特朗普的帝國 黃金眼中的優雅生活
LOW TAXES, ‘ELEGANT LIFE’
低稅收，優雅生活
When the Hyatt opened, Trump was already at work on a second project: Trump Tower, the 58-story, bronze-glass building that would become his home, the headquarters for his company and a tourist attraction.
君悅酒店開業時，特朗普已經開始了他的第二個項目——特朗普大廈。這個58層的古銅色玻璃大樓後來成爲他的宅邸、公司總部和旅遊景點。
The idea was to raze the Bonwit Teller department store, whose prestigious Fifth Avenue address he described as a Tiffany location.
這一項目要拆除邦威特•特勒百貨公司(Bonwit Teller)，他形容第五大道上的這個著名地址是一個蒂芙尼(Tiffany)級別的地段。
To build what he called the ultimate vision of an elegant life seen through a golden eye, Trump wanted a 10-year property tax break under the city’s 421-a program, which was created in 1971 to stimulate housing construction.
爲了修建他所謂的通過黃金眼看到的優雅生活的終極景象，特朗普想根據該市1971年創立的旨在刺激住房建設的421-a項目獲得10年地產稅減免。
As the city’s economy rebounded, 421-a and programs like it were coming under criticism as giveaways to developers.
隨着該市經濟反彈，421-a等項目被批評爲給開發商的大禮。
The Koch administration rejected Trump’s application, saying the project did not qualify because he was replacing a store with hundreds of employees and annual sales of $30 million, rather than an underutilized property.
科赫市政府拒絕了特朗普的申請，稱該項目不符合資格，因爲他要取代的是一個擁有上千名員工和年營業額達3000萬美元的百貨大樓，而不是一個未被充分利用的地產。
Trump sued the city in 1981.
1981年，特朗普起訴紐約市。
Justice Arnold L.
上訴法院(Appellate Division)的阿諾德•L•費恩法官(Arnold L.
Fein of the Appellate Division ruled in the city’s favor, writing that 421-a hardly contemplates the grant of benefits at the most choice, already adequately utilized location in Manhattan to create residential luxury apartments.
Fein)裁決支持該市的決定，稱421-a項目在大部分選擇中幾乎沒有考慮它所出讓的利益，在曼哈頓已經得到充分利用的地點建造豪華公寓樓。
Trump appealed and in 1984, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that the city’s action had impermissibly erected a barrier to the benefit, and Trump was entitled to the tax abatement.
特朗普提起上訴，1984年，紐約州上訴法庭(New York State Court of Appeals)裁定，該市的行爲爲獲益設立非法障礙，特朗普獲得減稅優惠。
Trump said at the time that the abatement was worth $7 million to $10 million over 10 years.
特朗普當時稱，10年的減稅總額在700萬至1000萬美元之間。
The Finance Department, however, said in its recent analysis that the value of the benefit totaled $22.5 million.
不過，紐約市財政局稱，根據其最近的分析，該收益總額達到2250萬美元。
Trump later got an additional $15 million tax break under a separate program for renovating the tower’s commercial space.
特朗普後來又通過一個改造該大樓商務空間的項目，獲得了1500萬美元的稅收減免。
Trump continued to fight the Koch administration’s attempts to restrict the tax breaks or to require developer concessions, such as subsidized apartments, in return.
特朗普繼續挑戰科赫市政府限制稅收減免或要求開發商做出讓步（比如補貼公寓）的努力。
After the administration refused to provide tens of millions of dollars in benefits for another project, on the West Side of Manhattan, Trump declared: the city under Ed Koch is a disaster.
在政府拒絕爲曼哈頓西區的另一個建設項目提供數千萬美元的補貼後，特朗普宣稱紐約市由埃德•科赫領導是一個災難。
‘A GREAT SELLING POINT’
一個大賣點
It is easy to understand why the tax breaks were so important to a developer like Trump.
不難理解爲什麼稅收減免對特朗普這樣的開發商很重要。
During a building’s two- to three-year construction phase, when there is no rental or sales money coming in, a 421-a tax abatement can save a developer millions of dollars in taxes, because the property is taxed at the rate in effect before improvements are made.
在一幢大樓兩三年的建設過程中，在沒有租賃或銷售進項時，421-a的稅收減免能給開發商省下數百萬美元的稅款，因爲在財務狀況得到提升之前，地產是按照實際稅率徵收的。
Once a building is completed and its apartments are sold, the benefits accrue to the buyers, significantly lowering taxes and making the apartments more appealing.
一旦大廈建成，開始出售公寓，這些益處就轉給了買家，能極大降低繳稅額，大樓因此更具吸引力。
In the 2004 offering plan for a new two-bedroom penthouse at 120 Riverside Blvd. in the Trump Place-Riverside South development, which stretches from 59th Street to 72nd Street on Manhattan’s West Side, the estimated first-year property taxes were $617 because of the building’s 421-a tax abatement.
