Hillary Clinton chooses Brooklyn Heights for 2016 campaign HQ
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the reporters at United Nations headquarters on March 10, 2015. Credit: AP
Hillary Rodham Clinton has chosen a Brooklyn Heights office building as the headquarters for her all-but-declared presidential campaign, according to several reports.
The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state is renting space at One Pierrepont Plaza, which also houses offices for the investment bank Morgan Stanley and the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Picking a headquarters signals that her long-expected announcement confirming she will seek the White House is imminent: Federal Election Commission rules state that candidates file official paperwork within 15 days of such campaign activity.
Published reports about the lease signing did not say who or what entity signed the paperwork. The story was first reported Friday by Politico.
The headquarters for her 2008 failed bid for the White House was in Arlington, Virginia, near Washington. Her new campaign command center sits, interestingly, at Cadman Plaza near a corner where Clinton Street meets Tillary Street.
The choice of Brooklyn is a consolation prize of sorts for Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was Clinton's campaign manager in her successful run for the Senate in 2000.
De Blasio had unsuccessfully pitched the borough as the centerpiece of a bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention, but the party chose Philadelphia, to de Blasio's chagrin.
Brooklyn Heights, one of the borough's richest neighborhoods, is near the Brooklyn Bridge. It's served by a dozen train lines and is lined with historic brownstones. It's at the western part of the borough, across from Manhattan.
Clinton's office did not return a call seeking comment Friday. She has personal office space in midtown Manhattan and a home in Chappaqua in Westchester County.
Politico said that the Clinton team signed a lease for two full floors of the building, which is owned by Forest City Ratner. Marketing literature from the building describes the property as "Modern Offices. Brooklyn Cool."
She demurred earlier this week when a reporter at a childhood-development event asked whether she'd be locating her campaign in Brooklyn.
"All in good time," she answered while walking away. "All in good time."
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
