‘Trump’ still looms above Jamaica Hospital, even as city severs contracts with president
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The Trump Pavilion for Nursing and Rehabilitation at Jamaica Hospital. Google Maps
By David Brand
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision Wednesday to cancel contracts with the Trump Organization allows New York City to remove the president’s surname from a Bronx golf course, a Central Park skating rink and a nearby carousel.
But “Trump” still looms large above some of New York City’s most diverse communities — not to mention the 170,000 daily commuters and travelers who ride along the Van Wyck Expressway, a major artery to and from Kennedy Airport.
Jamaica Hospital’s Trump Pavilion for Nursing and Rehabilitation bears the name of its most famous patient, in the trademark bold typeface favored by the first U.S. president impeached for inciting a white nationalist riot. The private medical center in Richmond Hill serves mostly Black, Latino and South Asian residents of Queens.
President Trump was born in Jamaica Hospital in 1946, and the facility was named after his mother Mary Trump in 1975 after the family made a large donation. A new pavilion replaced the original in 2009 and continues to carry the Trump title.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said now would be a good time to change that.
“I would be supportive of removing a name that has caused so much pain and divisions across the country,” Richards said. “Trump is not representative of what we are in Queens. We don’t build walls. We build bridges.”
The hospital did not respond to repeated emails and phone calls seeking comment for this story.
The entrance to the Trump Pavilion. Photo courtesy of Richard David
The communities around the facility have been hit especially hard by COVID-19, with Jamaica Hospital “flooded” by critically ill patients in the early days of the pandemic, staff told the Eagle in March. Richmond Hill has recently recorded the highest positivity rate in the city.
“It is offensive to these amazing healthcare workers and all the families affected by this devastating virus to infer this pavilion is honoring Donald Trump,” Richards said.
Richmond Hill and nearby neighborhoods Jamaica and Ozone Park are some of the most ethnically diverse places in the United States, home to tens of thousands of South Asian, Indo-Caribbean, Black, Latino and white New Yorkers. More than half of all residents of Queens Community District 9, which includes Jamaica Hospital, were born outside the U.S., according to the U.S. Census data.
Jamaica Hospital patients, staff and neighbors are the very people most threatened by Trump’s immigration crackdown, discriminatory rhetoric and social spending attacks, said Richard David, a Democratic district leader and community activist in the neighborhoods around the pavilion.
“New York City is revoking its contract with the president and his organization and I think it’s shocking that this hospital that serves primarily immigrants and communities of color continues to have the president's name adorn the facility,” David said.
He also noted that millions of air travelers encounter the Trump name atop Jamaica Hospital almost as soon as they arrive in New York City by way of JFK Airport.
“It’s the first thing you see when you come out of the airport area,” he said.
David served on Community Board 9 when a bipartisan name-change push gained steam in 2015. At the time, Trump was on the campaign trail, stoking reactionary grievance among predominantly white conservatives.
The hospital opted to keep the name then, despite efforts led by Republican Councilmember Eric Ulrich, a former “never-Trumper” who decided to back Trump in 2020.
“Since he announced his presidential bid, he has gone out of his way to offend immigrants, women and now veterans,” Ulrich said in 2015, the Queens Chronicle reported. Ulrich did not respond to phone calls for this story.
The hospital said it faced legal questions about terminating the decades-old Trump name contract. A Trump Organization spokesperson maintained that the name “cannot be removed” because it was part of a “major donation by Fred and Donald Trump.”
But the city’s decision to terminate its own deals Wednesday could set a precedent for the hospital, David said.
“I urge them to reconsider in light of the insurrection,” he said.
