Former US President Bill Clinton today toured what is expected to be his new office in the heart of Harlem after he backed out of taking office space in midtown Manhattan that proved to be too expensive for Congress.
The office on 55 W. 125th St. is near the famed Apollo Theater, where jazz greats have performed for decades, and near Sylvia's soul food restaurant.
"I have decided to locate my office in this building if we can work it out," Mr Clinton said. "I called Hillary, and I asked my senator first, how she would feel about me coming to Harlem. And she loved it."
The decision to take the space came after some members of Congress questioned the 800,000 annual rent it would have cost taxpayers for a full floor of the luxury Carnegie Hall Tower in midtown, even though Mr Clinton had offered to foot 300,000 of the bill.
Federal law provides former presidents lifetime offices at taxpayer expense but the rent in one of the city's most expensive areas - more than that paid for all other living presidents together - had enraged some lawmakers.
The rent for the Harlem office space is expected to be about 200,000 a year. Mr Clinton is expected to rent space on the top floor of the 14-story building.
Reuters