Harlem residents said Clinton’s move downtown not a surprise

In July 2001, Harlem welcomed former president Bill Clinton and the William J. Clinton Foundation into modest digs on 125th St.reet with a crowd of thousands, speeches, and a day dubbed “William Jefferson Clinton Day” by then-governor George Pataki.

Now, almost a decade later, Clinton’s offices are leaving with less fanfare to the 18th floor of 77 Water St. in the Financial District, a Goldman Sachs-leased building.

When Clinton first came to Harlem, many residents saw the choice as a mark of approval and vote of confidence in the community’s revival and development. In an editorial piece, the New York Times wrote about the move, “Mr. Clinton’s move into new offices on 125th Street is more than a real estate transaction … Mr. Clinton has returned to his political roots, to a place and constituency where he is at home and at his best.”

Mustaqeem Abdul-Azeem, who sells oils and spices on the same block as the foundation building, described Clinton’s leaving as a small, almost negligible loss to Harlem.

“Clinton at first gave Harlem a new life, a fresh air,” Abdul-Azeem said. “But I don’t know how much of the revival of Harlem now—the development of Harlem—was due to him.”
Azeem described seeing Clinton only “once in a blue moon” in the 10 years that his foundation was headquartered there.

“If the moon was a color that you didn’t even know what it was. That’s how little I saw him,” he added.

According to U.S. General Services Administration spokeswoman Emily Barocas, the foundation will keep a toehold on the Harlem space, having renewed its 10-year lease, but plans to move most of the offices to the new building.

According to the New York Post, the 8,715-square-foot Harlem space cost about the same price as the 25,227-square-foot Water Street space before brokers were able to negotiate the price down to closer $30 per square foot.

“If Clinton leaves, thankfully I know that means my rent is going down,” Harlem resident Elizabeth Johnson said. “When I was closing the deal on my co-op at that time, because they heard that Clinton was coming, they renegotiated and made it a higher price. The real estate value in Harlem really went up when Clinton came.”

Johnson, however, still believes that Clinton’s move is a mistake.

“Why would he leave?” she asked. “All the money is coming to Harlem. Everyone wants to come to Harlem!”

Resident E.T. Morrison, on his way to the autistic men’s shelter where he works, is less optimistic.

“It’s natural that Clinton would want to move to the financial district, because that’s honestly where it all happens,” Morrison said. “He showed his loyalty to Harlem, and now he’s moving on.”

daphne.chen@columbiaspectator.com

An earlier version of this article misspelled Abdul-Azeem's first name. Spectator regrets this error.