Toronto mayor vows to hold Trump tower owner accountable for unstable antenna

TORONTO – Police say an antenna at the top of the Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto that had been deemed unstable poses “no safety risk whatsoever.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory has nonetheless vowed to get to the bottom of the scare that closed a large swath of the city’s financial district for nearly two days.

The area was reopened Tuesday afternoon after police announced the antenna had been inspected and declared safe.

Engineers were on site earlier in the day to see if any repairs were needed.

The luxury hotel and condo — built in 2012 — is named after real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who owns the hotel management company.

Tory, speaking at a campaign launch for the United Way, urged the owner of the building, Talon International Development, to do a better job of communicating with the city and the public.

“I think one of the frustrations yesterday was the lack of information and when these kinds of things happen it’s helpful for us to have the information, for the police to have it, for the media to have it and so I registered that point in a polite way as you’d expect me to do,” he said.

Tory said there has been a substantial cost to the city, both in terms of dollars spent on deploying police and for the unknown costs to businesses in the area that has been shut down.

“I would certainly be looking to them if it’s found there is something wrong here to be held accountable for some of the extra costs that were involved,” he said.

Tory said he has been told there is no safety risk to the public.

It wasn’t all doom-and-gloom from Tory, however.

“I will say I smiled a little bit yesterday when I heard the words stabilization and Trump used in the same sentence,” the mayor said with a short chuckle.

Others took to social media to joke about the problematic spire, and poke fun at Trump, whose controversial statements during his presidential campaign have been making international headlines.

“I can’t tell what happened to the Trump Tower antenna downtown but I can only assume it’s leaning too far to the right,” tweeted @MockTheGeek.

“Fittingly, the Trump Tower has a few screws loose,” wrote @tylerclarkburke.

A spokeswoman for Talon International Development said the company would only comment after final inspection report is completed.

Neil Labatte, the company’s president, said in a statement Monday that Trump Hotel management notified police as a precaution after a routine inspection revealed the spire “may need further inspection.”

“Talon’s technical specialist was quickly dispatched to the area, and found that the concerns were unsubstantiated. Talon is continuing its due diligence and is now awaiting a final report from its technical team. As soon as Talon has the final report, the police department will be notified,” Labatte said in a statement.