I'm curious. Did Trump's lawyers truly blow it, or did they perhaps make a strategic decision that a bench trial would be better for their client than a jury of his Manhattan peers?

Trump is hugely unpopular in New York City, perhaps more unpopular than anywhere in the United States.

You would be in a position to know much better than I, but it doesn't sound unreasonable that they decided they didn't want a jury trial, and now they're trying to use the lack of one for propaganda purposes.