Rangel parties on

True to the wild and whimsical world of Congressman Charlie Rangel, the night of his birthday bash started out with an unexpected gesture: a highly public display of the middle finger.

One-time New York Mayor David Dinkins, known for flying under the radar, made headlines the moment his car rolled up to the Plaza Hotel on Wednesday night, where Rangel’s soiree and fundraiser was being held.

“You know you are attending a party for a crook,” an unruly protestor yelled as Dinkins made his way up the red carpet and into the hotel.

Remaining calm per usual, Dinkins didn’t even bother to respond to the heckler. He simply flipped the bird for onlookers to see and cameras to capture—and in the process set the tone for the night. As guest after guest arrived for Rangel’s birthday, they defiantly showed all of Rangel's critics just how foolish they had been for assuming that few would show up for the embattled congressman’s 80th birthday.

"Obviously he stated his case, and look at the turnout,” Reverend Al Sharpton told Spectator during the event, referring to Rangel’s diatribe on the House floor just 24 hours before, when he vowed to remain a member of congress. “They all wanna be here to celebrate with Charlie.”

The days leading up to the gala had been filled with speculation about which high-profile politicos would show up, which ones would snub him, and which ones would make an appearance but bolt before they were caught on camera. There was the litany of seemingly unconvincing excuses that guests gave for being unable to show up, and there was the automated voice message Rangel left for people urging them to come to his party, which many said was an act of sheer desperation.

By all accounts, the party was shaping out to be a sad and humiliating one for Rangel, where longtime friends and colleagues were supposedly going to put their electoral careers above their friendship with him. It was assumed that the invitees cared more about saving face than being publicly associated with a scandal-ridden Rangel, who is currently facing a bitter ethics battle and an embarrassing public trial in September which many congressional Democrats worry will ruin their own chances for re-election.

But a Twitter post from Rangel just hours before the event became a bellwether for the hours to come. “Despite what the media wants you to believe, #Birthday Gala is sold out!” Rangel tweeted.

With just two elevators transporting guests to the below-ground ballroom where the celebration was being held, a long line wound its way through the ground-level floor, and guests were still making their way in well after the party had started. Anyone trying to wiggle their way through the dimly-lit ballroom, where several hundred guests huddled around tables and munched on roast beef and onion rings, quickly realized it was a lost cause.

“It took up to 20 minutes just to get on the line,” Steven Richman, general counsel for the New York City Board of Elections, said. “Charlie got lucky, and he deserved it.”

Annsley Gill, vice chair of the planning committee for Rangel’s party for the third consecutive year, told Spectator during the event that planning for the party was no different than it was in previous years, despite the ongoing ethics proceedings.

Among the 800-plus party patrons in attendance, nearly every political heavyweight showed up whom Rangel had invited. There were a few exceptions such as Representative John Hall and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney—two politicians whose excuses in the days leading up to the party seemed to signal that there would be an anemic turnout.

“As one of Charlie’s angels, what I would say to those people who didn’t come is, they should either show up or shut up,” Willie Mae Anderson told Spectator, who met Rangel through the Martin Luther King Democratic Club, a City-based Democratic organization.

And for those that bailed on the congressman, the joke was put back on them.

“I know a few people couldn’t be here tonight, because, as they tell it, either they had to get a haircut unexpectedly, or they were sure they’d have a headache,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said to the crowd while standing on stage, where a number of speeches were made. “But Charlie, as you know, they were here with you as long as they could be.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, State Attorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Cuomo, and New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer also delivered speeches on stage, quickly dispelling rumors that the big-named politicians would be no-shows.

“I want to address members of the media,” Sharpton said to the crowd. “We showed up for Charlie Rangel tonight, because Charlie Rangel always showed up for us!”

If there was a lesson to take away from the night, Sharpton seemed to sum it up exactly: no favor done by Charlie Rangel goes unforgotten. From Special Olympics participant Ron Weintraub who said Rangel has raised money for the program; to former Harlem Superintendent Dr. Bert Brown who said Rangel’s support for the district was unprecedented; to singer Johnny Rainbow, who will never forget when Rangel showed up at one of his performances, nearly every guest at the party said that not showing up was never even a thought.

“This was typical Rangel, a fantastic show of support and commitment to one of the greatest lawmakers that ever happened,” said Bill Tucker in an interview, wife of the late Delores Tucker, who was the first African American secretary of state for Pennsylvania. “He changed the structure to be more inclusive for women and minorities, and you can see that diversity right here.”

Bob Lawrence, a Republican who nonetheless came to support Rangel, remarked that he, too, was amazed by the diversity of the crowd.

“When I go to Republican Conventions, I have never seen what I saw here tonight,” Lawrence said to Spectator. “There’s so much diversity, so many minorities, so much unity here.”

And in a time when his ethics battle has caused discord within the ranks of his party, Rangel seemed to relish in this sense of unity, smiling and dancing as music legend Dionne Warwick sang to him, perhaps leaving behind his political woes if only for a few hours.

“I’m a hardened pol, I’ve been doing this 40 years, and tonight was just really special,” State Committeewoman Trudy Mason said. “Dionne Warwick said it best when she sang, ‘That’s what friends are for.’”

Check out Spectator's photo slideshow from the event here.