NY Daily News: "What a deal Trump and Bloomberg negotiated."

Juan Gonzalez files a detailed assessment of New York City's deal with Donald Trump to manage its new Ferry Point golf course. Despite the sky high construction cost, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's deal with Trump includes free water for the course only 7% of revenues going to the city while other course operators are paying three times the Ferry Point numbers back to the city.

While it's not a total surprise that Trump scored a sweetheart deal for taking on a troubled project, the potential for awful publicity from the specifics could impact the course's prospects for holding the USGA events believed to be a possibility down the road.

From Gonzalez's story:

At the Pelham Bay & Split Rock course in the Bronx, for example, the operator pays the Parks Department from 18% to 23% of greens-fee revenues, plus an additional $4 surcharge for every round of golf.

At Clearview in Queens, it’s 27%. At Silver Lake in Staten Island, the city gets 25% to 27%. And at Marine Park Golf Course in Brooklyn, the city’s split is 20%. These also have a $4 per round surcharge.

So what Trump will pay for his brand new course designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus at taxpayer expense?

Would you believe 7% of greens fees?

If you do the math, the older courses will produce more actual cash per person for the city than Trump’s.