Raphael Stevens

A judge ruled that the Trump Organization can continue to operate a golf course in the Bronx section of New York City, rejecting a court effort by the city’s government to expel the company owned by former President Donald Trump from the site.
The city ended the Trump Organization’s contract to operate the Ferry Point golf course in February 2021, weeks after a mob of Trump supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and disrupted the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s election win.
The city claimed that the Capitol riot had made the Trump brand “synonymous with an insurrection against the federal government,” and thus ruined Ferry Point’s ability to draw “professional tournament-quality events” to the course.

A ‘TRUMP’ branded helicopter sits near a putting green during a ribbon cutting event for a new clubhouse at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, June 11, 2018 in The Bronx borough of New York City.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images

A judge ruled Friday that the Trump Organization can continue to operate a golf course in the Bronx section of New York City, rejecting a court effort by the city’s government to void its contract with the company owned by former President Donald Trump.
The city ended the Trump Organization’s contract to operate the Trump Ferry Point 18-hole golf course in February 2021, weeks after a mob of Trump supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and disrupted the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s election win.

At the same time, the city canceled the company’s contracts to operate two ice rinks and a carousel in Central Park.
The city claimed in a letter to the Trump Organization, whose owner is a notoriously avid golfer, that the Capitol riot had made the Trump brand “synonymous with an insurrection against the federal government,” and thus ruined Ferry Point’s ability to draw “professional tournament-quality events” to the course.
The company then sued the city in June after an appeal of the decision was denied, claiming the city breached the contract, which authorized the Trump Organization to run the course for 20 years.

CNBC Politics

Read more of CNBC’s politics coverage:

The case hinged on the city’s reliance on a section of the contract that required the Trump Organization to maintain the course in a way that would make it capable of “attracting professional tournament quality events,” Friday’s ruling noted.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the contract did not obligate the Trump Organization to attract or host tournament-quality events on the course.

Lawyers for the city in turn argued that the damage the riot did to the Trump brand impaired the facility’s ability to attract professional tournaments.
In her ruling Friday, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Debra James wrote that she agreed with the Trump Organization “that there is no ambiguity in the obligation in the Agreement that petitioner is required to ‘operat[e] a first class, tournament quality daily fee golf course.'”
James said that although the city argued that the phrases were ambiguous, “when read in the context of the Agreement as a whole, it is not capable of multiple interpretations.”
A Trump Organization spokesperson said in a statement, “We would like to thank the court for its well-reasoned decision based on law and facts.
“As we have said since the beginning, the City’s efforts to terminate our long term license agreement to operate Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point Park were nothing more than a political vendetta,” the spokesperson said.
“Former Mayor Bill de Blasio used his position to weaponize the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the New York City Law Department all in an effort to advance his own partisan agenda, score political points and interfere with free enterprise,” the spokesperson said. “This is not just a win for The Trump Organization — this is a win for the people of the City of New York and for the hundreds of our hard-working employees at Ferry Point.”
“We are thrilled that we will continue to operate and manage what has been widely recognized as one of the most magnificent public golf experiences anywhere in the country.”
A Law Department spokesperson said, “Anyone holding a City concession is held to a high standard. We are disappointed in the Court’s decision, and we are reviewing our legal options.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Disney is moving “Dancing With the Stars” from ABC to Disney+.
Disney is seeking to bolster its number of subscribers on the streaming platform by diversifying its content.
The decision also comes as the Disney-owned broadcast network is set to air several “Monday Night Football” games in 2022 and 2023.

This season’s remaining four couples will dance and compete in their final two rounds of dances in the live season finale where one will win the coveted Mirrorball Trophy.
Eric Mccandless | Disney General Entertainment Content | Getty Images

“Dancing With the Stars” fans will need to sign up for Disney+ if they want to watch the new season of the popular dancing competition.
The show, which received a two-year pickup, will premiere exclusively on the streaming service this fall in the U.S. and Canada, becoming the first live series to make its debut on the Disney-owned platform.

