Wall Street may not see Bill Clinton as such a good investment following the complaints received by Morgan Stanley from its clients for paying more than $100,000 (€108,507) to the former president for one speech. But up town it is different.
There is glee in Harlem, which lies at the far end of Manhattan from the financial district, at the prospect of Clinton renting an office there after cancelling plans for an expensive base in midtown.
Taxpayers pick up the bill for former presidents' offices, and Mr Clinton's critics had made much of the $800,000 a year rental for his first choice, the 56th floor of the plush Carnegie Hall Tower overlooking Central Park.
Mr Clinton was mobbed when he arrived yesterday to inspect the 14th floor office at 55 West 125th Street where the rental is a snip at $210,000 a year. Black Americans remain his staunchest supporters, even as other friends throw up their arms in despair at stories of money for pardons and missing White House sofas.
This is a modest office building with marble lobby and corner snack shop. It still has magnificent views of Central Park, though from the other side, and - a plus for the new tenant - a McDonalds and a Cajun Creole restaurant on the same block.
Mr Clinton meanwhile remains in demand as a corporate speaker. He will deliver the keynote address at an e-business conference in New Orleans next Monday organised by Oracle. The company was honoured to have the first high-tech president address them said Mr Mark Jarvis, chief marketing officer.
