Some of us claim that New York City is the capital of the country, indeed the capital of the world. Now, that may be a bit much for those who don't come from New York, but clearly we are an important city for reasons of our cultural advantages.

My mother came here to New York. She and my grandmother were domestics, cooking, cleaning for other people.

In 1975 I was among a group of blacks who formed the Black Americans in Support of Israel Committee.

Well, I'm not sure, but of one thing I am certain: History judges one differently than contemporary observers, and so I think that as time passes, I hope that not me personally so much, but our administration will be seen for some of the things that we accomplished.

And I tell people I'm in charge of children, children I haven't even met yet.

Race relations can be an appropriate issue... but only if you want to craft solutions, and not catalogue complaints. If we use the issue appropriately, we can transform it from the cancer of our society into the cure.

I finished law school in '56, but I was working two jobs.