Shifting “Dancing With the Stars” to Disney+ gives Disney an opportunity to capture new viewers who have cut ties with cable and to increase subscriber growth. Disney said in March that it would add a lower-priced, ad-supported Disney+ tier later this year.
Disney ended last quarter with nearly 130 million total subscribers for its Disney+ platform and reiterated its guidance of reaching between 230 million to 260 million subscribers by 2024.
“‘Dancing With the Stars’ has been a beloved staple on ABC for 30 seasons and brought so much joy to millions of viewers,” said Dana Walden, chair of entertainment, Walt Disney Television, in a statement. “As we’re significantly expanding our unscripted slate at ABC, this is a great opportunity to introduce this show to a whole new generation of fans on Disney+.”
“Dancing With the Stars” has aired on ABC since 2005.
It appears that football will be taking some of the “Dancing With the Stars'” spots in ABC’s Monday night lineup. Earlier this year, it was announced that one Monday in the fall Disney would air one game on ESPN and one on ABC on the same night.
The 2022 season is the final year of the current “Monday Night Football” contract. The next contract begins in 2023, and ABC will air three “MNF” games during the season while the rest air exclusively on ESPN.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is the first major family-friendly film to be released in theaters this year.
The Paramount movie is expected to signal if the highly sought-after family demographic is finally ready to return to multiplexes en masse.
On Thursday, the film tallied $6.25 million in preview ticket sales, more than double the $3 million the inaugural “Sonic” feature generated from its preview sales in 2020.

Still from Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”

Hollywood has its eyes on a speedy blue hedgehog this weekend.
Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” is the first major family-friendly film to be released in theaters this year and is expected to signal if the highly sought-after demographic is finally ready to return to multiplexes en masse.

The movie’s early box office returns are certainly encouraging. On Thursday, the film tallied $6.25 million in preview ticket sales, more than double the $3 million the inaugural “Sonic” feature generated from its preview sales over two years ago.
The studio is projecting the sequel will secure around $50 million during its opening weekend, shy of the $58 million video game movie record its predecessor scored in February 2020. At the time, Covid-19 had started to spread, but it had yet to be designated as a pandemic.
“Sonic 2,” which stars Jim Carrey and the voice of Idris Elba, will be a key comparison for family films in 2022. Throughout the pandemic, parents have been reluctant to return to theaters with their young children, many of whom were not eligible for vaccines until fall 2021. Kids under age 5 are still ineligible to receive vaccines.
“Family films have had a tough time gaining consistent traction over the course of the pandemic with parents being much more selective in what films they chose to take their kids to see at the multiplex, and of course, [there’s] the endless availability of family-friendly content at home on the small screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Since March 2020, no movie targeted specifically to families has generated more than $200 million at the domestic box office.

The family-film genre typically caters to parents with kids under the age of 13. These movies are targeted at younger generations and generally have a “G” or “PG” rating. Occasionally, PG-13-rated films are grouped into this category, because the rating is a bit of a catchall before reaching the “R” rating.
For example, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “The Batman” and “Jungle Cruise” are all rated PG-13. Arguably, “Spider-Man” and “Jungle Cruise” are a bit more suitable for younger children compared to the dark and gritty new Batman film.
Marketing is a good indicator of whether a movie is considered to be in the family genre, Dergarabedian said. “Spider-Man,” while technically accessible to families, was marketed to an older demographic in the 18- to 35-year range.
“Jungle Cruise,” on the other hand, was marketed as a family-friendly adventure film based on one of Disney’s most iconic theme park rides. It was the second-highest grossing family film released during the pandemic, snaring $116.9 million during its run last summer. The film came out between the two main Covid variant outbreaks.
The highest-grossing family film released during the pandemic was Universal’s “Sing 2,” which has amassed $161.9 million since its December 2021 debut, according to data from Comscore. The film was released at a time when more children had received two doses of the vaccine.
For comparison, Disney’s “Encanto,” which arrived during the typically robust Thanksgiving holiday, generated just $96 million in theaters before arriving on the studio’s Disney+ streaming service on Christmas Eve.
Because of lackluster attendance during the pandemic, studios have punted family-friendly titles further down the calendar. If “Sonic 2” secures a solid opening, it could be a signal that future films like Pixar’s “Lightyear” — due out in June — and Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” — arriving in July — will post more pre-pandemic-like box office hauls.
“Studios have waited a long time for parental sentiment to be high enough in the waning days of the pandemic before releasing high-profile family content on a regular basis,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com. “‘Sonic 2’ is capitalizing on a great deal of pent-up audience demand for those family movies, which have only sporadically opened in theaters during the past year and have often been at the mercy of new Covid variants dominating news headlines.”
“That isn’t the case now, though, as many have returned to something resembling pre-pandemic lifestyles like going to the movies,” he said.
BoxOffice.com predicts “Sonic 2” will open with between $60 million and $75 million in ticket sales.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. Universal is the distributor of “Sing 2” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Full-time flight attendants who don’t call out from April 8 through May 31 are eligible for the bonus.
Airlines, including JetBlue, have turned to bonuses or other forms of extra pay, to encourage workers to pick up shifts or ensure attendance.
The revelation comes days after JetBlue made a $3.6 billion, all-cash offer to buy discount carrier Spirit Airlines.

