By Gus Saltonstall
An older man sidled up to the barricades on West 77th Street and Riverside Drive on Wednesday afternoon and got the attention of a secret service agent wearing a bulletproof vest. President Joe Biden was set to arrive in the next 10 minutes and a small crowd of neighbors had gathered on the corner to watch the events unfold.
“What about alternate side parking?” the man asked loudly.
The secret service agent gave him a look and slowly walked away.
President Biden visited a townhouse on Riverside Drive Wednesday afternoon for a fundraising event, which prompted a huge security presence that included police on the street, police in cars, police on motorcycles, police on bikes, and a large number of secret service members.
A near 10-block stretch of Riverside Drive, West End Avenue, and Broadway were all closed down between West 72nd and 80th streets going west to east, and multiple nearby exits on the West Side Highway were also blocked off in the 20-or-so minutes before Biden arrived at about 2:10 p.m.
Among the group of nearby residents that gathered on the corner of West 77th Street and Riverside Drive, there was a mixture of excitement and general disgruntlement about the “circus” that was created in the lead up to the president’s arrival.
“Think about how much this must cost,” one person said to loud agreement.
“Will he be arriving on Citi Bike?” another person joked.
Some were more positive, “You don’t get many chances to see the president,” an onlooker remarked.
Others commented that they had noticed the barricades starting to go up in the past few days.
There was also general speculation about who Biden was visiting, with some suggesting the name Larry Linden, which was later confirmed by the White House Press Office.
“He used to live in our building, he was a nice man, I think we liked him, but I have to check with my husband,” a woman said.
After close to an hour of anticipation, there were cheers when an initial motorcade drove past with a police escort. It turned out to be a decoy, though, as two minutes later a second motorcade that included the president’s Cadillac, known as “The Beast,” drove off the West Side Highway exit at West 79th Street, down Riverside Drive to West 77th Street, and then up West End Avenue and back down to Riverside Drive on West 76th Street.
And the presidential motorcade pic.twitter.com/laJUckPb9l
— Gus Saltonstall (@GusSaltonstall) February 7, 2024
As the president exited the car, a white tent was quickly put up that fully blocked any views of him.
The press office’s pool report included a collection of details about the visit.
“POTUS spoke at the residence of Larry Linden on the Upper West side in a well-appointed, wood-paneled sitting room,” the report reads. “It was furnished with a Steinway piano and several couches.”
The topics of Donald Trump, the GOP House, Biden’s childhood in Delaware, and climate causes all came up in discussion during the event that included 17 people, according to the pool report.
The crowd dispersed pretty quickly after the president’s arrival, but the surrounding avenues were almost at a standstill.
With the crosswalks blocked off, people were stuck on various corners in the neighborhood, many of whom expressed their confusion over the cause.
“Biden’s in the neighborhood,” one person yelled back without breaking stride.
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I was among the many folks kept for a time from returning to homes near Riverside Drive because the president was in the vicinity. We were kept from crossing Broadway at 77th Street and were told that until the presidential motorcade had gone past we’d have to simply wait. I called it: Biden our time.
This article is charming and informative. It is such a pleasure to read real, solid reporting. Thank you Westside Rag!
Love your sense of humor, Gus!!
which prompted a huge security presence that included police on the street, police in cars, police on motorcycles, police on bikes, . . .
Police on bikes??!! they appear for the President but not for us regular New Yorkers who would welcome police on bikes to stop all the illegal bike riding activity we see and experience every day.
Biden handlers don’t let him ride a bicycle anymore, because he falls and makes his feebleness more apparent.
Fake News! He was just on a bike ride with François Mitterrand.
This is false.
He hasn’t ridden a bike since, he won’t do a pre Super Bowl interview, he said he spoke recently with a French President who died 30 years ago. You know he’s unfit, we all know it. Sadly he is probably the only person in the country who doesn’t know it.
Just google it and you can see any number of him falling off and/or over on a bike
There are clips from right and left media
They’re all the same incident from Delaware 2022, not any number.
Here is a clip from 2023-
https://youtu.be/ZdkGCDvpOp0?si=OJ4kFzf6R35QLeze
So OpOD is wrong again.
