Donald Trump made a great speech about New York Values

Donald Trump made a very entertaining and informative speech at the Republican Gala in NYC last night. I don't know if you saw it but they played it in its entirety on FOX last night.

It wasn't really a political speech. In fact Trump said who wants to talk politics all the time. He said that was boring. In fact he talked about the fact the he built the hotel that the event was in the Grand Hyatt. He talked about the problems involved in keeping some of the historical facade while building out from the superstructure. Then he reminisced about other projects he had built. The Javits center on the West Side that I go to all the times for the lingerie show. The Wollman skating rink. Other buildings and Hotels and Wall St. Properties. He talked about dealing with New York Politicians like Hugh Carey and Ed Koch and movers and shakers like Richard Ravitch. Nostalgic names for me because I remember all those guys. He talked about the problems of building in New York. He told funny stories about building the ice skating rink in Central Park. How the government screwed it up. Used copper pipes that got ripped off every night. Used workers who were always on lunch breaks. How they poured concrete one truck at a time so it set wrong and was lopsided. He lined up all the trucks he needed to do a contiguous pour. Of course that was mobbed up concrete companies but whatever.

The important thing is he talked about things he had actually done. Things he had built. Landmarks in the city. Deals he had to make with sleazy politicians and unions and yes even the mobbed up companies that are part and parcel of the business environment. Something that Ted Cruz has never done. He has never built anything. He has never been responsible for meeting a payroll or finishing something at a deadline. In fact he is most famous for shutting down the government because they could not meet a deadline to complete the budget.

This was the real Donald Trump. At least the Donald Trump I know. Funny. Warm. Personable. Self depreciating at times. Still a big ego. Still grandiose and gauche. But a recognizable New York character. A mover and a shaker. A macher and a mensch.

He will make mistakes. He will fail here and there just the way he did in business. Because not every deal works out. But in the end he will have built something. Just like the hotel he was speaking in. Just like the Javitts Center or the Skating Rink. He will have left something other than a string of broken promises and failed bills.

You saw New York Values in action. You make the call.