After months of the public being blocked from using the riverfront plaza outside Trump International Hotel & Tower, the building’s management relented Tuesday and moved the fences adorned with “no trespassing” signs under pressure from city officials.
The 1.2-acre tiered plaza is supposed to offer 24-hour access to pedestrians under the planned development ordinance for the site at 401 N. Wabash Ave. But last fall, black-meshed fences and signs reading “private property” and “no trespassing — violators will be prosecuted” went up.
The fences were pulled back less than 24 hours after the Chicago Sun-Times contacted Trump Tower management and the city’s Department of Planning and Development to ask why the barriers were blocking the public way.
The planning department, in an April 14 letter to Trump Tower ownership, ordered them to remove the barricades by July 1. If the barriers weren’t taken down, the city would have pursued enforcement options, including seeking a court order, Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner of the department said.
Trump Tower building security notified the city Tuesday afternoon that all levels of the plaza and riverwalk were reopened Tuesday morning. A Sun-Times photographer found fences that were moved, now sitting alongside a pathway.
The planning department’s investigation found “that the property was not in compliance” with the planned development, which states: “All of the open-to-air components of the River Park/Plaza Improvements … shall be open to the public twenty-four (24) hours a day.”
Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), whose ward includes Trump Tower, said the department acted in response to complaints from his constituents.
They demanded to know why the “riverwalk frontage” at the showcase building had been blocked when the planned development ordinance clearly “requires that the space be publicly accessible, much like other public parks are, until 11 p.m.”
Reilly called those terms a “template for any of the big riverfront developments” downtown.
All of those projects “have to provide riverfront access to the public whether they like it or not,” but Trump is “obviously trying to skirt that” by blocking the space “for years,” the alderperson said.
Closing off the plaza made sense when Chicago police officers were “spread thin” during the civil unrest that devolved into rampant downtown looting after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, Reilly said.
But there is no reason for the barricades now, he said.
“The property has [Trump’s] name on it. But they have river frontage. And just because he’s president of the United States does not mean he should be treated any differently than the other property owners along the river who are required to provide public access to their riverwalks under their planned developments,” Reilly said.
In fact, Reilly questioned the Chicago Police Department’s decision to have “detailed squads to guard Trump Tower’s loading docks 24/7.”
“Those are cops who could be patrolling neighborhoods and keeping them safe. Yet, they’re babysitting Donald Trump’s loading docks. So on multiple levels, Trump is getting special treatment he doesn’t deserve,” Reilly said.
A police department spokesperson said, “There is a special attention in the area of Trump Tower to ensure the safety of all who live, work and visit that area.”
There have been incidents of vandalism, including a person breaking six windows with rocks last October and someone tagging the building with pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli graffiti in March 2024.
Trump Tower management did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The building was completed in 2009; the public plaza in 2010. The developer’s brochure promised a “1.2-acre terraced park with 500 lineal feet along the Chicago River with a direct connection to Michigan Avenue.”
A write-up in the industry press in 2010 praised a “river walk path … made of black granite from the Far East and imported Jerusalem gold limestone that was chiseled by hand … There’s also native trees, prairie grass and more dotting the area.”
Those native plantings earned a “special recognition” award from Mayor Richard M. Daley in 2010. But within a year, many of those native plants were dug up and replaced with more conventional landscaping.
The building’s management got into trouble last September, when a judge ruled that its cooling water intake system illegally sucked in and killed thousands of fish in the Chicago River, in a case brought by the attorney general and two environmental groups that is still pending.
Reilly said if there are legitimate threats to the security of Trump Tower, they need to be addressed on the organization’s dime.
“When Donald Trump stays there, which is not very often. … They set up a security perimeter. I understand that. [Presidents] deserve ample security and a bubble,” Reilly said. “But Donald Trump does not live at Trump Tower in Chicago. … It literally just has his name on the front door. And this is not the only property in the United States that has Trump’s brand on it. … If Donald Trump needs to have security people patrolling his riverwalk frontage, that’s what he’s got to do.”