Odd Advocate Headline About Trump Parc

A reader posted disgust at yesterday's Advocate/Time article "Trump Parc leads transformation of Stamford." The headline also caught my eye: the building is not even finished yet, and the only remarkable thing it's done for most of us is enrage us by sending debris crashing into the street below, at least 3 times, from oh, 20, 30 stories up. My commenter wrote, "If you haven't already read it, you're not going to believe the SPIN BS that the Stamford Advocate wrote today on Trump Parc." He/she called it unbelievable and outrageous and wondered if the Advocate got paid off to write it. While the article did not strike me as that nefarious, I do have a couple of reactions.

First, I was puzzled by the title. Um... what grand transformation is it leading? More accurately, it has the potential to lead a transformation. Announcing that it is currently doing so seems imprecise and will understandably give some people the impression that the Advocate is being overly positive about the new building.

Interestingly, the Greenwich Time titled the same article "Trump tower changes Stamford's skyline." That's obviously a more accurate title. I wonder if the Advocate gave the Stamford edition a more provocative title just to irk us.

Second, I was somewhat puzzled by the timing of the article. It didn't mention that while some are excited about the building's potential to transform downtown, others are still irritated about the carelessness the contractor has shown so far. If this had been written a few months after the entire site had been shut down for what sounded to me like gross negligence, rather than a few days, I might not be struck by the omission.

I'm not left angry; I'm just very puzzled. I think the main problem is actually the Stamford edition's headline. If you read the article, it presents a pretty balanced view of the project even though it does not mention the three stunning accidents in the streets outside. (I'd be stunned if metal tore straight through my car roof or shattered a glass window of the building I were in.)

From article: But not everyone looks on Trump Parc as a tall beacon of hope for downtown. Renee Kahn, director of the Stamford-based Historic Neighborhood Preservation Program Inc., sees it instead as a harbinger of things to come... "Will this become the prototype where whatever local character we have left will be gone?" she said... Kahn said she is skeptical about whether the city's infrastructure can support a high-density population surge. Kahn's concerns include water supply, traffic issues and whether the city has enough sewage treatment facilities.

I only wish there were a few more people quoted about their concern-- there were four excited people quoted, including a senior managing director of sales and marketing for Trump Parc, and only one concerned person-- and a more balanced headline.

I completely understand my commenter's anger, though. If I did not know that the reporter is a nice person, I might be angrier, but since I do know her (met her at the Malloy Trump conference and have talked to her a little about Stamford blogs), I let some time pass after reading the article before deciding how I felt about it.

Feeling: puzzled.

Trump Parc safety update: Finally, last Friday, after the third debris incident, the mayor took the proper steps to require the site to install safety measures. If you drive by Trump Parc, you'll see they have boards and nets blocking off any open spaces to prevent further accidents. According to News 12 this morning, floors 7-22, the ones that are already mostly glass-enclosed, have gotten the approval to proceed with work. Inspection of the upper floors will continue today. The links in this paragraph lead to my old posts, not old Advocate articles, so have no fear, you'll have access to the info.

I'll post some pics of the netting later today, but right now my camera is locked in my husband's car.