Long before becoming a reality TV personality and current Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump made a name for himself in New York City as a self-aggrandizing land developer, using his father's money to launch what would become a network of eponymously named "Trump" towers, hotels, and casinos, beginning with the very first to bear his name on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Following the $15 million purchase of the 1929-built Art Deco-styled Bonwit Teller flagship store in 1979, Donald Trump proceeded to plan and build his famous Trump Tower the following year, a task that would require the total demolition of the beautiful Art Deco edifice that had stood at the corner of 56th Street and 5th Avenue for half a century.

Bonwit Teller flagship store, c. 1956, as it stood at the corner of 56th and 5th, public domain archival image

Hoping to obtain the two limestone bas-reliefs pictured near the top of the structure, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with many among the city's architectural historians and Art Deco enthusiasts, were rightfully disappointed when the news broke that Trump had opted to have them destroyed, citing costs (thought by many at the time to be inflated) and what the nascent real estate mogul described as a concern for public safety (what if they fell on somebody during removal?). Even more distressing was the fact that the new development, massively tall for the time at 58 storeys and clad in a curtain wall of black- and gold-tinted glass, was emblazoned with T-R-U-M-P spelled out in huge gold letters.

Trump Tower, seen from a similar vantage point today, image by Flickr user wsifrancis via Creative Commons

After its grand opening in 1983, Trump Tower became home to a revolving door of retail stores, along with its sizeable residential component, including Trump's own 3-storey penthouse suite, modelled after Versailles and valued today at $100 million. Today, Trump Tower more or less blends into its surroundings, its Midtown Manhattan location having since become a forest of offices and condo towers, punctuated by historic buildings and landmarks, like the Tiffany & Co flagship store (poking into the frame on the left) which itself has been a New York City icon since its completion in 1940.

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