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President Obama Returns to City Wednesday for Fundraisers

By Amy Zimmer | April 26, 2011 10:37am | Updated on April 26, 2011 11:08am
President Barack Obama greets people on the tarmac during his arrival at JFK International Airport in New York, Wednesday, April 6, 2011.
President Barack Obama greets people on the tarmac during his arrival at JFK International Airport in New York, Wednesday, April 6, 2011.
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AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

By Amy Zimmer

DNAinfo News Editor

MANHATTAN — Get ready for more traffic headaches: President Barack Obama is coming back to Manhattan Wednesday.

It will be the third presidential visit within a month. In March, Obama dined at Red Rooster in Harlem and earlier this month he visited Midtown. This trip, he's visiting the Waldorf-Astoria on the Upper East Side before taking in a performance of the Roots at the Town Hall Theater in Midtown.

Obama is scheduled to fly into Kennedy Airport some time between 5 and 5:30 p.m. before taking a helicopter to Wall Street and then motorcade up the FDR Drive to East 61st Street for a fundraiser at a private home on Fifth Avenue, according to "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz's traffic report.

Police shut down Seventh Avenue from West 51st Street to West 54th Street during Obama's April 6 visit.
Police shut down Seventh Avenue from West 51st Street to West 54th Street during Obama's April 6 visit.
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DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

Fifth Avenue from East 89th to East 59th streets will be closed from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Central Park's transverse roads along with all avenues from York to Fifth are expected to be frozen, he said.

Who's hosting this fundraiser?

It's the residence of former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's new wife, Sharon, according to the New York Post, and will be hosted with public relations mogul Michael Kempner and financier Orin Kramer. The roughly 70 guests are paying a reported $35,800 each.

"This is a real indication that there's a lot more support on Wall Street and in New York for Obama this time around," a source told the Post.

Obama will then make his way to a "campaign inaugural gala dinner" at the Waldorf-Astoria's Starlight Roof forcing Park and Lexington avenues and East 49th to East 50th streets to be frozen from 7:30 p.m to 10 p.m., Gridlock Sam said.

"The battle lines have been drawn. The campaign for the presidency is joined," wrote Democratic fundraiser Sally Minard inviting guests to the $2,000 - $25,000-a-head dinner, according to an email obtained by the New York Observer.

The Roots concert will be at Town Hall, on West 43rd Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, from 10 to 11 p.m. The concert represents a return to Obama's fundraising roots with ticket prices ranging from $44 for the "Gen44" — those in the under 40 Democratic community — to $1,000 for a VIP pre-reception.

Obama will then head back to the FDR Drive to the heliport, closing off avenues east of Broadway and the FDR until just before midnight.

Gridlock Sam advises people going to Wednesday night's Yankees game to forget about the FDR and opt for alternate routes, preferably to leave the car home and hop the 4 or B trains or Metro-North.