A jetBlue Airways airplane takes off from Newark Liberty Airport on September 30, 2018 as seen from Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

JetBlue Airways is offering flight attendants $1,000 bonuses if they don’t call out from work starting Friday through the end of May as the carrier tries to ensure adequate staffing during a surge in travel demand, according to a company message.
Flight attendants will also receive $100 bonuses for picking up open trips, said the message, which was shared with staff Friday and seen by CNBC. Part-time flight attendants would receive $500 for meeting attendance goals.

JetBlue’s latest incentive shows it is willing to pay crews extra to avoid potentially costlier flight disruptions as travelers return in droves after two years of the Covid pandemic.
Staffing shortages have hamstrung airlines over the past year, particularly during Covid peaks, such as widespread omicron cases that sidelined crews during the year-end holidays. JetBlue, United, American and others turned to bonuses or even triple pay to ease staffing shortages.

“The spring rewards programs comes at a time where every flight makes a difference as hours are tight and staffing levels are not where they need to be,” Ed Baklor, JetBlue’s head of customer care and programs, said in the memo.
Baklor last month urged flight attendants not to turn down assignments.
JetBlue didn’t immediately comment but COO Joanna Geraghty on Wednesday told CNBC that JetBlue will “continue to moderate capacity as needed” as the airline industry grapples with staffing shortages and high fuel prices.

The incentive program starts days after JetBlue made a surprise, $3.6 billion, all-cash offer to buy discount carrier Spirit Airlines, throwing Spirit’s $2.9 billion deal to combine with fellow ultralow-cost airline Frontier Airlines into question.
Spirit late Thursday said it would entertain JetBlue’s offer but said its merger agreement is still in place with Frontier.
JetBlue executives told investors this week that the deal would allow it to grow quickly and better compete against the four largest U.S. carriers: Delta, United, Southwest and American. Frontier said a JetBlue-Spirit tie-up would lead to higher fares for consumers.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Natural gas is one of several commodities affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 
Prices on the Dutch TTF hub, a European benchmark for natural gas trading, more than tripled between February 16 and March 7 before pulling back.

But despite being at the center of the largest military conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia’s natural gas continues to flow through Ukraine to the rest of the continent.
“If you’re not familiar with European gas you think there’s a horrible invasion and horrible war going on and the gas is flowing, generally and also through Ukraine as if nothing were happening, it does seem strange,” said Laurent Ruseckas, an energy analyst at IHS Markit. “But the fact of the matter is that Russia, as we’ve seen more recently, is taking a different approach with European gas.”
The European Union receives about 40% of its natural gas from Russian pipelines and about a quarter of that flows through Ukraine. Germany gets roughly half of its natural gas from Russia.
“What’s happening is that the Russians are making a lot of money with it,” said Georg Zachmann, a senior fellow at Bruegel. “They are making hundreds of millions of dollars every day with the gas that they are selling to the Germans and the Europeans. The Europeans on the other hand are highly dependent on Russian gas for filling their storages.”
At the start of the conflict Germany froze its participation in the Nord Stream 2, a 760 mile long gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea connecting Russia to Germany’s coast. The EU announced plans to reduce demand for Russian gas by two-thirds and make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels by 2030.

