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American Morning

President Clinton Sets Up Office in Harlem

Aired July 30, 2001 - 10:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Today, former President Bill Clinton opens a new door in his life and it has a Harlem address. Within the next hour or two, Clinton formally moves into his new penthouse office. But the excitement at street level is already building. There's a block party there set to greet the new neighbor coming in. Our Maria Hinojosa is outside the 14 story building. She joins us now with a bit more -- Maria, last time we listened in on you, things were starting to pick up quite a bit out there.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you, they picked up in the past 10 seconds. They are already doing a rehearsal now. I believe that this is the Harlem Boys Choir behind me, who will be performing as part of the official welcome for former President Bill Clinton, who will be officially opening his offices here off 125th Street in Harlem today.

Now, 125th Street is a street, this is the main thoroughfare for the center of Harlem, the center of the African-American community here in New York City, but it is a neighborhood that, for many years, was abandoned, couldn't even find a 24 hour bank. That's changed quite a bit. Now you've got a Disney store and a Magic Johnson movie theater right here.

And the office that the former president will be opening up later today is extraordinary in terms of the real estate get. It is a full floor of a penthouse with panoramic views of all of Central Park extending all the way down to the Empire State Building. Really, it's the kind of view that you rarely get in Manhattan, but of course it's costing taxpayers $300,000 a year.

Now, people are gathering here outside of the Harlem State Office Building. The president, the former president's office is one block down, but here people are gathering. They've been here since about 6:00 in the morning. Some elderly women have brought out their own little chairs to make sure that they get a front row spot.

Now, the former president said he wanted to come to Harlem because he wanted to support the empowerment -- the federal empowerment zone that he helped create here.

And joining us now is Terry Lane, who is the president of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone. Now, Terry, this is, clearly, for you a big deal. But what do you say to the local businesses that worry that they may get pushed out by such a high profile person moving in?

TERRY LAND, PRESIDENT, EMPOWERMENT ZONE: Well, this is an exciting day for Harlem and all the Harlems of America. We're excited because it's rare that a president of the United States would set up his office in the center of urban America. One of the reasons that he's coming here is because Harlem is less expensive than anywhere else in Manhattan. The rent here on his office space is one third of what he would have paid in midtown.

So, I can say that we're excited, that he helps buttress the economic fiber here and will help local businesses and smaller merchants to do better business here.

HINOJOSA: What will you guarantee to those people who have raised concerns that perhaps now local businesses, black owned businesses, may have a harder chance at trying to stay here in Harlem?

LANE: Well, that is what I do every day. My job is to provide capital, bring access to capital, capital itself, information and technical assistance to small merchants, to the local business community. Because for so many years this has been a community that has been constrained by the lack of capital. There were no banks here. That's why an empowerment zone had to be created and that's what we do. Two thirds of our loan portfolio is to small businesses so that they can take advantage of these great economic times.

HINOJOSA: So the idea today is -- because you are also co-chair of the Harlem Welcomes Bill Clinton.

LANE: Yes.

HINOJOSA: You've got Cicely Tyson on board and who else?

LANE: Well, actually, this is going to be an exciting day. As you hear in the back, the Boys Choir of Harlem doing a rehearsal. Cicely Tyson will be the mistress of ceremonies, who is a Harlemite, born and bred here in this community, the first lady of American theater. Congressman Charles B. Rangel, who sponsored the empowerment zone legislation nationally, will be speaking, the mayor, Borough President Virginia Fields and a host of other dignitaries and exciting guests.

HINOJOSA: Well, what we have heard is that -- thank you, Terry Lane.

What we have heard, though, is that even though Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Republican Governor Pataki had said they were going to be here, we've heard that they are not going to be here. We don't know under -- why they canceled or under which conditions. They will have representatives here, though. The former president and his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, are expected to show up here around noon. The party kicks off at 11 and we'll be reporting live throughout the day -- back to you, Leon.

HARRIS: Thanks much, Maria Hinojosa out there in the streets of Harlem. We'll get back to you later on. Thanks much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com