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Show THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Sunday, February Page E2 18, 1990 On the surface, it's business But visitors to Plaza Hotel sense rumblings Herald Washington Bureau NEW YORK On the surface, it's business as usual at the Trumps' luxurious Plaza Hotel. But underneath the polished silver and gilded moldings, even casual visitors can sense the rumblings of what could be the city's divorce trial of the century. While security guards have always manned the Plaza's famed entrances, elevators and restaurants, this week's news of Donald and Ivana Trump's separation has forced a stiff brusqueness in their manner, uncharacteristic of the hotel's elegant sb'le. Lounge workers dutifully pass out towels, Chanel lotions, perfumes and sprays, but few words are exchanged with guests these days, and only a nod of the head answers inquiries about the hotel's owner and his wife. Beneath the aura of grace and charm, perhaps the Plaza's most telling sign of marital distress is in the gift shop. There, bundles of newspapers with headlines that scream "The Trump Affair: Don Juan!" are stashed behind showcas- - me up, the '80s have fizzled out like bad Perrier 'Beam-e- r' of Trump divorce imr p mrm-- timMww... jui BY CHRIS ROSE as usual a t Put NEW YORK (AP) down that Perrier and lime the '80s are over. Yeah, we know that you were bored to tears by a googolplex of decade-endin- g stories just two months ago. Yeah, we know that decades are arbitrary that by one count the decade doesn't begin until next January. Aa ) d r v ;i But bear with us. It's official. The '80s are history. An inkling that we have entered the 1990s came when the parting of Donald and Ivana Trump edged Nelson Mandela off the front page. Many readers asked the news media: "Why are you so obsessed with these people whose main interest in life, it seems, faud is flaunting the cets on their yacht? Is this some sort of Trump fetish?" No. No less than William Norwich, society columnist for the Daily News, explains that the n f flam-bouya- nt es. "We gold-plate- Trumps deserve coverage because they were "the couple of the '80s," a title wall-to-wa- can't sell these," one of the shop's employees told a customer who eyed the stack of New York Posts. "These aren't for sale. If you want a paper, you can get it from a vendor on the street." Seconds later, the bundle was hauled into a storage room. Any other week, the city's racy daily tabloid is displayed in the gift shop along with eight or 10 other newspapers. This week, however, news at the Plaza is being censored. Although the concierge insists Donald and Ivana's rift won't slow business, most guests know the Plaza sits squarely in the middle of a looming divorce settlement between New York City's illustrious deal maker and his Czechoslovaki-a- n wife. "I definitely think Ivana should get the Plaza," one leather-cla- d visitor said as she sat in the hotel's famed Palm Court eating a light breakfast. "She's the president of it. She refurbished it. She oversees it. She should have it." But the visitor's husband didn't agree. "He bought it. It was his I. - they appear to have won by acclamation. The couple of the '80s is no more. Ergo, the '80s are over. Cecilia Briones, a New York banker, sees parallels between the rise and fall of the Trumps and the course of Wall Street in the '80s: "Everything went up and everything has to come down." Still not convinced? Go down to your local boite and try to order a Perrier. The fizzy drink of the 1980s a beverage that supplanted the lowly club soda as the pause that refreshed the ostentatious; nearly 30 million gallons were guzzled in the United States in 1988 alone has been recalled in every one of the 120 countries where it was distributed. AP Laserphoto Ivana Trump is helped by a security guard into her car Wednesday. money. He paid for the renovation. He should have it." Facts are few and speculation is flying, but most who visit the Plaza aren't surprised both Trumps are after it. s Donald purchased the hotel in 1988 for $390 million -about 32 times more than it cost t build in 1907. With a reputation for service and luxury, the Plaza is known for attention to detail in all of its restaurants, rooms and suites. Since the Trumps took over, Ivana has replaced carpets, restored moldings, repolished marble, changed wall coverings, redecorated suites, upgraded wastebaskets and filled bathrooms with designer toiletries. Most hotel employes don't talk about the Trumps, and those who do are cautious and very aware of watchful security guards. "With all the work she's done, of course she should get the Plaza," said a employee in the world-famou- less-fearf- ul hotel's Neuchatel Chocolates shop. "I've only seen Ivana a couple of times, and most of us heard of her divorce on the news. I definitely think she should get the Plaza. She has children, and she's the one who has worked here." A waiter in the Palm Court - the Plaza's European-style- , open cafe -agrees. "Look at how beautiful this is," he said, pointing to the new Bavarian crystal chandeliers. "She should have it." The waiter said he's not sure about all the rumors gushing from the tabloids, but noted a definite change in the atmosphere. "Ivana came in here a couple of days ago, and she was moving around hysterically," he said, stiffening his shoulders and arms to mimic her walk. "Everyone around here is really tense. We don't know who we'll work for." About two blocks south and one block east, the Plaza's classic grandeur is sharply constrasted by Trump Tower, which exudes glitz and oozes opulence. There, the Trumps live, and "The Donald," as Ivana calls him, heads the Trump Organization. Most visitors are just curious tourists, passing through to see the spectacle of salmon marbled walls and floors, sparkling mirrors, reflecting brass and the ceiling-to-flowaterfall. "She shouldn't get anything," said one wearied husband waiting for his wife to finish shopping there. "Well, Ivana should get something, but not the Plaza. I hope they get a reconciliation because it's going to be bad for him." Another shopper didn't even know the Trumps were getting divorced, while a third said he really didn't have a comment, but added, "she shouldn't get anything." At the "TT" newsstand in the basement of Trump Tower, a worker said she's tired of hearing about the Trumps. "I work here. He buys his newspaper here." '80s-sty- ll le The culprit was benzene contamination. No matter. No Per- rier; no '80s. "I'll just replace it. I'll suffer with Evian," said Astrid Sanai, a paralegal at a Manhattan law firm. She and other health-consciocitizens of the 1980s hav other reasons to be bummed to the max, a phrase that never saw the end of the decade. Oat bran was the cholesterol eliminator of the 1980s; in recent weeks, scientists have said that this unappetizing foodstuff may protect the heart, but only if it crowds eggs, red meat and ice cream out of your diet, not because it has some inherent qualities. The running, gravity boots and aerobics that marked the 1980s may have been on borrowed time, anyway. The TV ol star of the 1990s, Roseanne John Barr, and her co-st- ar represent a new wave corpulence. Goodman of Corporate fat cats, meanwhile, are on the outs. In whatever portion of the paper that was not devoted to reports of the Trump breakup, you may have read this week about the sudden downfall of Drexel Burn-haLambert, the Wall Street upstart that pioneered the use of junk bonds for corporate takeovers. It was Drexel Burnham and its executive Michael R. Milken, who is under indictment that came to epitomize greed in the 1980s. These seltzer-swillin- g one brokerage financiers m worker called Perrier "the drink of Drexel" joined with corporate gamblers to take over healthy companies, fueled by IOUs and piles of high-ris- k dreams of enormous profits. A lot of these enterprises have gone down the tubes. Blocming-dale'- s, the department store of the 1980s, was caught in the declining fortunes of Canadian investor Robert Campeau. Discount sales at Bloomie's? Adolfo at 40 percent off? The trendy shoppers of the '80s weep. Adolfo's most famous client in recent years, size-- 4 Nancy Reagan, has been replaced by the larger, less fashion-oriente- d Barbara Bush. We need not remind you who George Bush replaced. Trump met 'the other woman,' Maria Maples, at church - NEW YORK (AP) Actress Maria Maples, described as the other woman in the Donald Trump divorce saga, met the billionaire real estate developer at a venerable New York church. Trump and Ms. Maples sat together at Sunday services "fairly regularly," a source told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Trump married his wife, Ivana, at the Marble Collegiate Church, but she did not attend services with him. "She is the reason the marriage broke up," New York Daily News columnist Liz Smith told Larry King, who devoted a half-hou- r Wednesday night to Trump vs. Triunp on his Cable News Network A . Maria Maples talk show. But rival ist Cindy News that more than Trump. New York Post column- Adams told WABC-TMs. Maples is nothing "this week's toy" for V According to a prenuptial agreement made known Sunday, Mrs. Trump gets custody of their three kids, a mansion in Connecticut and less than 2 percent of $25 million Trump's estimated $1.7 billion fortune. Despite statements to the contrary, Trump reportedly expects to settle for four times the agreement. "He's going to pay $100 million" for a fast settlement, a Trump aide was quoted anonymously as saying in today's New York Newsday. Smith, who broke the story Sun- day, agreed, telling King: "I think Donald is negotiating right now probably to make Ivana an offer a' lot bigger than this $25 million settlement." Mrs. Trump's lawyer says she deserves more. But Trump said in an interview published today in The Washington Post, "This prenuptial agreement was signed by a sophisticated woman. They're virtually impossible to break. They're sealed in gold." Ivana Trump would not comment when confronted by a horde of reporters Wednesday at her 41st birthday party. Several women shouted "Get the money, Ivana" and others cheered d blonde alighted from as the her black Mercedes at an expensive Manhattan restaurant. Reports indicated Ms. Maples, an actress who has had bit television fur-cla- -. airline adparts and a bikini-cla- d vertisement pinup, is ready to marry Trump. About 14 months ago, Trump sought counseling from Dr. Arthur Caliandro, the minister of the church, about whether to continue his relationship with Ms. Maples, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Caliandro was at a board meeting on Wednesday and did not immediately return a phone call. , .f Here's an order your sons and daughters in the military will appreciate. And so will you! " mmr mmvmm' .!- - For your loved ones in the armed forces reading The Daily Herald is like opening a letter from home. ..six days a week. Wherever they are based in the continental United States (or an APO or FPO address). The Daily Herald can be at their "service" with all the news, sports, and activities happening in Utah Valley Just fill out the subscription coupon Wlh The Daily Herald's military discount, it's an order you'll J enjoy giving. Special Half Price Offer To Military Personnel. riease seno me uaiiy Herald lo the name and military address below I enclose my payment of $ in cover ih th. subscription T0: 3 months Si 3 50 Rank 9 months 50 1 ,bel33erji) Steo ii imr?rruf year S54 00 The Baity Herafrf" Mail Coupon To: l The Paily Herald Circulation Dept. P.O. Box 717 Provo, Utah 84603 I I Address f"y State APO FPO My Z'P I I . I I name is Address C.ty . I I I I . Phone jJ |
