Rally for Trump's Proposed Jones Beach Catering Facility Postponed Due to Irene

The Alliance To Revitalize Jones Beach (ARJB) has postponed its that was going to be held Wednesday in support of the long-stalled Trump on the Ocean catering hall project because of the damage caused to Long Island by Hurricane-turned Tropical Storm Irene.

The ARJB said the rally, which is expected to be attended by real estate mogul Donald Trump, the developer of the proposed catering hall at in Wantagh, will re-scheduled for sometime in September.

“We could not go forward with the rally due to the fact that millions of New Yorkers are without power and thousands of people have damage to their homes,” said ARJB spokesman Ryan Walker.

More than 20 elected officials were scheduled to appear at Wednesday’s rally on the Jones Beach Boardwalk at the site where Trump has planed to invest more than $30 million for the creation of a 70,000 square-foot restaurant catering facility. Trump announced his catering hall plans for the location of the former Boardwalk Cafe in 2006, but the project has been hung up in the courts the last few years. Trump filed lawsuits for lost revenue following the New York Department of State Review Board rejection of the proposal due to the plan's 26,710-square-foot basement, which they said could not be constructed in a flood plain.

The New York State Parks Department has said they are prepared to move forward with the catering hall if Trump would agree to a compromise plan they approved in 2008 that would be roughly the same size but with a more limited use of the basement.

The ARJB, which was organizing the now postponed Aug. 31 rally, by Plainview resident, Rafe Lieber, who worked as a legislative aide to former State Sen. Craig Johnston. Lieber has said he supports the project in large part due to its projection to create 300 new jobs over a two-year span once built and stimulate the economy by $60 million.