Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Donald Trump, Ed Koch, and the Ice Skating Rink: A Tale of Bureaucracy
Donald Trump, Ed Koch, and the Ice Skating Rink: A Tale of Bureaucracy
Jul 5, 2025 9:05 AM

James Q. Wilson’s terrific book Bureaucracy has an interesting story about Donald Trump and New York mayor Ed Koch. The year was 1986. The city of New York had spent six years and $13 million failing to build an ice skating rink in Central Park. In early summer that year, Donald Trump proposed to Mayor Ed Koch that he take over the project for $3 million and promised to cover any excess amounts himself rather than go back to the city. By late October the project was finished and was three quarters of a million dollars under budget.

How do you explain this story? Why was the city of New York so inept that it could not do in six years and with five times the money what Donald Trump was able to achieve in a few months?

There are several reasons why the city failed so miserably, but ultimately, the answer is that when government tries to do something, everything is infected by politics. For example, when the city planned to build the rink, the type of fuel used for refrigeration was a political matter. When Trump built the rink, he only worried about getting a reliable refrigeration unit. The city also had to abide by standards for equitable bidding of the project. Trump only had to give the contract to someone he knew could get the job done. Most important, when the city had the project there wasn’t much incentive to contain cost. No member of the government would personally have to cover cost overruns. Trump, on the other hand, accepted responsibility ing in at or under the budget as the only way he e out ahead.

As we continue to expand our government, we need to be thinking about what we really want. Bureaucracy gives us all kinds of things that we emphasize in our politics such as politically correct energy, equity and diversity in bidding, protection of union members, and providing jobs for government workers. On the other hand, sometimes you just want your skating rink by December.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
He Opened Not His Mouth
This Good Friday, take time to consider the role silence played in the Passion of Christ, and the role it should play in our daily call to humility. Read More… If you enter a Catholic church this Good Friday, you will notice the atmosphere of silence and emptiness that hangs over the sanctuary. The tabernacle doors are open, revealing the vacancy within. The altar is bare of any covering or ornament. The figures of saints all stand muffled by dark...
50 Years On, Cellphones Have Shown the Way for Inclusive Global Progress
One simple device that virtually no one could afford has now e ubiquitous, and an accelerant of economic and social growth, especially among the world’s poorest. What’s the next best gadget, and how do we get it into the hands of the e people? Read More… Today, April 3, 2023, is the 50th anniversary of mercial introduction of cellphones. On this day in 1973, Martin Cooper of Motorola used a cellphone to place a call from Manhattan to the headquarters...
Dungeons & Dragons and the Death of Honor
Hollywood has a new hit, an adaptation of the role-playing game where the medieval virtues of physical courage, sacrifice, and protection of the weak are turned on their head to make a mockery of the traditional male hero. The question is, in service of what? Read More… The most popular entertainment for boys not yet overtaken by the miserable ideology of our times is the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons, a source of friendship and adventure. It became a part...
To Save the West, Leave the Cave
A new book offers insights into both what ails our civilization and what can revitalize it. The author is not shy about calling out our obsession with identity politics as faux religion, nor about recalling us to the true one. Read More… Spencer Klavan’s How to Save the West: Ancient Wisdom for 5 Modern Crises identifies five crises he believes are plaguing the West and slowly undermining America: Reality, the Body, Meaning, Religion, and Regimes. Klavan argues that beneath the...
John Wesley: The World Is My Parish
Part 2 of a series on the roots of evangelicalism invites us to consider the life and career of one of the evangelical movement’s great men: John Wesley, whose emphasis on personal conversion and methodical piety has influenced millions around the world. It also led to a fracture within the Church of England. Read More… Our journey through the 18th-century evangelical revival continues in pany of John Wesley (1703­–1791). Wesley was an extraordinary individual. First, he was a systematic organizer,...
The Return of Stoicism in an Age of Chaos
This ancient “philosophy” is cool again. In a world of constant change, ignoring what doesn’t ultimately matter makes a lot of sense. But it can only take a striving soul so far. Read More… Despite its popularity, or perhaps because of it, Stoicism is a difficult thing to define. Is it a philosophy, a nuanced outlook, a mindset, a healthy lifestyle, or a conservative fad? Is it inherently masculine? Is it toxic? Is it all these things? It’s also not...
Antonin Scalia’s Rise to Greatness
The first volume of a biography of the late Supreme Court justice has been published, opening a window into the highly influential—and polarizing—jurist’s life. It’s clear that his opinions were formed not merely in class- and courtrooms but also by the lived experiences of an Italian immigrant’s son. Read More… When Judge Antonin Scalia was confirmed to a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States on September 16, 1986, no senator voted in opposition. He was confirmed by...
Pinocchio as Anti-Fascist Superhero
The latest in a string of adaptations of the 19th-century Italian children’s bines brilliant artistry with ideological incoherence and absurdity, all in the service of both lionizing and subverting childhood. Read More… Guillermo del Toro’s career is evidence that the Oscars still favor the romance of the left. He has just won the Best Animated Feature award for his Pinocchio, which he set in Fascist Italy. If liberal opinion can treat political opposition as fascism, why shouldn’t del Toro do...
The Chinese Communist Party Wages War on Religion—Again
Upon the death of Chairman Mao, religious believers in China enjoyed a brief relaxation of persecution, and even a measure of liberty. But as Xi Jinping has demanded increased reverence for Chinese socialism, the faithful have begun paying the price again. Yet the young remain a source of hope. Read More… Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping secured a third term last October. He continues to transform what once was loose authoritarian rule into a near-totalitarian system. In...
Is Social Science ‘Science’?
A highly praised book that lays bare the presuppositions that inform the “science” of social science invites readers to rethink how they interpret what is popularly considered “real,” not to mention “human.” Read More… Jason Blakely is professor of political science at Pepperdine University and has written a book, We Built Reality: How Social Science Infiltrated Culture, Politics, and Power, that is likely to perturb some, gratify others, but interest almost everyone. He writes on the many ways in which...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved