BY JAY CHESHES
November 30, 2001

Not long ago, just about every developer around wanted to have the tallest buildings in town, and Donald Trump was no exception.

Just two months before the World Trade Center attack, Trump said he wanted his planned Trump Tower Chicago to be taller than the Sears. "We'd love to make it the world's tallest building," he told a reporter.

And then there were his New York towers bearing the Trump name, which, sad to say, weren't always quite as tall as Trump claimed. In fact, we've found four Trump buildings in New York where there are issues about the number of floors.

In the aftermath of September 11, however, sensitivity to fear of terrorism is not only good PR, but a matter of financial survival. Trump recently retracted the "world's tallest" claim while discussing his Chicago project. As for the rest of his claims, requests for height clarifications from Trump himself went unanswered.

We're here to help the Donald. If he wants to deemphasize the height of his buildings for potentially nervous guests, he needs only to admit that they were not as tall as he claimed in the first place. Behold the evidence.

Trump World Tower
845 U.N. Plaza
Number of floors claimed: 90
Actual number of floors: 70

Trump seemed to enjoy touting his 861-foot tall building as the "tallest residential tower anywhere in the world," but in light of recent events that has disappeared from the tower's web site; and now Trump is settling for "most luxurious" as a description. In any case, as reported in the New York Post, this giant gilded edifice still has a 20 fewer stories than the originally claimed 90. On November 5, the New York Times reported that the floor count was now 80, but a staffer at the building still claims 90. In addition, Sophia Loren has taken issue with assertions in the same Post article, which reported that the legendary actress and other luminaries such as Naomi Campbell and Bill Gates planned to live at the tower. Confirmed residents: Derek Jeter and Joycelyne Wildenstein. Trump told the Post at one point, "It's been the most successful condominium development ever built." We'll have to take his word for it. Also worth noting: The Architectural Record says that upon completion in 2003, the Eureka in Melbourne, Australia will trump Donald's building as the world's tallest residence, at 984 feet.

Trump Tower
721 Fifth Avenue
Claimed: 68
Actual: 58

Once lauded by the New York Times as "Mr. Trump's least bad bad building," with its peach marble, indoor waterfall, and gold flecked opulence, this dated Fifth Avenue landmark reeks of 1980s excess. According to city records, nearly 20 years after its completion it still hasn't sprouted those missing 10 floors.

Trump International Hotel and Tower
1 Central Park West
Original number of floors: 45
After renovation: 52

What was once the old 45-story Gulf and Western Building at Columbus Circle has been redone by Trump and turned into a glittering 52-story tower. Building permits required that Trump maintain the height of the original structure, but somehow Trump managed to get an extra seven stories. How did he do it? Hotels and apartments generally have lower ceilings than offices, so Trump squeezed in a few more floors.

Trump Plaza
167 E. 61st St.
Claimed: 39
Actual: 36

In Mr. Big's most subtle fib, at this unremarkable residential tower on the East Side that shares its name with an Atlantic City casino, he upped the number of stories by a mere three floors from 36. Maybe he just likes the number nine...or suffers from a touch of dyslexia?