Did I See Donald Trump Around '99-'01?
February 13, 2018 12:14 PM Subscribe
Did I see Donald Trump getting into a helicopter around Chelsea Piers sometime between Fall of '99 and Summer of 2001?
Sometime between Fall of '99 and Summer of '01, I believe I saw Donald Trump getting into a helicopter somewhere near the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. I was on my bike in the area, and I remember seeing a helicopter take off, or perhaps land. I remember either being told or assuming it was DJT (that is, to be clear---assuming without any real reason). I remember thinking of him just as some dbag from TV.
I forgot about this until fairly recently. I asked the friend who I believed I was with and he told me he wasn't there. A different friend confirmed that she was there and remembered the incident. Obviously, I'm hazy on some fundamental facts. Can anyone tell me if he did fly around that area by helicopter? Was this like a regular thing---him getting in and out in semi-public view?
Sometime between Fall of '99 and Summer of '01, I believe I saw Donald Trump getting into a helicopter somewhere near the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. I was on my bike in the area, and I remember seeing a helicopter take off, or perhaps land. I remember either being told or assuming it was DJT (that is, to be clear---assuming without any real reason). I remember thinking of him just as some dbag from TV.
I forgot about this until fairly recently. I asked the friend who I believed I was with and he told me he wasn't there. A different friend confirmed that she was there and remembered the incident. Obviously, I'm hazy on some fundamental facts. Can anyone tell me if he did fly around that area by helicopter? Was this like a regular thing---him getting in and out in semi-public view?
Given the property he has in that area, I'd find it vanishingly unlikely he *didn't* get out or into a helicopter in that massive time period in Manhattan. As to whether or not you saw him, if you can't be more precise on when one occasion maybe happened in a 9 month period, it's impossible to say.
Was this like a regular thing---him getting in and out in semi-public view?
This is an odd way to frame it. There are no indoor heli-pads, and he was just a rich guy, so there would be no call for the kind of extreme security that would suggest blocking public view of a rich guy commuting somewhere by helicopter.
posted by Brockles at 12:39 PM on February 13, 2018 [14 favorites]
Was this like a regular thing---him getting in and out in semi-public view?
This is an odd way to frame it. There are no indoor heli-pads, and he was just a rich guy, so there would be no call for the kind of extreme security that would suggest blocking public view of a rich guy commuting somewhere by helicopter.
posted by Brockles at 12:39 PM on February 13, 2018 [14 favorites]
He flew back and forth regularly to Atlantic City, among other destinations. If memory serves, it turns out his pilot or the guy that fronted for the helicopter company plead guilty to some type of felony scams / mob type activity. Later when he got out of jail DJT gave the guy an apartment at Trump Tower or similar property in Manhattan. On my phone so you can google the particulars, this was well documented by reliable sources, and y'know, with a conviction in court for the helicopter operator.
Yes, he used to fly out of that heliport.
posted by jbenben at 12:54 PM on February 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yes, he used to fly out of that heliport.
posted by jbenben at 12:54 PM on February 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Trump's helicopter used to land and take off from at the West 30th Street heliport in the 90's and possibly also in the 2000's. He made regular runs back and forth to Atlantic City. Also, Riverside South was a Trump project that began in 1997. Trump sold it off to investors in the mid-2000's but was very involved in the initial buildings, including Trump Place.
posted by zarq at 12:58 PM on February 13, 2018
posted by zarq at 12:58 PM on February 13, 2018
Best answer: To speak to maryr's "No" about him being visible...
I remember the heliport being within easy view of the west side highway and surrounding area, depending, and I don't think I ever remember any kind of barricade blocking the view. Plus, you are describing a pre-social media, pre-cell phone camera, pre-9/11 Manhattan. Maybe it is different now. Back then no one could snap a pic and have it spread wordwide on Twitter within 20 min. The rules for celebrity are different now.
posted by jbenben at 1:07 PM on February 13, 2018
I remember the heliport being within easy view of the west side highway and surrounding area, depending, and I don't think I ever remember any kind of barricade blocking the view. Plus, you are describing a pre-social media, pre-cell phone camera, pre-9/11 Manhattan. Maybe it is different now. Back then no one could snap a pic and have it spread wordwide on Twitter within 20 min. The rules for celebrity are different now.
posted by jbenben at 1:07 PM on February 13, 2018
Also, at the time it was a pretty small patch of real estate. It may be bigger today, back then it was surprisingly small.
posted by jbenben at 1:09 PM on February 13, 2018
posted by jbenben at 1:09 PM on February 13, 2018
I used to see his helicopter there all the time. He’s not so much.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 1:57 PM on February 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 1:57 PM on February 13, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't know why that would be unusual.
I remember thinking of him just as some dbag from TV
He was.
posted by Miko at 2:58 PM on February 13, 2018 [8 favorites]
I remember thinking of him just as some dbag from TV
He was.
posted by Miko at 2:58 PM on February 13, 2018 [8 favorites]
We saw him once at the circus. I saw the hair before anything else- pretty unique style, hard to miss even from a distance.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:11 PM on February 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:11 PM on February 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
He stood next to me at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street at a red light in the mid/late 90s. He was loud and obnoxious then. I noticed him more for his height (I'm 5'2") and weird hair before I realized who he was. It's New York - assholes and celebrities (sometimes asshole celebrities) lurk everywhere.
posted by dancinglamb at 4:23 PM on February 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by dancinglamb at 4:23 PM on February 13, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JPD at 12:37 PM on February 13, 2018 [3 favorites]