Well there goes the neighborhood........ Saba Former President Bill Clinton Clinton opts out of pricey digs Former president now wants to open office in Harlem MSNBC Feb. 12 � Former President Clinton canceled lease negotiations Monday for high-rent offices in midtown Manhattan. Instead, sources close to the negotiations told NBC News, Clinton will take "state of the art" office space in Harlem. February 12 � "A letter has gone out � the Carnegie Towers deal is off," reports MSNBC's Brian Williams. THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, which is handling negotiations for Clinton's post-presidential offices, issued a statement late Monday confirming the initial report by NBC's Brian Williams that "a letter has gone out � the Carnegie Towers deal is off." Clinton's staff also sent NBC News a copy of its letter to the GSA canceling the negotiations. Rent at Carnegie Hall Tower on West 57th Street, where Clinton had hoped to occupy the entire 56th floor, reportedly would have cost as much as $800,000 a year, a price that led to weeks of sharp criticism. NBC News reported that Clinton would announce Tuesday that his new offices would be in a much less expensive 14-story building at 55 W. 125th St., the street known worldwide as home to Harlem's famed Apollo Theater. The New York Times reported in Tuesday's editions that the asking rent is $30 a square foot, compared with $89 at Carnegie Hall Tower, for a total annual lease of $210,000. Representatives from Clinton's staff and from the GSA toured upper-level floors of the building earlier Monday, sources said. Clinton is believed to be seeking about 7,000 square feet of space in the building, which has undergone extensive renovation in the last two years and has what is described as a panoramic view of midtown Manhattan and the Triborough and George Washington bridges. Advertisement The State of a Union, The Complex Marraige of Bill and Hillary ClintonThe Case Against Hillary ClintonEyewitness to Power: Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton Among his neighbors in the building would be a U.S. military recruitment station, the uptown Manhattan office of the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Human Rights Division's Office of Lesbian/Gay Concerns. CRITIC PRAISES MOVE One of the harshest critics of Clinton's office search, Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., said in a statement Monday: "I hope this will be a much more reasonable price for the American taxpayer. And I know Harlem will be proud to have another Globetrotter. "Mr. Clinton has listened to what the public was saying," added Istook, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal support for former presidents, "and I know we'll all be just as interested in the new details." The former president believes "this move shows that Bill Clinton has his political footing back," sources close to Clinton told Williams. "This makes sense on all levels," one of the sources said. "It's where Bill Clinton belongs. He'll be happy. It's a beautiful facility. This will add greatly to Harlem's renaissance." Clinton "wanted to go to a place where he could be a good neighbor and be welcomed by the neighborhood as well," Julia Payne, a spokeswoman for Clinton's Washington transition office, told The Associated Press. BENEFICIARY OF OWN PROGRAM The new building is in a section of New York that is part of the Harlem Urban Development Corporation, itself part of a Clinton administration program to revitalize urban business districts. �New office for Clinton�Latest news on Rich pardon�The double life of Marc Rich�Newsweek: Criminal probe of Marc Rich pardon?�Flap over Clinton library�Presidential pensionsThe districts, known as Empowerment Zones, receive direct federal funding and tax breaks to coordinate the efforts of public, private and nonprofit organizations. The bill that created the Empowerment Zone program was introduced in Congress in 1993 by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. Empowerment Zones by law were to get $100 million in federal funds, but the New York Empowerment Zone, of which Rangel is a board member, was an exception, receiving more than $300 million in direct funding and credits when it was created in 1995. Clinton's new office is in Rangel's congressional district, and Rangel welcomed Clinton to Harlem on Monday night. "Bill Clinton is no stranger to Harlem," Rangel said in an MSNBC interview in which he called on Republicans to let the former president get on with his life. "I hope the critics of the president can find a way to get over Bill Clinton." The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist, also welcomed Clinton's arrival on West 125th Street, the heart of a neighborhood famed as a center of black culture. But in an interview Monday with MSNBC's Lester Holt, Sharpton said it was important that the neighborhood take care to preserve its historic character amid its rapid economic revival. "We must make sure Mr. Clinton's move is not the ultimate case of gentrification," Sharpton said, referring to a societal trend in which upper-income buyers move into formerly distressed neighborhoods and squeeze out families that have lived there for decades. "The question is whether his presence here will expose what this neighborhood needs," Sharpton added. RESPONSE TO OUTCRY 'This makes sense on all levels. It's where Bill Clinton belongs.' � SOURCE CLOSE TO CLINTON Clinton's original proposed office space in Carnegie Hall Tower had drawn fire from congressional and other critics. After he was criticized for the cost to taxpayers, Clinton announced last week that his presidential foundation would pick up $300,000 of the annual rent. All former presidents get a retirement office for life, but the costs for the midtown Manhattan space would have far outstripped those of Clinton's predecessors. Former President Bush's Houston office costs $147,000 a year, President Reagan's Los Angeles office costs $285,000, President Carter's Atlanta office costs $93,000, and President Ford's office near Palm Springs, Calif., costs $99,000. A source close to Clinton told Williams that the former president reflected his frustration over the controversy. "This was never about the view," Clinton was quoted as saying. "It's about the work I want to do." Printable version Source: General Services Administration NBC News' Brian Williams, Mike Viqueira and Felicia Patinkin; MSNBC's Lester Holt; and MSNBC.com's Alex Johnson contributed to this report. Clinton opts out of pricey digs Lawmakers turn up heat on pardon Newsweek: Behind the pardon Bush seeks $5.7 billion for military Ashcroft says he won't be reined in MSNBC Cover Page MSNBC VIEWER'S TOP 10 Would you recommend this story to other viewers? not at all 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 highly MSNBC is optimized for � Microsoft Internet Explorer � Windows Media Player � MSNBC Terms, Conditions and Privacy © 2001 Cover | Headlines | News | Business | Sports | Local | Technology | Living & Travel | Health TV News | Opinions | Weather | Shop@MSNBC | MSN | Comics | Find | About MSNBC | Help | Index News Tools | Jobs | Write Us | Advertising on MSNBC | Terms, Conditions, and Privacy
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