Ivana Trump’s Broadway-producing neighbor said the death of Donald Trump’s first wife Thursday marked the “end of an era” on the Upper East Side block where she lived following her highly publicized divorce.
“She was always very nice to us, very friendly. I’ll miss her,” Judith Ann Abrams, who lived next door to Ivana’s seven-story townhouse, told The Post.
“It’s the end of an era on this block,” added Abrams.
Abrams, who has known Ivana for more than 25 years, believed her late neighbor who died at the age of 73, would have had an easier life without the surname she kept following her break-up with the former president.
“What can I say about her? I think her life would have been easier if she changed her name.
“Watching everything that was going on…couldn’t be easy.”
Abrams recalled seeing Ivana with her dog, Tiger, always by her side and said she didn’t seem affected by the mountains of controversy her ex-husband was caught up in.
Judith Ann Abrams, a neighbor of Ivana Trump, remembers her as a kind and thoughtful neighbor. AP/Jason DeCrow
Abrams recalls Ivana always having her dog, Tiger, being carried by an unidentified woman here, at her side. AP“It was sad to see her walk with the dog when all this chaos was going on…all this stuff on television with her children and husband.
“She never complained. She was impeccable. Her hair was never out of place, she looked beautiful,” Abrams said. “If I was going through that I’d be in a permanent sweat suit.”
Meanwhile, the general manager of Nello, a swanky Italian restaurant around the block from Ivana Trump’s home, said she was considered the establishment’s “First Lady.”
A collage wall at Nello shows Ivana Trump, Donald Trump, Ivanka and Eric throughout the years. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHT
Ivana was considered the “First Lady” of Nello, her favorite Italian restaurant. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHT“She was amazing. She was our First Lady,” said a shocked Atilla Cetin.
“When she walked in, everyone would look at her. She was so friendly.”
She’d come in regularly, sometimes weekly, Cetin told The Post and frequently ordered either a $62 dish called Galletto, which is a pan-roasted organic hen with chopped arugula or the osso buco dish, which is veal shank garnished with wild mushrooms.
Ivana was known to frequent the Italian restaurant almost weekly. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHTShe was known for bringing politicians and friends, which pleased Nello’s owner, and would also dine there with son Eric Trump on occasion, Cetin, 47, said.
He said she last saw Ivana Trump three weeks ago and she “looked wonderful.”
“How she acts, how she walked, how she treated people — she was so elegant,” Cetin said, also noting she would always take photos with restaurant patrons.
Ivana Trump was found dead at the bottom of her home’s staircase July 14, 2022. AP/Mary AltafferAbrams, the neighbor, also didn’t have a bad word to say about Ivana, who she last saw five weeks ago.
A few Christmases ago, Ivana gave her a bottle of her brand-name perfume.
“I sent her a thank you note and told her my niece was here at the time and she loved it,” Abrams recalled. “A couple days later, she left another bottle for my niece.
“It said ‘For your niece. From, Ivana.’”
