Justin Ramirez

Since the passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA), landlords and politicians have been crying about lost profits, burdensome regulations, and supposed threats to the market. The narrative is always the same: they claim they can’t afford to maintain buildings anymore, that the new laws are “punishing” owners, and that the city will collapse if they can’t raise rents to whatever level they choose.

Donald Trump’s name used to be shorthand for brass-and-glass Manhattan swagger. Today it’s become, for a surprising number of owners and residents, a headache they’d rather be rid of. The Trump Organization still has a visible presence in New York real estate, but the gilded lettering that once announced “Trump” on dozens of buildings has been peeled off, painted over, hidden, or quietly rebranded across the city.