Clinton In Queens:
A Presidential Presence
In The Borough Of Diversity and Diners

By Angela Montefinise, Noah Green and Josh Kaufman

Sept. 26, 1993 wasn’t an ordinary Sunday morning for patrons and employees of the Future Diner in Fresh Meadows.

Sure, the eggs were sizzling and the juice was flowing as usual, but there was something special about this particular hot and steamy Sunday.

The President of the United States was stopping by for a visit.

The streets near the Future Diner were lined with eager Queens residents, waiting patiently in the rain to catch a glimpse of the country’s leader, President Bill Clinton. They held signs and cameras, excitedly searching the streets for the man of the hour.

Once Clinton arrived, he made it worth the wait. He waved and smiled as he walked into the diner, a spot he had visited once before during his campaign in 1992.

Back then, Queens Congressman Tom Manton was showing the up-and-coming Clinton around the borough. The Arkansas governor drew a big crowd, but he was just a candidate.

As president, he attracted a crowd of hundreds, including reporters who snapped photos, yelled questions and bathed the diner in bright television lights. Secret service members were crawling all over the place, and security was high.

But Clinton was as relaxed as ever. He chatted with the wait staff, using their first names to discuss how much fun he had last time he was there. He shook hands with patrons sitting at tables, all of whom were chosen beforehand and many of whom had stories to tell about health care nightmares they had experienced.

After talking at a podium for a short while, Clinton relaxed on a Future Diner stool, sipping coffee while Congressman Gary Ackerman, Borough President Claire Shulman and Mayor David Dinkins stood nearby. Later, Ackerman presented the President with a Tribune plaque.

After his coffee was gone, Clinton grabbed a microphone and started talking about problems with health care in the United States. He listened attentively as New York residents who had sent he and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton letters about health care told their tales of woe.

Mary Jayne Van Wyck of Long Island City and Susan Berardo of Bayside were two of the people who spoke. Van Wyck talked about how she was forced to stay at poverty level to qualify for Medicare because insurance companies wouldn’t cover the liver medication that she needed. Clinton said, “Why shouldn’t this woman be allowed to work?”

Clinton’s connections to Queens didn’t end with that famous visit, however.

In 1997, Clinton spoke at Shea Stadium to honor the 50th anniversary of Brooklyn Dodgers’ second baseman Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.

In 1998, he stopped by Forest Hills High School to congratulate the staff and students for being named to the country’s list of 124 Blue Ribbon Schools.

In 2000, more than 200 Queens seniors waited outside of the Austin Street SelfHelp Center on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills for Clinton, who spoke on March 30 about prescription drugs and social security. He shook hands with dozens of seniors, who shared their horror stories about prescription drug prices and their worries about social security.

Over his eight years as president, Clinton went through Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports dozens of times, spoke at Allen AME Cathedral, and met with countless Queens officials. 

But when Clinton’s run as president ended in 2000, his connections to Queens didn’t. His wife Hillary was elected in 2001 to be a New York State Senator who represents all five boroughs, including Queens.