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Charles Rangel, longtime N.Y. congressman, to be remembered with public viewing in Harlem
Former Rep. Charles Rangel is being remembered with the first of many public viewings Monday in Harlem. The longtime New York congressman died last month at the age of 94.
Public viewings will be held from noon to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Saint Aloysius Church, where Rangel once served as an altar boy.
Another public viewing will be held Thursday at City Hall, where Rangel will lie in state for the public to pay their respects, followed by an honor guard ceremony in the evening.
His funeral will be held Friday at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown.
Remembering Congressman Charles Rangel
Rangel spent nearly 50 years representing New York. In 1970, he defeated Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in the Democratic primary for the seat in New York's 18th congressional district. He was the first African American to chair the influential House Ways and Means Committee and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
He was a son of Harlem, affectionately called "the Lion of Lenox Avenue," and part of the so-called "Harlem Gang of Four" coalition with Basil Paterson, Percy Sutton, Herman "Denny" Farrell and former Mayor David Dinkins. They were known as the first to break down race and class barriers.
Late in his career, Rangel faced a series of ethics violations. In 2010, the House Ethics Committee convicted him of 11 counts of violating House rules, and Congress censured him. But the people of Harlem stood by him, and he was reelected to the House two more times.
Rangel leaves behind a son, daughter and three grandsons.
