President Obama will be on the Upper West Side on Thursday, apparently for a fundraiser in the Riverside Boulevard area along the Hudson River below 72nd street.
That means, of course, that traffic will be a nightmare. Building managements have told residents that parts of the area could be blocked off from 3:30 to 8 p.m. and that they’ll need to carry ID and proof of residence. We hear the event itself starts closer to 6 p.m.
Here’s a notice from one of the buildings near the event:
“Subject: Â Â STREET CLOSURES, LIMITED GARAGE ACCESS AND FOOD DELIVERIES AFFECTING VEHICULAR AND PEDESTRIAN Â TRAFFIC
We have recently been informed that certain high level dignitaries will be visiting the vicinity of your building on Thursday, July 17, 2014. This visit will precipitate the presence of NYC and federal law enforcement authorities. Â As a result, there will be significant interruption to the neighborhood during the period of approximately 3:30pm to approximately 8:00pm affecting accessibility to the neighborhood as described in detail below. Please be on notice that the information in this memo is subject to change and that all building staff will be required to follow the direction and instruction of enforcement authorities; staff will not be able to override any instructions from enforcement authorities. ALL RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO CARRY PHOTO IDENTIFICATION AND PROOF OF RESIDENCE. We will try to manage the building as close to normal as possible, however, all residents should expect to experience some inconveniences.
This visit will precipitate street closures and garage closures affecting vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the vicinity of your building as described below.
STREET CLOSURES- There will be street closures in the area beginning at approximately 3:30 pm until approximately 8:00 pm as follows:
. Â Â 66th Street from 5th Avenue to Riverside Boulevard
. Â Â Riverside Boulevard from 66th Street to 72nd Street
. Â Â 70th Street from Riverside Boulevard to West End Avenue
.   71st  Street from Riverside Boulevard to West End Avenue
. Â Â Streets between Freedom Place and Riverside Boulevard from 66th Street to 71st Street
There will be no access to the above mentioned vicinity via vehicles during this time. It is recommended that you do NOT park your vehicle on the streets on Wednesday evening or Thursday as enforcement authorities will begin towing vehicles within the above mentioned vicinity. There will be no furniture deliveries or any large items received into the building beginning at 2:00 pm and move-ins and move-outs will not be permitted on Thursday.
GARAGE ACCESS- There will be no access to your garage or neighboring Trump Place garages at 200 RSB, 220 RSB or 240 RSB (and most likely to other RSB garages) during the same time period. You will not be allowed to access or remove your car from the garage or enter the garage during this period, (so if you need your car, you should locate it elsewhere during this period.) If you need any items within your car, you should remove such items from your car prior to Thursday.
PEDESTRIAN ACCESS- Pedestrian traffic will be affected during the period of approximately 3:30 pm to approximately 8:00 pm. People may be allowed to leave the area but may be delayed should they desire to re-access the area. ALL RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO CARRY PHOTO IDENTIFICATION AND PROOF OF RESIDENCE in order to demonstrate to the enforcement authorities that such residents have a legitimate purpose to gain access to the neighborhood and their building. Residents should expect that the enforcement authorities may require that residents be escorted to the neighborhood and their building from certain checkpoints and this may result in delays. Residents should expect that food deliveries may be delayed and we recommend that you contact security and notify us of the delivery you are expecting and the company sending the food.”
Photo via the White House.
Fundraiser-in-Chief. Fortunately things are going so well here & abroad he can spend all his time doing this.
Agreed. Never seen a president do so much fund raising.
And, of course, the Republicans can raise all the funds they need without disrupting traffic … thanks to Citizens United, the Koch Brothers, etc. etc.
Union contributions to the Democrat party and candidates more than offset Citizens United, the Koch Brothers, etc. etc.
you have an odd and inaccurate sense of the economic structure of the US.
reply to Larry Z:
total federal campaign spednign by sector, 2013 -2014: “Labor” as a WHOLE is 8th; business sectors are 1-7 and 9-13; the top businesx sector alone (FIRE) counts for 4x that of all labor.
https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/
Bravo, Bruce! Well said.
