Trump International Hotel lays off 70 employees

Job cuts are temporary, according to the president’s company

Donald Trump and Trump International Hotel at 1 Central Park West (Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images, Google Maps)
Donald Trump and Trump International Hotel at 1 Central Park West (Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images, Google Maps)

The Trump Organization’s Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan has laid off 70 employees, a filing made public Monday shows.

The layoffs took effect in late March and were caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a notice filed with the New York State Department of Labor. The notice characterizes the cuts as temporary and does not specify how many total employees work at the 1 Central Park West property.

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Representatives for Trump Hotels and the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.

The property has at least partially shut down amid the pandemic, according to its website. It has temporarily closed its restaurants, gym, pool and spa in accordance with the recent executive order from the state.

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However, the hotel itself appears to remain open. Its online reservation platform still allows guests to book rooms as early as this week, and its website says the Trump Attaché service is still “at your service for personal grocery shopping, along with any special requests you may have during your stay.”

Trump hotels are also still open in Chicago and Washington, D.C., but have closed in Miami, Las Vegas, Honolulu and Charlottesville.

This is not the first Trump property in New York to cut staff in response to the pandemic. The Trump Organization’s taxpayer-funded golf course at Ferry Point in the Bronx has shut down and laid off 49 employees, also because of the coronavirus.

The hospitality sector has been hit especially hard by the pandemic, as travel has ground to a virtual halt. Occupancy rates across the country dropped by two-thirds to just 22.6 percent during the week of March 22 to March 28, and New York City saw occupancy rates drop by more than 80 percent, leaving about six of every seven rooms vacant, according to the hospitality data firm STR.