Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Traffic, PATH Train Delays Expected During Obama's Visit

By Jim Scott | May 5, 2011 10:57am
A presidential limousine carrying President Barack Obama leaves Greenwich Village on Sept. 14, 2009. President Obama will visit New York for the fourth time in a month when he goes to Ground Zero on May 5, 2011.
A presidential limousine carrying President Barack Obama leaves Greenwich Village on Sept. 14, 2009. President Obama will visit New York for the fourth time in a month when he goes to Ground Zero on May 5, 2011.
View Full Caption
Chris Hondros/Getty Images

By Jim Scott

DNAinfo Senior Editor

MANHATTAN — President Barack Obama's visit to Ground Zero is expected to wreak havoc for Manhattan drivers and cause public transit delays.

Thursday's high-security visit — the fourth to Manhattan in a month — will likely leave city travelers at a standstill.

PATH trains to and from the World Trade Centerwill be suspended for an hour beginning at noon, the Daily News reported.

The NYPD warned motorists to avoid driving in Manhattan altogether, saying there will be rolling street shutdowns and frozen zones wherever the president goes.

Obama is expected to arrive at JFK Airport at 10:35 a.m. Thursday and will spend time visiting firefighters at Engine 54's firehouse in Midtown before heading to Ground Zero, NY1 reported.

The president will lay a wreath at Ground Zero at about 1:25 p.m., before meeting a select group of victim's families and first responders in private. He is expected to leave the city at about 3:10 p.m.

Obama's visit comes four days after he announced the death of Osama bin Laden. The president's announcement that bin Laden had been shot to death by U.S. special forces and CIA operatives in a mansion outside of Islamabad, in Pakistan, brought thousands of New Yorkers out to Ground Zero and Times Square to celebrate Sunday night.

Obama will be visiting Ground Zero for the first time since he was as a presidential candidate on the 2008 anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.