2004年，在河濱大道120號（這條大道從曼哈頓西區的第59街延伸到第72街）特朗普廣場-南岸開發項目的一套新兩臥頂層公寓的銷售計劃中，由於這座大樓的421-a稅收減免，首年的地產稅預計僅爲617美元。
Without the subsidy, the taxes on the apartment, which was listed at $1.6 million in 2004, would have been $32,916.
如果沒有這些補貼，該公寓（2004年的掛牌價是160萬美元）的稅額將是32916美元。
It was a great selling point, said Charles P. Reiss, a retired executive vice president for development at the Trump Organization. For condos, the monthly fee was greatly reduced.
那是一個很大的賣點，特朗普集團(Trump Organization)已經退休的執行副總裁查爾斯•P•賴斯(Charles P. Reiss)說，對公寓套房來說，每月的費用極大降低了。
The benefit declines over time, with the apartment owner paying full taxes after 10 years.
這種益處隨着時間的推移逐漸降低，10年後，公寓所有者要全額支付稅款。
After winning the court battle over Trump Tower, Trump received 421-a tax benefits from the Koch administration worth $20.8 million for his Trump Plaza and Trump Palace projects.
在贏得對特朗普大廈的法庭爭鬥後，特朗普又從科赫市政府爲特朗普廣場(Trump Plaza)和特朗普宮(Trump Palace)爭取到2080萬美元的421-a稅收優惠。
During the 1990s and into the 2000s, Trump built a number of New York projects without taxpayer subsidies.
從20世紀90年代到21世紀的前10年，特朗普沒有利用納稅人的補貼，在紐約建了很多大樓。
But he continued to chase benefits, large — and small.
不過他繼續追逐或大或小的利益。
SUING FOR SUBSIDY AGAIN
再次爲補貼起訴
In 2000, Trump began marketing a new condominium near the United Nations, Trump World Tower, which his brochures described as the newest — and the most spectacular — achievement of the Trump Organization.
2000年，特朗普開始在聯合國大廈附近推廣一個新的共管公寓樓，宣傳冊上把它描繪爲特朗普集團最新、最壯觀的成就。
Again, he wanted the city to give him a 421-a tax break.
他又想讓紐約市給他421-a稅收優惠。
Glen, then an assistant commissioner at the city’s Division of Housing Finance, judged the project ineligible for public benefits.
紐約市當時住房金融部門的助理專員格倫認爲該項目不符合公共利益。
After the city’s court battle with Trump over Trump Tower, the City Council had passed legislation dictating that 421-a benefits no longer be used to demolish usable buildings at taxpayer expense.
在該市與特朗普就特朗普大廈進行法庭爭鬥之後，市議會通過立法，決定421-a的優惠不能再把納稅人的錢用於拆除可以使用的大樓。
In a letter to Trump’s lawyer, Glen said Trump World Tower was to be built on the site of a functioning office building, and denied him the tax break.
在給特朗普律師的信中，格倫稱，特朗普世界大廈(Trump World Tower)將建在一個功能正常的大廈的原址上，因此拒絕給予他稅收優惠。
Trump sued and a state Supreme Court judge ordered the city to review his application.
特朗普提起訴訟，州最高法院的一名法官命令該市複覈他的申請。
After that suit stalled, he filed a second one that ended in 2003 with a settlement that granted Trump a 10-year exemption worth $119.5 million for the 371-unit condo, according to the Finance Department.
在那起訴訟陷入僵局後，他又提起一樁訴訟，後者在2003年以和解收場，據紐約市財政局的記錄，和解協議豁免了特朗普371套公寓的10年稅收，價值1.195億美元。
To meet his obligation to build affordable housing, Trump paid another developer $9.65 million for 124 units earmarked for low- and moderate-income tenants elsewhere in the city, according to court records.
根據法庭記錄，特朗普爲了完成修建經濟適用房的義務，向另一位開發商支付了965萬美元，用於在該市其他地方修建專供中低收入人士租住的124套公寓。
He also had to forgo a tax abatement during construction.
他還必須在建設期間放棄稅收減免。
In 2002, apartments at Trump World Tower sold for an average of $1,046 per square foot, or $1.5 million for a small two-bedroom.
2002年，特朗普世界大廈的公寓以每平方英尺1046美元的均價出售，一套小兩臥單元的價格約爲150萬美元。
His whole MO is to exploit the government for everything he could get, said Jerilyn Perine, the city housing commissioner during the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations.
他的一貫做法就是利用政府得到他能得到的一切，在朱利亞尼和布隆伯格任市長期間擔任住房專員的朱莉琳•佩林(Jerilyn Perine)說。
In the end, the letter of the law gave it to him.
到頭來，還是法律條文讓他這麼幹的。
