NYC Hotelier Joins Lawsuit Against Donald Trump

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — The influential NYC hotelier Eric Goode has joined the emoluments lawsuits against President Donald Trump, lending his significant star power to a growing legal challenge against the real estate exec-turned-president.

Goode, the owner of a number of high-profile NYC hotspots like the Bowery Hotel and B Bar and Grill, officially joined the suit in May. He joins a legal challenge filed in the days after Trump's inauguration, which accuses the president of violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. The suit says Trump is violating the clause by continuing to accept money from foreign governments who patronize his hotels and restaurants, according to the challenge. The initial suit was filed by the liberal group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Since January, a restaurant group and a D.C. businesswoman have all joined the lawsuit, in addition to Goode.

In Goode's case, the suit claims that Goode's own properties can't hope to compete in attracting the same kinds of guests as hotels and restaurants run by the Trump Organization and that his loss of revenue will hurt Goode and his businesses.

"Mr. Goode’s hotels and restaurants compete with hotels and restaurants owned by [Trump], and with restaurants located in hotels and other properties owned by [Trump], or in which [Trump] has a financial interest, by providing the same or similar service in the same marketplace," Goode allege in the suit.

"I do question the wisdom of it," Goode told the New York Times recently. "Hopefully I am not going to get audited and harassed for the next three years, but it seemed like the right thing to do. I’m worried about veiled forms of retribution."

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to respond to a request for comment from Patch. (For more news from the Lower East Side, subscribe here for free breaking news and updates from Patch.)

Lead image via Michael Loccisano / Staff / Getty Images Entertainment.