New York Girl Scouts seek to get out of lease with Trump Wall Street building

The New York City chapter of the Girl Scouts organization is the latest group seeking to cut ties with President Trump and his affiliated businesses following last week’s deadly pro-Trump riot at the Capitol. 

In a statement first obtained by Business Insider, Girl Scouts of Greater New York CEO Meridith Maskara explained that the chapter is seeking to end its current lease contract for office space at 40 Wall St. in Manhattan, also known as the Trump Building. 

“In 2014, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York entered into a 15-year lease at 40 Wall Street,” the statement explained. “As a matter of very high priority, our organization has been exploring options for getting out of the lease and the building.”

Maskara added that the chapter of the U.S. girls leadership organization continues “to investigate our options and work to find an office space that would best serve the girls of New York City.”

The announcement comes after Girl Scouts of the USA has faced pushback from some for previously appearing to support the president, including by marching in Trump’s inaugural parade in 2017 and issuing a since-deleted tweet congratulating Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on her confirmation in October. 

However, with eight years still remaining in the New York chapter’s leasing contract, the organization may have difficulty breaking the agreement with the Trump Organization-owned building. 

Meyer Last, a partner in the law firm Fried Frank’s real estate practice, told Business Insider this week, “There’s no shortage of landlords in the history of New York City who have done things that one might not be proud of, [but] leases are rock-solid contracts that require you to pay your rent over a period of time.” 

“There’s no easy way to get out,” Last added. 

The Hill has reached out to the New York Girl Scouts for additional comment on the plans. 

This comes as others are looking for ways out of contracts and agreements associated with Trump, including a Palm Beach County, Fla., commissioner who is looking into the possibility of terminating a lease with Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

PGA of America has also opted to cancel its plans to host its championship event at one of Trump’s golf courses in Bedminster, N.J., and New York City is trying to end contracts with the Trump Organization. 

Shopify also removed Trump’s official store off its platform in the days following the deadly raid on the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer who sustained injuries while responding to the rioting and a woman who was shot by a plainclothes officer. Three others suffered “medical emergencies” while near the Capitol grounds. 

Trump has since received permanent and indefinite suspensions from social media platforms, and the House this week voted to impeach the president for a second time, charging him with inciting the violence at the Capitol with his unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him.