First Lady Visits Hamilton Grange in Harlem
NYPD police officers blocked the streets as dozens of Secret Service agents guarded the first lady Laura Bush during her tour of the Hamilton Grange National Memorial on Wednesday, September 24.
Even with all the security, I was able to bring in my large bag without being searched. It was surprising that I was not searched and nobody bothered to look at my press badge. If I was the first lady, I would have been concerned. My initial thought was that I didn’t seem like a threat because I was dressed in a business suit.
(Middle) The first lady Barbara Bush talks to students about nature.
A photographer nearly got expulsed from the park after he yelled at a Secret Service agent not to touch him. The agent told him he could leave if he had a problem, but the reporter stood quiet probably knowing that if he didn’t get those pictures he would be fired. The Secret Service agents overall were very professional, polite and yes, they were nice. I never had to deal with the Secret Service before, but this left a good first impression.
Mrs. Bush talked to more than 50 uniformed fourth grade students from P.S. 153 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. School in Harlem about the importance of natural plants. She sat on a mat with her khaki pants suit neatly covered with a tied orange and green scarf around her neck and a pair of beige Polo Sport sneakers. Her Southern accent stood out as she spoke softly to the group of black and Hispanic kids making it hard for the press to hear what she was saying.
Mrs. Bush launched the First Bloom program in October 2007 at its leadership summit in Austin, Texas. The program with a $1 million initial funding takes urban kids into national parks to teach them about habitat restoration and help plant the seeds of native plants in compostable cups. Mrs. Bush, the National Park Foundation’s honorary chair, helped the program expand into Los Angeles, N.Y., Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
(Second from the top right) Mrs. Bush poses with students from P.S. 153
The grange once owned by Alexander Hamilton, the first treasury secretary in the Cabinet of President George Washington, was moved on June 7 from Convent Avenue to its new location at St. Nicholas Park in Harlem. Wolfe House & Building Movers moved the 298-ton memorial over the front porch of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on a railing system nearly 40 feet in the air until the building finally reached the end of the rails and descended to street level.
The National Park Service intends to fully restore the balconies and stairs that were removed when the grange was moved in 1989 from West 143 Street to Convent Avenue. The interior of the house is expected to open to the public in 2009.
