Daily News from New York, New York • 5

Pj Pi cFm. InOiulUgy pill 1 By KENNETH R. BAZINET in Washington and ERIC HERMAN in New Yorfe DAIUT NEWS STAFF WRITERS Bill Clinton abruptly abandoned his plans yesterday to move into a lavish midtown skyscraper and will inspect decidedly more modest offices today at a Harlem site opposite several partially boarded-up buildings. The switch would trade breath- $800,000 a year for a peek at the taking views of Central Park Triborough Bridge and some-with a public tab around thing closer to $200,000. It also ends the flap over the former President's negotiations to move into the ultra-exclusive Carnegie Hall Tower next door to the Russian Tea Room.

The Tiffany price tag for Clinton's proposed postpresidential office angered a key Republican congressman, who succeeded in bottling up the lease with the General Services Administration. The rent dispute has become the latest embarrassment for Clinton since he left the White House last month. The rent in Carnegie Hall Tower was estimated at $98 a square foot. Rents in the Harlem site go for $26.50 a square foot. "I'm pleased Mr.

Clinton has listened to what the public was saying, and I know we'll all be just as interested in the new details," said Micah Swafford, spokeswoman for Rep. Ernest Is-took CARNEGIE HALL TOWER NAME 55 W. 125TH ST. 152 W. 57th St.

ADDRESS 55 W. 125th St. NUMBER OF 60 FLOORS 15 RENT PER SQUARE FOOT OF OFFICE SPACE $98 $26.50 PROJECTED COST OF CLINTON OFFICE SPACE $788,000 to $811,000 a year for an space on the 56th floor A -3 -S W. 125th St. 2 I -X1 MARCUS yi GARVEY PARK W.

120th St. At K) s.S 'ill i i i --A An space would go for $220,000 a year. NEIGHBORS Russian Tea Room, Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Deli, City Center, Harley-Davidson Cafe Boarded-up former bank, Rite-Aid pharmacy, Hair Do, Watkins Products and Beauty Aids, Showman's Cafe, Lenox Lounge Sources close to Clinton's negotiations said the ex-President is eying 55 W. 125th St. and will visit the building today.

Though no deal has been signed for the Harlem office, Clinton and the GSA officially backed out of leasing the 56th floor of Carnegie Hall Tower. "At the end of last week, he called his chief of staff Karen Tramontano and said, 'I want to go to explained his spokeswoman, Julia Payne. "Karen called Rep. Charlie Rangel, and he set it up." Rangel (D-Harlem) visited the building over the weekend with Clinton aides and GSA personnel. Lease negotiations have not begun.

"It's premature to discuss at this point whether there will be a transaction," said Arthur Stern, CEO of Cogswell Realty Group, the building's owner. But Rangel said: "Once the President says he wants it, it's a deal." The recently renovated building also houses the IRS, Harlem Legal Services, an unemployment office and a Navy recruiting site. It's in an area designated as an Empowerment Zone under legislation signed by then-President Clinton in 1994 to spur community growth. Because the building is fully leased, Clinton and the GSA would have to pay for another tenant to move out, said a real estate source. The ex-President's plan for a midtown office was one of a string of postpresidency gaffes.

In recent weeks, the Clintons announced they would repay $86,000 for gifts they took when they left Washington. Then they returned a truckload of couches, lamps and other furnishings taken from the White House. Clinton's departure was also marred by his controversial pardons of fugitive financier Marc Rich and four convicted government swindlers from the Rockland County Hasidic community of New Square, as well as questions about the funding of his presidential library. A Democratic source familiar with the Clintons told the Daily News that some of his former aides are considering starting a "war room" media operation to help defend their former boss. Rep.

Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn) swiped at Istook yesterday. "It's clear that Ernest Is-took's 15 minutes are up. It's a good move for Clinton to go to Harlem, but by no means is the investigating class in Congress going to give up their pursuit of him. They're just going to move on to another fight," Weiner said. With Timothy J.

Burger and Corky Siemaszko Jr if1- TENANTS Chase Bank, Navy recruiting station, state unemployment office, Harlem Legal Services, IRS office Movie producer Stanley Jaffe, comedian Eddie Murphy, USA Networks chief Barry Diller, Oscar-winning director Robert Benton im-t Panoramic views of Central Park VIEW Panoramic view of 125th St. and Triborough Bridge Swanky building in fabulous midtown AMENITIES neighborhood, private Marble-lined building in resurgent Harlem neighborhood, walking distance to world-famous Sylvia's restaurant, close to Metro-North elevators, marble and glitz 4T rw galore trains. 1 a. A1. 0) 2 ro.