And the winner is . . . Unions! https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
So it’s at one of those northernmost Trump Bldgs — 220 or 240 (?) Riv Blvd…
According to the doorman at 240, it doesn’t seem like its going to be at their building. Presumably it’ll be at 220. The security details also blocked out the entire 71st and 70th streets too – instead of 71st and 72nd where 240 is.
There goes the neighborhood.
So we can actually say this now without any hyperbole. Blame Obama!
Say what you want – it’s very cool that the Prez is coming to our neighborhood. Not too many places can claim that distinction…
FALSE> I couldn’t get to the garage to park my car, where I have a monthly spot. I trolled around until I found a spot on the street. My daughter’s friend had to postpone her move in until tomorrow and pay extra for the privilege of using the truck one more day than she needed. If the president was raising funds for something in the neighborhood I would feel less put out. All the extra police and barricades all day long. Who pays for that? I think it is excessive.
You have the distinction of not being able to park, walk or emjoy your neighborhood while hes shuttled between 1 luxe apt to the next. u wont see him in Harlem or brooklyn…
Obama’s all about the money, money. forget about the price tag…
Fundraiser-In-Chief , , , Good One! What a bust this guy ended being. Regardless, God Bless America and the Presidency of the United States of America!
Obama has been a real disaster. A lot of lifelong Democrats that I know are beginning to abandon him. It will take a long time for the country to recover from his mismanagement.
Maybe after this fundraiser Barry O can join DeBlasio on his 9-day trip to Italy. Oh, and all you commuters on Long Island . . . lace up those sneakers!
Why do people seem to feel there’s a Democrat/Republican conspiracy going on all the time?
We’re all getting ripped off no matter which fake label we want to imagine we’re part of. The Government is run for the benefit of the multi national corporations. Period!
Thank you for bringing some sanity to this list of comments.
I park in a garage on 70th, between Riverside Blvd and West End. So I’m just completely screwed tonight, is what we’re saying?
Pretty much. The attendant at my garage on 68th told me when I left this morning that all the streets would be closed and there’d be no way to even get near the garage until after 8pm.
Wow, this must be the first time a president of any party has ever caused a traffic problem.
Wow, with the crisis in both the middle east and Ukraine, I’m glad our dipshit president has his priorities in place. This guy is by far the worst president in history.
You said it Richard! I concur.
And blah blah blah!
Remember Ronald Reagan, the uber fund-raiser of all time? The GOP needed him desperately after Watergate and boy, did he deliver! Of course he spent every penny and a great deal more in putting the US in deep, deep debt…..
The cost of winning the cold war and trade offs with Tip O’neil
Reagan would have liked to have cut the budget more but was constrained. He did manage to slow the rate of growth in government spending. The stimulus programs that Obama presided over and advocated eclipse everything done by previous presidents to increase the national debt.
Is the President the Chief Executive or Chief fundraiser of the DNC indeed. The Super-Pac era has certainly helped destroy the American political system. I thought Obama was against super-pacs?
what a chutzpah. between the aloofness, inconvenience and ego, this trip only makes him look back and harms his party’s standing. tell the dignitary to meet with the real people and talk substance. all he does is pay lip service them opens his hand
anyone know what big shot is hosting a party for obama?
Wouldn’t it be appropriate if our first African American President, a former community organizer on Chicago’s south side, and a Democrat showed up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the South Bronx, or even rapidly gentrifying Harlem for a few minutes and spoke to and interacted with poor and working class people of color and Latinos while he was here collecting money at a swank address? I knew who he was and what kind of a president we were getting when he invited Beyonce instead of
Etta James to sing “At Last” at his first inauguration.
No more fundraisers in Manhattan! We can all get together and agree that a president does not have to inconvenience the millions of residents and workers in New York City,especially during rush hour…there is no reason why you can’t bring the 50 donors to a hotel or house on Long Island and Jersey,and save the rest of us the nightmare..