New York City is terminating its contracts with the Trump Organization because of the riot at the United States Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday.
The contracts are for two ice skating rinks in Central Park, Central Park Carousel and Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, a city-owned golf course in the Bronx.
Mr de Blasio said he was ending the relationship because President Trump had incited the violence.
“Inciting an insurrection against the United States government is clearly a criminal activity,” de Blasio said in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday. “New York City will have nothing more to do with the Trump Organization.”
Although the city considered canceling Trump Organization contracts before, de Blasio said the violence in Washington qualified as a criminal activity for which New York City had the right to sever ties with a company.
The city’s decision is a strong rebuke from Trump’s hometown, which he repeatedly attacked during the campaign while unsuccessfully running for a second term.
Trump’s name had previously been removed from private properties, including the Trump SoHo hotel, now Dominick, and some former Trump Place condos in Manhattan.
The Trump Organization operates the Wollman Rink, near the south end of Central Park, and the Lasker Rink, at the north end of the park. Both contracts expired in April.
De Blasio’s office said it was notifying the Trump Organization that the city was initiating the process of canceling the deals. The cancellation of the carousel, which is currently closed, would take effect in 25 days; the skating rinks would take effect in 30 days, city officials said. The golf course contract is more complex and can take several months to be canceled.
De Blasio said on Wednesday that the city’s golf course deal with the Trump Organization “should never have been closed.”
Mr. de Blasio first proposed to cut the city’s ties to the company in 2015, when Mr. Trump made disparaging comments to Latinos. But some legal experts argued that annulment of contracts would not be valid in court.
The agreements contain language that prohibits “arbitrary” or “capricious” reasons for cancellation if the decision appears to be motivated simply by personal animosity towards the president.
Mark Levine, a Democratic alderman in Manhattan who has long supported cutting ties with the Trump Organization, welcomed the news.
“This is a welcome and time-consuming step (years!),” He wrote on Twitter.