Alderman Questions Trump Casino Buses

CHICAGO-Besides questions about the size of a proposed tower as well as marketability of the New York developer’s name in this condominium market, one alderman has voiced concerns about Donald Trump’s promotional methods for gambling. It’s the first sign that a $600-million office-condominium tower along the Chicago River may not necessarily be a presumed slam-dunk in the city council.

The Trump casino and hotel is a few miles across the state line in Gary, IN.

“As Chicago negotiates development terms with Trump and his partners, I will insist that we negotiate not only the improvement of the riverfront, but also the quality of life in neighborhoods by curtailing activities that promote gambling,” says Alderman May Ann Smith, whose 48th Ward includes the Edgewater and Uptown neighborhoods.

Smith claims other casinos as well as Trump’s have sent minivans to neighborhoods to bring gamblers to their riverboat or land-based operations.

“These mini-buses seem to appear more frequently in less affluent neighborhoods, at buildings serving the elderly and in immigrant and refugee communities,” Smith wrote in a letter to the editor published in the Chicago Sun-Times. The paper’s publishers are co-developers with Trump on his tower proposed for 401 N. Wabash Ave. “While casino gambling is merely a pastime for some, for others it destroys family finances and becomes an addiction. I hoped the first call I received as an alderman about a gambling-related suicide would be the last–unfortunately, it was not.”