'Trump' Replaced By a Horse After Syrians Ride His Carousel
When Syrian refugees took a free tour of New York City last month, I tagged along until the group got to Central Park, where the children took their first-ever carousel ride...on the "Trump Carousel."
The president's Trump Organization operates the carousel, an irony that was not lost on tour leader Luke Miller. "Divine justice," he said, considering that thrilled Syrian kids -- residents of America against all odds -- were now bopping on Trump's horses.
I posted a picture online of a small sign that read "TRUMP CAROUSEL RULES AND REGULATIONS." Next to the sign stood a Syrian boy, arms hanging over the edge of the carousel fence, anxiously awaiting his turn.
The next day, the sign was gone.Â
This had nothing to do with my story, a Trump Organization spokesperson told me, nor an article in The New York Times that also mentioned the carousel. It was taken down, the spokesperson said, for updating.Â
Well the sign has now been updated -- and the "Trump" name is gone. The new sign has a tiny picture of a colorful carousel horse where the president's name used to be.
"My hope is that if Trump heard about this, that he'd see the bright, beautiful smiles of these Syrian children faces, and perhaps it would warm the cockles of his heart, not engender feelings of wanting to distance himself from his association with the carousel," Miller said.
A Trump Organization spokesperson said by way of explanation that the official name of the amusement was, and continues to be, Friedsam Memorial Carousel.
The rules listed on the new sign are the same, but there are three additional ones: No smoking. Footwear is mandatory. And a final directive, which may be misconstrued if translated literally by the next visitor from Syria (or anywhere, really): "Any standing adults must be on the inside of the horse."
WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations
