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Abe Hirschfeld, dabbler in New York politics and a partner in Donald Trump's Television City, thinks there are five or six top people who are crucial to Mr. Trump's success.
"They are Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump and Donald Trump," he says.
Mr. Hirschfeld's irony is understandable. On his way to becoming New York's flashiest developer, an Atlantic City high roller and a player in corporate takeover wars, Donald Trump has fashioned an image as a one-man act who oversees every detail of his varied interests. He is the multimillion-dollar real estate tycoon who personally selected the pipes for the ice-making system under the Wollman skating rink.
But the truth is far from what's perceived. A man of enormous talent and energy, Mr. Trump has surrounded himself with a small circle of key executives who both advise him on his far-reaching interests and execute his decisions.
Family members, trusted attorneys, urban planners and former city officials, this inner circle is rarely in the public eye. But it's a tightly knit, family-style group characteristic of New York's major real estate developers whose profiles are much lower than Mr. Trump's.
For starters, the team is transforming the Central Park South Barbizon Hotel into Trump Parc and trying to turn the West Side Penn Yards into Television City, the most ambitious development project ever in New York. They're also planning a new condominium development at East 68th Street and Third Avenue and have just built a condominium project in West Palm Beach, Fla.
But their reach is extending far beyond New York real estate. With the help of his investment banker, Allen "Ace" Greenberg of Bear Stearns & Co., Mr. Trump has dabbled in the stock of...