. Add in a couple of broken windows thanks to a rogue diner, a bomb scare (no injuries, thankfully), and embarrassing floods in the basement and you’ve got a place with stories to spare. All the while, residents and hotel guests have enjoyed amenities from personal “Trumptaché” concierges to marble-lined penthouses, although the condo owners have debated over the years what name should be out front.
Even now, the Trump International catches the afternoon sun, offering reflections of Central Park, the bustle of Broadway, and the ever-rising ambitions of New York City. Not bad for a skyscraper that could have just been another forgotten 1970s office tower. So while you’re here, look up, laugh at the thought of swaying on the 30th floor, and maybe daydream about life in a place designed to sparkle “like a diamond” above Columbus Circle.
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