Monday July 30 3:23 PM ET

Clinton Takes Office in Harlem to Cheers and Jeers

By Grant McCool

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Thousands thronged a public square in Harlem on Monday to welcome former President Bill Clinton to his new offices, but not everyone in the historic black neighborhood was pleased to have him as a neighbor.

Along with speeches by local politicians and business leaders hailing Harlem's economic and cultural revitalization, one group of protesters chanted ``Black Power'' slogans and another group held up signs such as, ``What did you do for Harlem when you were President?''

Clinton chose a 14th floor office on Harlem's most famous thoroughfare, West 125th Street, after being criticized when it became known he originally wanted a high-rent Manhattan skyscraper for his post-presidential offices. Clinton left the White House on Jan. 20 and has not had a permanent office since.

In vintage Clinton style, the man whose two terms in office were highlighted by an economic boom and marred by a sex scandal, thanked the crowd, saying, ``You were there in the darkest days and the best days and I want you to know I will be a good neighbor in the darkest days and the best days.''

In reply to the sign, Clinton said in his speech that he ''had turned the economy around and created empowerment zones for poor communities that have been left behind'' such as Harlem. ``I think I kept my word to Harlem,'' Clinton said.

Clinton, sitting on a wind-whipped stage bedecked with sunflowers and a huge, blue banner reading ``Harlem Welcomes President Clinton (news - web sites),'' laughed and applauded, obviously enjoying the music and speeches during the 2-1/2 hour ceremony. The ceremony was organized by local politicians in the heavily Democratic district and business leaders of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone.

``Now I feel like I'm home,'' the Arkansas native said. His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites), who won a U.S. Senate seat from New York in November, did not attend the event because her mother was undergoing surgery on Monday.

``WHITE TAKEOVER OF HARLEM''

About 25 members of the New Black Panther Party, dressed in black uniforms and striking military-style poses, protested Clinton's move to Harlem and what it called the ``white takeover of black Harlem.'' The party's national spokesman, Malik Zulu Shabazz, told reporters it saw Clinton as the ``missionary of gentrification'' in the neighborhood.

``He is leading the charge of gentrification or the changing of the complete black cultural climate of Harlem,'' Shabazz said. ``Residents who live in Harlem cannot afford to live here now, rents are rising so high. The poor black man, the poor black women, cannot have a home in Harlem anymore.''

Supporters of the Harlem Tenants Council, who also complain that gentrification of the neighborhood is driving up rents and driving out small, black-owned businesses, also protested the ceremony.

``It is common knowledge that the real estate industry in New York City routinely pour millions of dollars into the campaign coffers of elected officials,'' said Nellie Bailey of the tenants council. ``We want the Harlem politicians to know we are watching.''

But most of the crowd, almost all of them standing, cheered the former president and sang or danced along with the music. The New York Police Department does not provide crowd numbers, but an unofficial estimate put it at 3,000.

In his speech, Clinton, a keen jazz musician in his youth, joked, ``I never made it to the Apollo, but I have eaten at Sylvia's,'' referring to the famous theater on West 125th Street and the well-known restaurant on Malcolm X Boulevard.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Answers

I heard he was introduced as 'the last elected president.'

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001

NYPost

(07/31)

Russ Smith Clinton's Annual Visit to Harlem

Apparently, there are subjects The New York Times will issue Democratic National Committee press releases—excuse me, editorials—on besides campaign finance reform, global warming, the Florida recount and the stupidity of President Bush’s tax cut. Today, for example, the Timescelebrated Bill Clinton’s “second launch of his ex-presidency” with a jubilant piece headlined “Mr. Clinton’s Harlem Renaissance.”

Clinton’s memorable exit from the White House in January—the inexcusable pardons, pilfered furniture, etc.—is referred to by the Times as merely a “faulty start.” The paper has moved on. Ignoring the obvious, that Clinton’s Harlem headquarters are just another shrewd face-saving ruse, and that he’ll most likely spend less time on 125th St. than will Trent Lott, the editorialist mused that the globetrotting (for a fee) Arkansan now has a splendid office from which to help Bush learn a thing or two about foreign policy. Clinton, readers are informed, “has returned to his political roots.”

Pardon my amnesia: I forgot that Clinton, after attending Georgetown, Oxford and Yale, began his political career in Harlem, side by side with Charlie Rangel, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Rickey Ray Rector and Sister Souljah.

But why be testy. After all, as the Times explains: “There is certainly plenty of room these days for a skillful drummer of vigorous centrist politics who can speak to new solutions for national and global problems... He has offered to help manage the peace process in Northern Ireland, an offer his successor [no name necessary] should consider since Mr. Clinton knows this bitter terrain well.”

Now, I’m not sure how the ex-president will fit in settling the Irish problem—not to mention securing stability in the Mideast and curing AIDS—considering his hectic schedule. There are $125,000 speeches on his docket, fundraising with Terry McAuliffe, late-night bull sessions with reporters about what a crummy candidate Al Gore was last year, perhaps a talk show on Walter Isaacson’s CNN, a couple of books to write, some r&r in Hollywood and the monthly reunions with his wife.

It’s a wonderful life, Mr. President, and when the Times finally banishes William Safire from its op-ed pages, you’ll be his logical successor.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001