. >>> thank you, mr. arce, mr. president. it's not the first time i've been on tv. this is ~ nor is it the first time i've been to this commission. i want to welcome the new commissioners. i am james bryant. i am the western regional director of the randolph institute. i am looking forward to having a barrel full of conversations with this commission about activities that happen out in areas such as hunters point bayview area. and the reason i want to hopefully have these many conversations is that you probably all know that the bayview hunters point area is probably one of the, you know, more difficult toxic low-income, et cetera, et cetera. there i did see a piece in the paper today that spun us somewhat positive. i come to you all because we've come to you before and we talked about, you know, a topic about the new greenway. and in those conversations that we've had with you all, we'd like to let you know we have made several attempts to talk to folks and the clients, then to have none of those conversations be returned. i know people have busy schedules, but i d

you also at the arc asked that the bricks are looked for by the project sponsor and i would have assumed that your staff would have helped out with that as well. i think and i didn't hear mr. norton say so, but i understand that he called again after your arc meeting and that the man said that he had heard from the spro ject sponsor that they did not want the bricks, now i don't care if they want them or not, if they are available they need to use them. both under the earlier cof a and also because these two buildings are among the most important in jackson square from the age standpoint and etc.. there is not all of that much stucco going on in hoteling place and they should not be stuccoed unless there is no other alternative. >> no one has also cleared on what size the windows might be or if of what material. some people says that they might look like they did but there is nothing specific here. and that is really important, the building seems to be tall and her nobody is talking about that. the whole thing is just auful. as far as staff is concerned, i would like to point out that the arg report has a problem on page 3 and saying that the buildings date from 1953 and

>> i think that the arc of the movie certainly gets mr. allen beautifully.course hollywood, the great director lee daniels, has taken some artistic license, but i think it all serves the story quite well, and i think everybody will realize that the movie is unequivocally based on the life of this astonishing man who served eight presidents. >> ron reagan, what do you remember about meeting the real eugene allen? >> well, eugene allen would have been one of the first people my parents encountered when they entered the white house in 1981. in fact, i remember meeting him there after the inauguration. and they developed an immediate and really profound respect for him, not as a butler per se but as a compendium of knowledge about the white house. he was an immensely dignified, enormously competent man. and you realized really that you were in his house in a sense when you were in the white house. you were just passing through. all these presidents that come and go, you know, that's one thing, but eugene allen stayed. and he made you feel like you're in his hous

mr. president. you said in your speechue talked about the arc of the moral universe, quote drg king. and you said it-- interview taylor branch in our series, and one of the things he said was you suffer-- you are a victim of partisan racial gridlock. that's the way he put it. and you talked a moment ago about that a little bit. i wonder whether you think that's true. and if so, what if anything-- the first african american president can do to break through that kind of motivated gridlock. >> i was on the stage with president clinton, and i remember him having a pretty hard time with republicans as well. there does to seem to be a habit sometimes of democratic presidents generally being-- efforts being made to delegitimize them in some fashion. and that's fine because politics is not bean bag, as they used to say. it's not a noncontact sport. and i don't worry about it personally. i do think what's-- what you've seen-- and i touched on this theme during the speech-- i tank has lesto do with my race but there is an argument that was made in 1964, 1965 on through the 80s and 90s in whic

mr. allen was one of the people who cast the vote for the first african-american president in the nation. and so his life, the humble butler, really shows the amazing sweep in arcountry. >> wil, this last country. oprah played a significant part inspired by eugene allen's wife. >> yes. >> why was eugene allen's wife so important to his life? >> well, he was so shy. he was so humble. i really think it was her who encouraged him to talk to me. >> she said, who are your people? >> yes. yes. she asked me where i was from and various questions like that. two days after i interviewed both of them in their home their son came to visit, charles. and charles said, mama, how you doing? she said, i'm so happy. i'm just elated. a writer has come over and he's going to write a story about my eugene, and then she looked at her son and hugged him and she said, i'm so elated, i'm going to go upstairs and go to bed. and she went upstairs and went to bed and she died that very a the day before the 2008 election. >> will, it is an incredible story, a remarkable movie. we appreciate you spending time sharing part of it with us today. >> thank you so much for having me. >> thank yo

mr. bloomberg, a relationship that was always fraught and frayed. yet as he enters the final months, the full arcview. mayors are forced to play the hands dealt them by history, the economy, the public, their allies, campaign contributors. as much as any mayor of modern new york, mr. bloomberg has been a transformative figure, a shaper, of his time. michael. >> take a look around the city. you had some photos up before of a simple place like columbus circle which was a barren public place which he has turned into a truly vibrant meeting place all other the city that rivals, you know, the clock at grand central. what jim said is so important. he completely insulated commissioners from the kind of criticism that would normally either change the way they behave or change the way a ma r mayor -- >> you look at all the remarkable changes. the one thing he couldn't push through, that jets stadium on the lower east side. >> you wanted that? >> yes, i wanted that. come on, you think i wanted to go over to queens on the train to get to the jets? >> i don't know. when i look at his legacy -- >> or jersey,