The presidential primary hit Harlem this week with both Bernie and Hillary making appearances. Bill has also been working to control the fallout from his interaction with BLM protesters in Philadelphia. He was in Harlem today and my rep, the soon to be retired Charlie Rangel (of four rent-stabilized apartments fame) introduced him:
"This is a historic day," Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) said as he introduced Bill Clinton at Antioch Baptist Church in Harlem on Sunday morning. "What makes it so important is that we have a chance to thank the Clinton family."
[...]
Rangel reminded the congregation that Hillary Clinton pressed her husband during his presidency to include Harlem as an economic empowerment zone so it could receive economic development funding. And that Bill Clinton, after finishing his presidency, chose the neighborhood to house his presidential foundation's office.
That last sentence made me raise my eyebrows. Because you see, Harlem wasn’t Bill Clinton’s first choice. Here’s the NYTimes story from 2001:
Faced with a barrage of criticism for his decision to rent lavish office space in Manhattan, former President Bill Clinton yesterday abandoned his plans to move into the 56th floor of a Midtown skyscraper. He is now looking uptown, at more modest space on Harlem's main shopping boulevard, with equally panoramic views.
The plans were abandoned because of bad press over the expense. The rent for the office (paid by the government) would’ve exceeded that for all other ex-presidents’ offices, combined. The Carnegie Hall Tower, which was Bill’s first choice was running at $100 a square foot (per year), when most mid-town real-estate was $50-80, partly because of the views of Central Park, ornate lobby and amenities. The high rent bill became a Republican punching bag:
As the controversy heated up, Mr. Clinton said his foundation would pick up $300,000 of the annual cost at Carnegie Hall Tower. But the issue would not abate.
A number of Democrats felt this was just another unfounded attack on the Clintons. But some thought otherwise.
another top executive, a rare Democrat in the real estate industry, took a dim view of Mr. Clinton's original choice. ''It was a disgrace,'' said the executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ''It was space for a tycoon. And he's a Democrat.''
My, those seem like rather innocent days in retrospect. People actually thought Democrats shouldn’t live like “tycoons”. Things sure have changed. Also, who uses the word tycoon anymore?
BTW, Hillary was renting NY office space for her Senate office at the same time, and it just happened to be the most expensive rent bill the government has for a Senator’s office:
But Clinton, New York’s junior senator, picked space that’s twice as roomy, has more amenities, and costs taxpayers nearly two and a half times as much as senior Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Manhattan office, which is across the street and a block away at 757 Third Ave.
[...]
“I don’t think she’s paying too high a rent for the type of building a U.S. senator should be in,” said Mitch Arkin of Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world’s largest real-estate companies. “She’s like royalty. She’s the ex-president’s wife. She lived in the White House for eight years, for crying out loud,” Arkin said.
In the end, Charlie Rangel called up Bill Clinton and suggested he rent space up in Harlem. He’s the guy who’s now running around telling everyone how wonderful it was that Bill Clinton’s second choice was Harlem (except he left out the bit about second choice). Oh btw, NYC child protective services had just signed a lease for the 14th floor, they ended up having to move down a couple of floors. Our mayor at the time, one Rudolph Giuliani, threw a fuss at that.
Bill’s relationship with many in the neighborhood soured during the 2008 primary. The foundation moved out of the Harlem in 2011, though by then, the Daily News said most people didn’t seem to care much:
"It don't faze me; I never saw him," said lifelong Harlem resident and Clinton supporter Susan Chaplain. "When he was here what did he do for us? Nothing," she said as she stood on Lenox Ave., not far from Clinton's offices. "He never did nothing while he was here. What difference does it make?"