"Why don't we name it after Mussolini or someone else less terrible?" That's what one New Yorker wondered after joining more than 2,000 others in signing an online petition to change the name of Donald J. Trump State Park in New York's Westchester and Putnam counties. "[Trump] has shown himself to be a bigot, and it is embarrassing that the state of New York has a park named after him," writes Brooklyn resident Andrew Cheung, who started the petition. The New York Times reports Trump donated the 435 acres of land to the state in 2006 after he failed to get approval to build a golf course on it. In the years since, it's failed to become much of a park either, with no trail maps or maintenance staff. "Unlike most Trump properties, [the park] exudes a feeling of decay and abandonment," the Times writes.
Cheung and his supporters are joined by two state legislators, who are planning to introduce legislation to rename the park, the AP reports. “Mr. Trump’s rhetoric in his presidential campaign has become increasingly hostile to the core values of our state and nation," the Times quotes a letter from Sen. Daniel Squadron to Gov. Cuomo. "He is unworthy of having a New York state park named in his honor.” Alternate suggestions call for naming the park after folk singer Pete Seeger or a Muslim from Massachusetts who fought in the Revolutionary War, according to the AP. A spokesperson for Trump points out the park was "a $100 million gift to the state" and their deal prohibits it from being renamed. But Trump himself has a solution: "If they want, they can give me the land back." (More Donald Trump stories.)
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