Charles Rangel, longtime N.Y. congressman, remembered with public viewing in Harlem
Former Rep. Charles Rangel is being remembered with the first of many public viewings Monday in Harlem. The longtime New York congressman died last month at the age of 94.
Public viewings will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Saint Aloysius Church, where Rangel once served as an altar boy.
Another public viewing will be held Thursday at City Hall, where Rangel will lie in state for the public to pay their respects, followed by an honor guard ceremony in the evening.
His funeral will be held Friday at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown.
Remembering Congressman Charles Rangel
Rangel spent nearly 50 years representing New York. In 1970, he defeated Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in the Democratic primary for the seat in New York's 18th Congressional District. He was the first African-American to chair the influential House Ways and Means Committee and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
He was a son of Harlem, affectionately called "the Lion of Lenox Avenue," and part of the so-called "Harlem Gang of Four" coalition with Basil Paterson, Percy Sutton, Herman "Denny" Farrell and former Mayor David Dinkins. They were known as the first to break down race and class barriers.
In addition to his long political career, Rangel was a decorated Korean War veteran.
"That's a great legacy. I don't see it happening again. One of a kind," Harlem resident Aaron Manley said.
Late in his career, Rangel faced a series of ethics violations. In 2010, the House Ethics Committee convicted him of 11 counts of violating House rules, and Congress censured him. But the people of Harlem stood by him, and he was reelected to the House two more times before he retired in 2017.
Rangel "was a people person"
Harlem residents said they remember Rangel as a man who enjoyed the company of others and listened to their concerns.
"We just want to pay our respects today for a man that was very noteworthy in the political arena and in this community of Harlem, and he stayed with us all these years," Helena Cooks said.
"I came because he always came to our church. He was a very nice person. He was always out there for the parade that we have in September every year, and he would always [walk] around and meet the people, you know, until he got older," Michelle Williams said.
"Say hi in the street, he'd talk to you. I know he did a lot for a couple of restaurants in Harlem, too. Whenever you'd see him, he was always open to you and you could talk to him. He was that type of a person," Christopher Wright said.
"He was a people person. He was kind and gracious, and he did not let his status of life separate him from the people," Helena Cooks added.
Rangel leaves behind a son, daughter and three grandsons.