Btw, GWBush crashed 3 times on his bike while in office, including taking down a cop in Scotland who was protecting him.
The way to stay physically active is to be physically active. He fell on camera because he was talking to reporters before he stopped and forgot his foot was still strapped in (old school). They should’ve just let him ride up from the helicopter on flat pedals on the Hudson bikepath up the easy hill on w 68th for a real photo op. Plenty of people ride well into their 80s and 90s.
Interesting that a tent was erected so that no one could see the POTUS.
Why? Wouldn’t he want to wave to the people, hug babies etc.
Sounds like you may be confusing the Pope with the president. Lol
safety
I’m not sure if this comment was meant as a joke or not. The tent allows the President (or other people under Secret Service protection) to transfer from a car to a building without presenting a target for a shooter.
The lesson of November 22, 1963 has been realized.
Relearned on March 30th, 1981. and 12/14, 2008.
It’s risky, unfortunately. Secret service has to check out every window, or anywhere a sniper could hide, and it’s even more unsafe these days with the country so divided.
The headline made me LOL! Great local reporting, Gus.
Total nightmare on the 7 bus from all the way downtown because of this. Many older people use that bus line to travel into Harlem and there was a total of ONE bus — due to Biden frozen zones — for two hours. The people who use this bus are on walkers, canes, rollators and cannot use the subway. This type of presidential visit does a huge disservice to those who need public transportation the most. Not good.
The M10 was a similar nightmare. We were all trying to help an elderly lady who was sitting on her walker seat while waiting for a bus that would never show up. Very understandably, she had no idea that Biden was in town and she was completely unaware of all the barricades set up two blocks west from where she was waiting. She finally gave up and walked back home.
It happens with every single president, every time a president visits any city in the USA. And ppl still whine and complain about it. This is all part of living in a civilized society with communities and neighborhoods. You don’t like this type of disruptions move to the suburbs.
Someday any of us might become mobility-impaired. Any of us might age, have an accident, or suffer poor health. Even you.
So says Alvaro!
Let them eat cake.
Funny article. Especially liked “He used to live in our building, he was a nice man, I think we liked him, but I have to check with my husband,” a woman said.
The action happened in front of my building but I was busy on the phone trying to straighten out erroneous bills and other inefficiencies of major corporations so I missed it all. I looked up Larry Linden, whose townhouse Biden visited, and learned he’s a retired Managing Director at Goldman Sachs among other career highlights. He’s very involved in conservation issues now. Further, if my internet research can be trusted, he’s also the parent of Edie Brickell, wife of Paul Simon.
Grubbing for money, while NYC taxpayers pay for the cost and have to put up with the inconvenience. Maybe Biden could ask his good friends Mitterrand or Kohl, who he has supposedly
talked to recently, for donations to cover the costs! What a disgrace.
Yes. Biden is talking to Mitterrand. Childish nonsense. Trump thought Nikki Haley was Nancy Pelosi and has 91 indictments and one conviction but that’s ok.
I am so proud of President Biden who can run on his record of achievements any day of the week. He cares about people instead of only himself. He can visit my town any time. I consider it an honor.
What achievements?? Oh the open border and 10million new Americans who don’t have jobs or homes!
Don’t forget – Not my type
The Man who Mistook his rape victim for one of his many wives.
https://www.wsj.com/video/watch-trump-appears-to-mistake-photo-of-e-jean-carroll-for-ex-wife/3FC46AE4-703D-4D26-9736-720E4A9784B9
Maybe next time the President should just have a zoom meeting! Sheesh!
Could the fundraising event possibly have covered the cost to the city, the police, security, maintenance, set up and removal of all those barriers, removal of trash cans, etc. etc. at least as far south as Columbus Circle… let alone the hourly time lost to thousands of people and drivers just trying to get around?
And believe me, I’m voting for the guy!
The worst words any UWSer can hear “the president will be in Manhattan today….” I don’t care which party or person, they should stay out of NYC unless there is a special crisis, fundraising doesn’t count. Presidential visits have a ripple effect across Manhattan and inconvenience people for hours. Just stay in Washington Mr/Ms. President.