Lucky us. Driving up and down the Taconic Parkway, we pass “Donald J. Trump State Park- French Hill Section”. I was finally curious enough to look the place up on Wikipedia and I found The Swamp!
Donald Trump, for whom the park was named, purchased the property for $2 million in the 1990s, and donated it in 2006. Trump donated the land after he was unable to gain town approvals to develop a private golf course on the property. At the time of its donation, Trump claimed the parcel was worth $100 million. He used the donation as a tax write-off.
New York State announced the park's closure due to budget cuts in February 2010. It was questioned whether the closure was necessary since the operating budget for the park was only $2,500 a year and it was maintained by workers from the nearby Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park. Although Trump threatened to take the parkland back after the closure was announced, his attempt was unsuccessful and the land remained in the control of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
An attempt to convert a portion of the park's French Hill section for use as a dog park in 2010 revealed that at least one of the park's abandoned buildings contained asbestos. By 2012, the planned dog park remained on hold due to difficulties raising funds for fences and asbestos abatement.
As of 2015 , the park remains officially closed and is not listed at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation park locator, although signs along the nearby Taconic State Parkwaydirect visitors to Donald J. Trump State Park. During a 2015 visit by The Rachel Maddow Show there were no signs of any recent upkeep; instead, the publicly accessible land was found to contain crumbling graffiti-covered buildings, empty map kiosks, and weed-choked parking lots.
In 2017, website The A.V. Club published a report that the park was an "abandoned wasteland," with "muddy fields, overgrown tennis courts, and dilapidated buildings" and a swimming pool in disrepair.
There has been some talk about re-naming the park and restoring it. One great candidate is the late, great, folk singer/McCarthy-era martyr Pete Seeger, who entertained us on street corners in Beacon, up until his death.
I would like to personally invite all of Trump’s supporters to come on out for a good time, courtesy of Donald Trump, who only puts his name on really-classy buildings and golf courses. Anybody can see from the amenities, that the place is worth at least $100,000,000.00.