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Trump and Peter Brant would take the subway into Manhattan without their parents knowing, Blair said. (Trump mentioned taking the F train near his home in a New York Times interview.)
The two would go to a magic store on West 49th Street and Broadway, according to Blair. “There they bought stink bombs and smoke bombs and plastic vomit,” she wrote. “Another favorite was hot peppered gum, which they gave to unsuspecting schoolmates. After seeing ‘West Side Story,’ they became fascinated with switchblades.”
When his father found the switchblades, Trump was sent to the New York Military Academy, Brant said in Blair’s book.
In an interview with The New York Times, Trump confessed it’s been years since he’s ridden the subway, but he did reminisce about his childhood.
“It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time,” Trump said. “I know the subway system very well. I used to take it to Kew-Forest School, in Forest Hills, when I lived in Queens. And I’d take the subway to school. Seems a long time ago. I’d take it from Jamaica, 179th Street. Jamaica, right? To Forest Hills. I understand the subway very well. I used to ride between the cars.”
NYPD Chief of Transit Bureau Joseph Fox later tweeted about the interview, telling people not to use the president as an example. “Please don’t ride between the subway cars,” he wrote.
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Photo Credit: Samantha Wieder
While his life may not be like that of the average New Yorker, President Donald Trump has countless ties to the city.
Gwenda Blair, author of “The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire,” said the president’s persona still reveals his Queens roots.
“People don’t see him as an elitist snob,” she said. “He’s like a regular guy from Queens — a regular guy who happens to have a lot of money.”
And it’s true that Queens is where it all began for Trump, who was born in the borough on June 14, 1946. It’s where he learned his first lessons from his father about working hard, and it’s where he aspired to be powerful and wealthy.
In commemoration of his inauguration anniversary, here are some of the places in New York City that are connected to Trump, from his childhood home to his real estate empire.
