One New York representative said he could not make it because he had to march in a local firefighters' parade. Another said that, as much as she wanted to go, she had to visit family out of town. Yet another just sent his regrets, saying he would be traveling that day — in Connecticut.
Representative Charles B. Rangel's birthday party is a much-anticipated annual rite, drawing elected officials and celebrities.
It was supposed to be the grandest New York political party of the year: a rousing birthday tribute to the powerful dean of the state's Congressional delegation, Representative Charles B. Rangel, a Democrat from Harlem.Organizers reserved the gilded main ballroom at the Plaza Hotel, booked Aretha Franklin to serenade Mr. Rangel and sent out an elaborate video invitation featuring a testimonial from Bill Clinton (who, as it happens, was also invited but said he had to be in Arkansas that day).
But far from being a moment of celebration, the gala, planned for next week, is becoming a painful and public embarrassment for the 80-year-old congressman, and a brutal test of friendships and loyalties that are decades old.
High-profile guests have either bailed out or are publicly agonizing about whether to show up at all. In a striking illustration of the discomfort coursing through political circles over Mr. Rangel's soiree, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said he did not know if the party was still on when asked recently if he would attend.
"I don't know what the facts are," Mr. Bloomberg said. "I was planning to go, but…."
Republicans, and even some Democratic challengers, are making the gala an issue. On the Upper East Side, Reshma Saujani, a Democratic candidate for Congress, criticized Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, who was on the party's host committee, for planning to attend.
"These 13 charges against Congressman Rangel are serious allegations, not cause for a lavish birthday celebration, and our elected officials should not be joining him," Ms. Saujani said in a statement from her campaign.
A few hours after the statement was issued, aides to Ms. Maloney let it be known she would not attend, citing a family commitment in Virginia. "I wish I could be at his birthday party," Ms. Maloney said in an interview, adding that her plans to skip the event had nothing to do with the ethics charges.
Some of her colleagues are being less diplomatic. When asked why he would not attend, Representative Michael E. McMahon of Staten Island, a freshman Democrat in a conservative-leaning district that Republicans are eyeing, responded: "All I am saying is I sent my regrets and I will be out of town. That's my answer."
Explanations for why others will not show ranged from the plausible to the strained. Take Representative John Hall, a Democrat from the northern suburbs of New York City, who has attended a birthday party for Mr. Rangel in the past but is facing a potentially tough race in the fall. He said he would appear at a high-profile event in his district that day: the Fire Department parade in South Salem, a hamlet of 7,000 people. "It's too bad the party is scheduled for the same day of the parade," Mr. Hall said. "This was scheduled way in advance."
Representative Edolphus Towns, a Brooklyn Democrat, will be just across the border, at a fund-raiser in Connecticut, but aides said it would be impossible for him to make it back in time.
Several prominent Democrats simply refuse to say whether they will attend — generally a signal that they will not. Aides to Andrew M. Cuomo, the state attorney general and the leading Democratic candidate for governor, threw up their hands, saying he had not finalized his schedule — even though the party is five days away.
Asked repeatedly if Senator Charles E. Schumer would make it, his aides declined to comment.
…
And still, many luminaries will appear. Aides to Mr. Bloomberg said Thursday that he was simply confused in his earlier response and would, in fact, show.
So will Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand; Representative Jerrold Nadler; the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn; and Gov. David A. Paterson, a friend and Harlem neighbor of Mr. Rangel. "We have had a strong response, and we think it's going to be a good party," said Bob Liff, a spokesman for the Rangel campaign.
A few lawmakers scoffed at the notion that Mr. Rangel was being deserted. Representative Anthony D. Weiner, who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens, said many of his colleagues were overbooked during the August recess, traditionally a time when they crisscrossed their districts. "I would not read too much into the attendance of members of Congress," he said.
Is Mr. Weiner going? He made no promises.
"My August days and nights are just jammed," he said. "I will do everything I can to get there."
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