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Clinton Moves Into Harlem Office
Former president Bill Clinton moved into his new office in Harlem Monday. Several thousand people roared and chanted "We want Bill!" as Clinton was welcomed to Harlem for the opening of his post-White House office. "Now I feel like I'm home!" a beaming Clinton told the crowd.
The welcoming ceremony had the trappings of a campaign appearance.
"Harlem Welcomes President Clinton!" read an enormous banner stretching behind the stage where Clinton sat with Tyson and politicians such as former mayor David Dinkins and state Comptroller Carl McCall.
Red, white and blue balloons decorated the plaza where the ceremony was held, down the street from Clinton's new offices. Supporters waved paper fans bearing a picture of Clinton's face.
"I've never seen Bill before, and I just had to be here," Marie Douglas, a Harlem retiree who hails from Clinton's hometown of Hope, Ark., said earlier. "I think he's a wonderful guy, regardless of all the sex scandals. I think he's going to be wonderful for Harlem."
Some held signs protesting the outcome of the last presidential election. "We were robbed. Remember the Florida count!" one sign read. "George Bush was selected, not elected!" another said.
But Monday's crowd included several dozen protesters whose booing could be heard amid the cheers, prompting Rangel to ask them to be quiet.
The protesters called the Clinton office a symbol of gentrification in the predominantly black neighborhood.
"Bill Clinton is no friend of Harlem," said one protester, Malik Zulu Shabazz, chairman of the New Black Panther Party. "Poor black men and poor black women will not have a home in Harlem any more because rents will be going up. ... We are losing our urban inner-city that is ours."
The former president's staff moved into the 14th floor penthouse office at 55 W. 125th St. last week, but renovation of Clinton's private office won't be complete until September. The space offers stunning views of Central Park, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and even the Empire State Building, 4 miles away.
He picked Harlem after drawing criticism for plans to spend $800,000 a year to lease office space in midtown Manhattan.
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