President Clinton came to New York on Monday to attend a fund-raising dinner for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, but even before he checked into his room at the Waldorf or polished his dancing shoes, he did what all good tourists are doing in Manhattan these days - he went shopping.
The impromptu shopping sojourn stopped traffic, flustered shopkeepers and ruffled the feathers of not a few New Yorkers who complained that the presidential fuss was making them late. After all, they had work to do, errands to run, trains to hop - sales to catch."What is this all about?" asked one irritated woman.
"The president," answered another.
"Swell," she said. "As though other people don't have to go to work."
But many of the thousands of New Yorkers crowding the streets of midtown squealed with delight when they caught their first glimpse of Clinton, whose motorcade breezed past the Waldorf-Astoria and headed straight to Rockefeller Center, where he stopped in at the Metropolitan Museum Gift Shop and bought more than $150 worth of gifts.
The president browsed for nearly an hour, according to the store manager, Maureen McGrath. He chose a puzzle, patterned after the famous Seurat painting "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte," and two scarves - a Matisse adapted from his painting "The Red Room" and a Poiret 19th-century silk chiffon shawl of striped gold.
Other purchases included a tiny bronze statuette, a pendant and a gold electroplate necklace with garnets, either for Hillary or Chelsea - the president said he had not yet decided.
Store management intended for Clinton to be treated like any other customer, free to shop without being bothered by overeager sales clerks or swooning constituents, McGrath said.
But it didn't work. First, one of the store's employees asked him to sign the guest book. Then Lucy Goodwin of Laredo, Texas, ignored Secret Service orders to stay away, shook the president's hand and professed her love.
Several people, including two little boys, asked for autographs. And in a final display of special treatment, Clinton paid for his purchases with an American Express card and nobody bothered to verify it.