New York City Flags To Fly At Half-Staff In Honor Of Percy Sutton

Flags will fly at half-staff in the city starting Monday in memory of pioneering Harlem leader Percy Sutton.



"New York has always been a city of trailblazers, but few have opened more doors for more people than Percy Sutton did," Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement released Sunday, the day after the uptown icon died at 89.


The loss of Sutton, one of the nation's most prominent black political, business and social leaders, leaves a hole in the civil rights community, the Rev. Al Sharpton said.


"When there was a crisis, you could always call him for counsel and support," Sharpton said under the marquee of the Apollo Theater, which Sutton helped revitalize. "I don't know what we'll do without his guiding hand."


Sharpton visited with Sutton at a local hospital only days before his death along with Gov. Paterson and his wife, Michelle.


"He's a great man," said Calvin Wilson, 49, of Harlem. "He did a lot. He didn't turn his head on the community."


Of all Sutton's accomplishments, helping to save the Apollo had special meaning, said Harlem nursery school teacher Quase Beasley, 28.


"That's something that keeps Harlem running," she said. "The Apollo is our staple of our music and who we are."


Funeral arrangements were pending.