STAMFORD–Residents and religious leaders in Fairfield County are calling for a Stamford luxury condo building to change its name after presidential candidate Donald Trump made comments about banning Muslims from entering the country.
The interfaith coalition–which is made up of the Council of American Islamic Relations and the Al Madany Islamic Center of Norwalk–has started a petition to send to developer FD Rich Company and the building’s homeowner association “in light of the bigoted statements of Donald J. Trump,” according to a statement.
In a letter sent to CEO Thomas Rich, the coalition wrote, “It is highly offensive to Fairfield County’s diverse multi-ethnic community to have a well-known building carry the name of someone who has made a wide variety of xenophobic statements.”
Farhan Memon, a board member of the Islamic Center in Norwalk and one of the people behind the letter sent to Rich, said in a statement sent to FOX 61, “The trump name is a toxic brand. Who would want to live or visit a place named after someone who makes prejudicial statements about Hispanics, Muslims, African Americans, and disabled people let alone pay $1 million for such a property.”
According to Memon, at least 50 faith based organizations and individuals have joined his Norwalk Islamic center in calling for the removal of Trump’s name on the building, in which condo units sell for anywhere from just over $500,000 to $4.5 million.
And while Memon also said in his statement that he would think Rich would “welcome the opportunity to distance his company from Mr. Trump and his organization,” Rich says that’s not up to him or his company.
“As far as running the building including making all major decisions, it is managed by the home owners association who employs the Trump Organization for day to day operations,” Rich said in an email to FOX 61. He went on to say that the day-to-day operations were transferred from the development company to unit owners two years ago. The company still owns 12 of the 170 condos.
Rich drove his point home, saying, “Any proposed name change of the building is not controlled by me or 33 Broad Street Associates II, LLC (the original development partnership) and rests solely with the residents of the building.”
As for how the building originally got its moniker, Rich says “the reason that we entered into a licensing agreement with Donald Trump over nine years ago (May of 2006) had solely to do with his name having been synonymous with luxury in the condominium development and management space.”
Gov. Dan Malloy’s office released the following statement: “The governor is calling on Trump to release tenants from all Trump-branded properties from their contractual obligations to carry his name. He should be ashamed of himself.”
Earlier this week, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” including those seeking visas and tourists.
