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THE IDEA FOR ONE OF THE SPLASHIEST PROMOTIONS of New York CitY in recent years was born in the dizzying heat of the Amazon. That's how Mark Burnett, producer of The Apprentice, tells the tale. While slapping off poisonous vermin on the set of Survivor, he thought about finding a more civilized battleground for contestants to play out the show's Darwinian tasks. Immediately, images of Donald Trump and New York flashed into his mind.
"It's the most competitive, rough-and-tumble city in the world, and Trump went right Along with that, says Mr. Burnett.
In the past two years, the metropolis and the man have served NBC television executives quite well. The show is one of the nation's most watched reality programs and is exported to roughly 40 other countries. Product-placement prices on The Apprentice ran more than $2 million apiece this past season. "The Apprentice is a love letter to New York City," says Mr. Trump from the lofty perches of his Fifth Avenue offices. Each day, tourists flock to Trump Tower to pay homage to the common man's billionaire. "Donald Trump represents to the world what New Yorkers are really about," says Peter Marchetto, Bovis Lend Lease chief executive for the Americas whose firm wor~s on Trump projects on the West Side and in Chicago. "They're smart, they're tough, and they get things done."
Yet many of Mr. Trump's real estate contemporaries begrudge him his success--questioning how much he has really done for the average New Yorker. They see him less as a real estate mogul and more as a huckster of some illusionary brand of wealth and luxury.
"The old-style New York families found that privacy and a kind of secrecy were to their advantage,"...