And the U.S. along with its partners imposed economic sanctions targeting Russia’s financial institutions and members of its elites.
So what role does natural gas play in the conflict with Ukraine and how are Europe and the U.S. impacted? Watch the video to learn more.
Watch more:
Can The North Face compete with Patagonia?How airlines are dealing with rising air rage cases

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Inflation is surging — and if it keeps up, Americans may start nixing their travel plans.
Some 40% of U.S. adults said they would cancel a vacation or trip if consumer prices continue to rise, according to a new CNBC + Acorns Invest in You survey, conducted by Momentive. The online poll was taken March 23-24 among a national sample of 3,953 adults.

The Consumer Price Index jumped 7.9% in February from 12 months prior, with prices rising on everything from gas to food to housing. March figures are expected to be released next week.

Arrows pointing outwards

Meanwhile, the Travel Price Index, which measures the cost of travel away from home in the U.S. and is based on CPI data, was up 16.7% year over year in February and 12.3% higher than February 2019.

No sign of a slowdown yet

To be sure, there is no sign of a travel slowdown just yet. In fact, post-Covid-lockdown demand is going strong.
“Our latest data shows the pent-up demand for travel is overshadowing the current inflated prices of travel,” said Tori Emerson Barnes, the U.S. Travel Association’s executive vice president of public affairs and policy.
That sentiment was also recently expressed by Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, an online travel services company.

“When you have two years of people not traveling the way they want to travel and you have a lot of savings built up in that time period, prices can be really high and people are saying, ‘I don’t care. I just want to travel. I want to go somewhere,'” Fogel said in an interview on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”

Milosbataveljic | E+ | Getty Images

In fact, on travel website Kayak, domestic flight searches are up 78% compared to this time last year and international flight searches are up 140% year-over-year.
“We suspect we will continue to see leisure travel demand thrive,” said Paul Jacobs, general manager and vice president of Kayak North America.
“While we may see prices continue to increase, I anticipate they will only be modest increases,” he added.
Prices for domestic flights are up about 25% compared to this time last year, while international flights rose about 41%, Kayak found.
More from Invest in You:Here’s what consumers plan to cut back on if prices continue to surgeInflation fears force Americans to rethink financial choicesHere’s how to navigate buying a car amid low inventory and high prices
Moving forward, travel app Hopper is expecting about a 10% increase in round-trip domestic ticket prices from now until June. That’s a bit of a larger hike than usual and it’s due to high jet-fuel prices and pent-up demand, said Hayley Berg, Hopper’s head of price intelligence.
Hotel prices are also up about 26% compared to last year but the cost of rental cars are down from supply-constraint induced prices last year, according to Hopper. However, gas prices jumped 38% in February from 12 months prior, according to the CPI. The average cost of a gallon of gas in the U.S. is now about $4.14 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.

How to save money

Pashapixel | Istock | Getty Images

Booking a domestic flight at least six weeks in advance is usually one of the best ways to score a deal, while international flights should be booked about four months ahead of time, Kayak’s Jacobs said.
For travel this summer, book your flights by the first week of May, Hopper’s Berg advises.
“After that, prices are really going to consistently rise and it will be harder to get a really good deal for June and July,” she said.
You may find lower airfare if you push off your vacation and book for September or October.
You can keep an eye on airfare and hotel prices by setting up price alerts through travel websites and apps.
Being flexible with the days of the week you fly can also save you money. For instance, domestic flight prices are 13% cheaper on Wednesdays and 15% more expensive than the national average on Sundays, Jacobs said.

Meanwhile, flying early for international flights may save you money, with flights between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. 22% cheaper than other times of the day, he noted. Conversely, domestic flights between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. are 12% cheaper than early morning flights.
Also look at alternative airports, since many areas have multiple choices. Low-cost carriers typically find it most cost-effective to operate out of regional airports, Berg said.
If prices are too much to bear, consider a staycation at a nearby hotel.
“This is a great way to spend time at a hotel with a pool … without spending a lot on travel,” said Berg.
SIGN UP: Money 101 is an 8-week learning course to financial freedom, delivered weekly to your inbox. For the Spanish version Dinero 101, click here.
CHECK OUT: The 7 levels of financial freedom, according to a self-made millionaire — 50% of U.S. workers are at Level 2 with Acorns+CNBC
Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns. More