The year-old Trump Hollywood condos are trying to claim a piece of public Hollywood Beach as their own, neighbors from the condo building next door say.
Joel Epstein, a longtime resident of 17-story The Wave condominiums at 2501 S. Ocean Drive, says the concierge staff at the Trump building has started intentionally blocking off him and others from his building when they move their towels and chairs in front of the taller, 41-story building as the sun shifts in the afternoon.
“He said this is a Trump Hollywood private beach. I said, 'No it's not,’” Epstein said. “So the following day he called the cops on me. And the cops told him this is a public beach.”
The entire beach is public. Beachgoers can sit or lay anywhere, they just can’t use property like chairs and towels that belong to individual condos.
Wave resident Stephen Waldman says elitism is also at play.
“It doesn't matter if you're white, black, money or no money. We all have to get along. This is not a private beach for Trump,” he said. “This is a public beach and all we're trying to do is to be able to get the sun in the afternoon.”
The Trump Hollywood Association’s vice president said in a phone interview that no one there has ever run anyone off or told neighbors they cannot use the building's beach front. The building’s management refused to comment.
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Epstein said tensions have escalated, and that the Trump concierge regularly tries intimidating next-door residents, including elderly women, by coming out and shouting obscenities at them.
“I can take the intimidation,” he said. “It's the women that can't. Women are afraid to go out at night and get in their car. That's crazy.”
