After years of being defaced, the controversial Donald J. Trump highway beautification sign will officially be removed, according to a letter from the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) to Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal.
The Adopt-A-Highway program is a tax-deductible opportunity for New Yorkers to give back to their community by helping to fund clean roadways in the New York City area.
The sign will “promptly” be taken down after the contract between the organization and contractor expired on November 7, Manhattan Borough Commissioner Edward F. Pincar Jr. wrote.
The Department of Transportation told Rosenthal of its decision following her phone call and letter to the Commissioner in July to support a petition led by Upper West Sider Richard Robbins to have it removed. At the time, it had only 25 signatures of support, but it has since hit over 1,600.
Robbins said: “It violates DOT’s own policy, stating that ‘Highways can be adopted by individuals, companies, or organizations (but not by political candidates and campaigns),’”
“The sign should have been removed in 2015 and should not be in place now, as Trump has stated an intention to run again in 2024.”
DOT disagreed with their pledge to have it removed and told the West Side Rag that the sign is paid for by the Trump organization, “not any personal/political entity.”
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
Robbins was informed of the latest decision, to which he responded: “That’s awesome! For years, this sign has been an affront to people on the Upper West Side who are offended by Trump’s racism and misogyny, and more recently his promotion of the insurrection.
“We are outraged that a president who helped destroy our environment would be credited as a sponsor of a highway ‘beautification’ initiative.
“I applaud DOT for taking this action, and hope they have a ceremony that the 1,600+ people who signed the petition can attend [and] witness an act of true beautification of our neighborhood — removal of the sign.”
Rosenthal added: “Though it may be impossible to remove his name from our collective history, we can and must remove his name from New York’s vaunted institutions and infrastructure.”
