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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made their first, joint trip to NYC a "personal" one—it was date night for the First Couple. The President released a statement explaining, "I am taking my wife to New York City because I promised her during the campaign that I would take her to a Broadway show after it was all finished."
The Post has a map and timeline of the Obama's date night: They arrived at JFK Airport and took a helicopter to the Wall Street heliport. From there, they were driven to Blue Hill, the intimate Greenwich Village restaurant where chef Dan Barber works with locally grown and produced food (he also operates Blue Hill Stone Barms in the Hudson Valley and Blue Hill Farm in Massachusetts). According to the Post, "The Obamas were tucked into an out-of-the- way corner table where they enjoyed a multi- course feast specially prepared by the chef. They washed down the fine fare with wine, said a fellow diner, who also noticed Michelle relaxing with a couple of martinis."
After dinner, the motorcade headed to Midtown for their evening entertainment: Joe Turner's Come and Gone, the Tony-nominated and critically acclaimed play by August Wilson, at the Belasco Theater. People lined the streets, cheering and waving at the motorcade. And the Obamas' fellow theater goers were equally excited, not even minding the 45-minute delay due to security. The NY Times reports that utility worker and student Kecia McCowen, who bought tickets a few days ago, only to discover the Obamas were also attending; she said, "I thought I was dreaming. I was like, stop playing!"
Once the First Couple arrived, they received a standing ovation. Maisha McGill told the Daily News, "We had no idea he was going to be here. We were really lucky to come tonight. People were standing on top of their chairs clapping for him." And one man told the Post, "I couldn't think for the first 10 minutes of the show because the president was sitting right to me." Actor Ernie Hudson, who plays Seth Holly in the play, was proud to perform in front of the President and his wife, "We just do our best job every day. It's an amazing play about African-American migration at the turn of the century. It's a very powerful play." Upon their departure from the theater, they waved the crowd and shook Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's hand.
The Post broke down some cost of the trip—Taxpayers would have to pay for "a total of at least $24,000 for the three aircraft used to ferry the Obamas, aides and reporters to New York and back. Dinner costs and orchestra seat tickets -- at $96.50 apiece -- were paid by the Obamas." The Republican National Committee took a swipe at the President, stating, "As President Obama prepares to wing into Manhattan's theater district on Air Force One to take in a Broadway show, GM is preparing to file bankruptcy and families across America continue to struggle to pay their bills. Have a great Saturday evening -- even if you're not jetting off somewhere at taxpayer expense." Well, we personally hope their visit is a boon to Joe Turner, which, according to the latest details, is playing at 65% capacity.
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It probably would have been far cheaper for the taxpayers to have paid the entire cast and crew of the show to come to the White House and give a private performance.
Carter did that a couple of times. He brought the cast of Ain't Misbehavin' to the White House to perform.
Even the President is entitled to a day off. The RNC should get off his jock, especially considering the wasteful spending of the Bush administration.
Lets watch fahrenheit 911 and take a look at how many days George Bush was out golfing while his people advanced their agenda, violated the cConstitution & Geneva Conventions, infringed on our rights to privacy, bankrupted us - and that doesn't even touch on how many iraqis died. I mean that's just the tip of the old iceberg, chap. Anybody ever account for that 2.3 Trillion that went missing? Hey I guess all is fair in an exclusively free market society, ay? Ah to hell with civil liberties.
Let's give a standing ovation since he's less bad at wasting money. I'm not saying the Obamas shouldn't be able to get out and do this type of thing, but comparing it to Bush's wasteful spending is pointless. What does the Geneva Convention have to do with spending taxpayer money to see a Broadway show? In fact, the point about GM is valid. There's lots of pressing issues and one can argue that frivolous trips and spending are an affront to people who's lives are about get a whole bunch shittier in a day or two.
Aside from the golfing, how many days did Dubya spend at his ranch? It seemed that every time we turned around, he was back there.
Oh, Jen, they did take Air Force One. It doesn't have to be the 747s. Any Air Force plane with the President on it would be Air Force One for the duration, even if he was in the back seat of an F-15.
Thanks, Spirit of 76—that's very true.
I think that's what's so cool about Air Force One.
yep, I watched "Air force One" recently on TBS or something.
When right-wingers in government waste money, they are simply reinforcing their more general point that government is bad. Thus, their compatriots find such conduct to be laudable -- or at least not worth commenting on.
Bush spent almost 900 days at his ranch in Crawford, Texas on the dime of tax payers.
I do not think the Obama's will take nearly as many vacation days. Back off, anyone ragging on this knows they have nothing bad to say about President Obama, they're fishing for anything. The man and his administration has done more in 100 days+ than Bush did in 8-years.
This is in no way meant to be an endorsement of Bush (although I know a certain regular Gothamist poster will likely chime in with a profanity laced tirade) but honestly, does anyone really believe that modern day Presidents aren't constantly working, even when on "vacation"? They still receive briefings, hold meetings, etc. There have been some impressive advances in communication technology in the last 200 years. As for Bush's time in Crawford being "on the dime of tax payers" what exactly did it cost beyond jet fuel? If we're so concerned about fuel costs why did President Obama need to sign the stimulus bill in Denver?
that's almost three years. THREE YEARS?! and please explain to me how a french guy got elected. THREE YEARS? Jezez people!
