The Inequality Fight Dividing Hillary Clinton’s Hometown: Chappaqua, NY

Dana Goldstein

On a hot Thursday afternoon in August, Tatlin McLeod sat on a shaded bench at the Chappaqua train station, sipping an iced drink out of a takeout cup. McLeod lives in the Bronx and commutes to this Westchester County suburb, 35 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. She has been working as a nanny for various Chappaqua families for 13 years. She is black and an immigrant from Jamaica.

Tucked into a set of forested hills, Chappaqua is a hamlet of 1,400 residents, famous as the adopted home of Bill and Hillary Clinton. I grew up in a neighboring village called Ossining, but to me, Chappaqua has always seemed a world apart; almost like the movie set version of a 19th century American suburb. Stately colonials and Victorians are situated on large plots, nary a McMansion in sight. (The Clintons live on a street called Old House Lane.) Many residents can walk from their homes to the train station, where there is an upscale restaurant and coffee shop. Property values reflect the fact that the public schools in Chappaqua are considered some of the best in the nation. The average home price here is more than $840,000, compared with $340,000 in Ossining.