The decision comes after soon-to-be first lady Melania Trump and her ten-year-old son Barron decided to continue to reside at the $90-million triplex penthouse in the 58-storied skyscraper in New York until spring. The first 26 floors of the building house commercial tenants, while the rest of the building has luxury apartments. The agency is interested in the 15th and 17th floor which are currently vacant. It is marketed at $105 per square foot that would cost up to $1.5 a year, per floor. The 15th floor was previously used by Trump campaign till the election. If the agency finalises the deal, it will cost the taxpayers a whopping $3 million a year. “The number one imperative here is safety and security. We owe that to the president elect, his family and his team,” John Miller, NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence & counterterrorism said. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, “This is a very substantial undertaking. It will take substantial resources. We will begin the conversation with the federal government shortly on reimbursement for the NYPD for some of the costs that we are incurring.”
Security concerns mount
The President-elect Donald Trump made it clear that he would visit his New York home frequently till his son and wife reside in the Trump Tower. That means the agency will have a tough task to secure the perimeter, which is densely populated. Additionally, as per norms, the President’s entire family would be under high priority security, meaning his 18-member family including Melania, Barron, four other adult children, three of them married, with a combined eight grandchildren also have to be secured. “We have never had a situation where a POTUS would be here on such a regular basis. The details of his future plans are unknown, but we certainly know over these next 65 days until the inauguration he will be here regularly. The NYPD is up to the challenge and the city of New York is up to the challenge, I have no doubt about that,” de Blasio said.
Agencies are expected to install infrastructure to secure the building that is expected to cost millions. The building could very well turn into White House of the North. Currently, Trump's security costs around $2 million a day, as per documents. “You have to be able to conduct a global war from the front porch — that is just the reality of the situation,” said Terry Sullivan of the White House Transition Project, a nonpartisan organization which helps in the transition process. In order to accommodate the agents traveling with Trump to New York the federal government will need to rent a modest one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment that will further add at least $5,250 per month as per a real estate site. "They would need at least a whole floor, and every apartment on that floor would need to be turned into an office," Sullivan said.
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