Every time Obama does something of questionable judgment, you Obama groupies fall back to the line, "Well, George Bush did X."
STOP DOING THAT. IT'S IRRELEVANT. WE GET IT, HE SUCKED. THAT DOESN'T MEAN OBAMA IS ALLOWED TO SUCK TOO.
The bottom line is President Obama, not Bush, did take his wife on the world's most expensive date last night, two days before the official collapse of the nation's preeminent industrial company. Millions of working class folks will officially lose much, if not all of their retirement savings on Monday. Tens of thousands will lose their jobs. It will rank among the top five biggest catastrophes in the history of business in this country.
It's a big fucking deal, with a far greater impact on the day-to-day lives of Americans than anything we did in the Middle East. History books do not look kindly on this sort of behavior.
The President took his wife out on a date. The President. The man elected to govern our country. This ain't Bob and Ethel from down the street. For the rest of this man's life he will be accompanied by security and shuttled in expensive motorcades and or plane rides where ever he wants to go. It doesn't matter if it's Bush, Clinton or a man from mars. As long as it's the president this shall be. And do you not grant yourself a night out every once in a while. I am sure the work you do and the stress you are under is comparable to the president's. HA! Any married man can tell you if your wife ain't happy you ain't happy. One night out on the town for dinner and a show with his wife is fine with me. If it cost $300K to photograph then I'd be pissed.
I don't have a problem with the President getting some R&R, and I'm very happy that he wants to do it in New York. The timing, however, is absolutely disgusting, a fat middle finger to all the poor bastards who are going to take it on the chin on Monday.
As for the $300K, remember that was really just the cost of fuel for those two planes to fly here and fly back. This trip involved thousands of security personnel, support vehicles, fighter escorts, C-17 cargo transports, Marine choppers, and other expensive stuff. I think $5 million would be a safe estimate.
The NY Post is so predictable!
I feel great about spending tax dollars to support my President taking a night out in New York. The trip was a solid marketing stunt for the US Presidency! By giving the largest most diverse city in the country a "personal visit", President Obama and Michelle Obama supported local business and encouraged others to come out of their homes and participate enthusiastically in greeting their President. It's a huge win for all of us and the Post needs to put thier agenda aside and report the news. That's why I stopped buying that paper years ago.
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I've never seen so many police in the Village. And obviously 99% of them had never been in the Village. If the city would provide even 5% of the number I saw there last night, there wouldn't be the muggings and hate crimes we've seen lately.
Standard pathetic mindless liberal media drone response: "Hey, Bush was worse! Bush was worse! Obama can do whatever he wants as long as he is slightly better than Bush!"
Even though the Republican National Committee got it right, I came in here expecting to see Gothamist readers riding Obama's jock... and was not surprised.
what did the RNC get right?
since when did the republicans cared about taxpayers money.
all they do is overpay themselves on everything. Oh, Now they're checking the tab. petty, petty people.
and welcome new posters.
Pretty much everything the president does is going to cost more money than usual because he can't fly coach and stand on the TKTS line. Guess what? It's one of the few jobs in America that deserves a little deference about "wasteful spending." Try telling someone carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders that neither he nor his wife or family can enjoy any luxuries for four to eight long years, and see how well he performs.
Somehow this hasn't been a big deal for, oh, any previous president.
The President can fly coach and stand on the TKTS line if he wanted, and it would be nice to see our Presidents acting like men instead of emperors for a change.
Let's see... if North Korea launched an invasion across the DMZ or some other security crisis took place, I don't think the cost to taxpayers would be measured in merely thousands of dollars if we didn't have an effective military response because the President were crammed between the cattle on a coach flight.
This notion that the President needs to act like "jus folks" in a cynical effort to appease hypocrites like yourself is, to say the least, nonsense. Many of the people who are now counting every last "taxpayer dollar" spent on fairly routine activities were the same people who bitterly decried Carter "diminishing the Presidency" or who applauded the imperial excesses of essentially every GOP president.
Many are also the same people that come to the defense of CEOs when the excesses and perks they enjoy at the shareholders' expense are called into question -- suddenly they are able to comprehend and point out that the chief executive's time is valuable, and that the enterprise benefits when his or her power to act is complemented by often-expensive logistical measures.
Right-wingers' dream world is one in which government is powerless and populated only by a handful of dimwits willing to put up with the onerous restrictions they seek to put in place. Of course, the public interest will suffer dearly, and a handful will be that much wealthier as a result.
If this is not your dream, then I would suggest you join the rest of us in seeking to make government better and more effective for the benefit of all. Rather than fantasizing about kneecapping the Presidency, there are a number of projects that would be much more helpful.
Quindam, superb reply, agree 100%!
Anyone familiar with me or my views would realize that the notion of me being a right-winger is ridiculous.
I went to Jimmy's Corner last night for some drinks and had to contend with the blocked off streets etc. When we tried to leave, we weren't allowed to by the police because the Obamas were leaving the theater.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
The right will never acknowledge the mount of shit they always stand on, but cling to any pitiful event to disapprove and condemn. What a party of hypocrites, from a fake religious veneer of empty compassion to a oppressive discourse of all of those that are not standing on top of mount-shit with them.
No Prince Harry on the agenda? That would have been a hilarious basketball game.
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