Councilman: Police Command Post Deters Pedestrians From Visiting Businesses Near Trump Tower

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The nightmare has persisted for many businesses operating near Trump Tower.

As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-4th) said businesses on West 56th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues are having trouble getting truck deliveries and garbage pickups.

The councilman claimed a police command post there also has another impact.

"The biggest issue, of course, is that the block looks like when you're approaching it from Fifth Avenue, that you're not supposed to be walking down there as a pedestrian, and the impact has been great -- revenues are down," Garodnick said. "It looks like a war zone, and people reasonably just don't want to be on the block because it looks like the police are going to turn them away."

Garodnick's suggestion, made in a letter to the NYPD, is to move the police command post to 56th Street east of Fifth Avenue, which is already fully closed to vehicles and most foot traffic.

Business owners said last week that the Trump security bubble was making them hard to survive. A total of 50 businesses were surveyed by city Comptroller Scott Stringer in the Trump Tower area – from 53rd Street to 59th Street and from Park Avenue to Sixth Avenue.

The comptroller found that 80 percent of businesses were impacted. A total of 46 percent said it was severe, and 70 percent reported delayed deliveries and trash problems.

"There's very little foot traffic to support the small mom-and-pop business, there's not enough deliveries of goods so these businesses don't have inventory," Stringer said.

And in really grim news, 27 percent of business operators said they might slash salaries or benefits, 12 percent said they might be forced to lay off workers, and 25 percent said they will have trouble paying rent, CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported.