Obama again expected to disrupt roads, airport

PURCHASE – President Barack Obama, who barnstormed through Westchester on Friday, making speeches at private fundraising gatherings in New Rochelle and Purchase, will return here Saturday for a wedding in Pocantico Hills.

Obama's motorcade caused disruptions on the roads and at the county airport on the Friday of the long Labor Day weekend. But overall, the visit appeared to go relatively smoothly.

The closest rank-and-file Westchester residents got to the president's motorcade was along Route 1 in New Rochelle, where they lined the road to cheer him as he drove by, waving to his supporters.

Fernando and Eleanor Gulla, both managers at Larchmont Chrysler Jeep Dodge in New Rochelle, stood at the corner of Route 1 and Emerson Avenue, awaiting the presidential motorcade, near a banner that proclaimed, "Thank You, Mr. President."

Obama had helped craft the bail-out package that saved the ailing auto giant in 2009.

"He saved our jobs and our company," said Eleanor Gulla. "We have 20 employees, and we are quite thankful."

Occupational therapist Amy Jakob had stopped for gas at that same corner before visiting a patient on Emerson Avenue, near where Obama stopped for an hour-long roundtable with major donors to the Democratic National Committee. She didn't seem to mind that she had to wait until the motorcade had passed. She had her phone out to take a snapshot.

"I'm glad he gets as much police protection as he needs," said Jakob, who said she voted for Obama twice.

By 5:30 p.m. the president's motorcade had pulled up to Air Force One at the Westchester airport. He headed from there to his third fundraiser of the day, in Newport, Rhode Island.

Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont was the only local official on hand to welcome Obama when he landed just before 2 p.m. Belmont said he put in a plug for Harrison as a possible place for the Obamas to settle after they leave Washington in 2016.

"The president told me he had lots of friends here," said Belmont.

On Saturday, Obama will fly back to Westchester in the late afternoon to attend the evening wedding of his personal chef, Sam Kass, to MSNBC host Alex Wagner, at Stone Barns Center in Pocantico Hills.

Hosting the New Rochelle fundraiser on Emerson Avenue on Friday were George and Nitzia Logothetis at the home of Camilo and Lucia Patrignani. About 25 supporters contributed up to $32,400 apiece to the Democratic National Committee, the DNC said.

George Logothetis is chairman of the Libra Group, a diversified company involved in shipping, aviation, hotels and alternative energy while his wife founded an international nonprofit that seeks to address women's mental health issues. Camilo Patrignani is CEO of one of Libra's subsidiaries.

In Purchase, Obama attended a DNC Labor Day barbecue with about 250 supporters at the home of financier Robert Wolf and his wife, Carol, coordinator of special projects for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights. Tickets started at $15,000 per couple, the DNC said. Among the guests were U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, and state Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer, D-Yonkers.

At Wolf's backyard barbeque, guests dined on hamburgers, chicken and hot dogs grilled up by Great American BBQ Co. of White Plains. Obama told attendees there's one reason Congress is broken and it's because the Republican Party is captive to an ideologically rigid, unproductive and cynical group. Obama urged like-minded Democrats to vote in November's mid-term elections, saying that they need a Congress that will work with him.

Lowey said the president was upbeat about the country's economic revival.

"He talked about how the economy keeps getting stronger, and how the housing market was moving in the right direction," she said.

In addition to road closures, Obama's visit affected some flights in and out of the airport.

Two U.S. Air arrivals at Westchester County Airport were canceled because they would have touched down around the time Obama was landing, said airport manager Peter Scherrer.

Also, some airlines had asked passengers to go to Teterboro and Stewart airports rather than Westchester, Scherrer said.

Neal Brauweiler's plane, destined for Chicago, was supposed to take off at 5:16 p.m., but got bumped to 5:45 p.m. because of the president's schedule.

"I get it," he said, "I get why they shut the airport down for him. I didn't even know the president was here until I took my son up here to look out the window and said, 'Oh, that's Air Force One."

Mark Maffia, a driver with Limousine Service of Westchester, said the whole process was an annoyance. Maffia, of Mount Kisco, said he had a client who had been unable to exit the plane for some time.

"You do what you've got to do and you take it stride. There's nothing you can do about it," he said. "Look at all that equipment for one guy."

As the president made his fundraising swing, the Republican National Committee — noting this was Obama's 404th such trip — issued a statement criticizing his priorities.

"It speaks volumes that President Obama has a plan to try to save his senate majority but doesn't have one to confront one of our nation's biggest terrorist threats," RNC spokesman Michael Short said. "With the next election always the top priority, is it any wonder this administration is always a step behind, whether it's foreign policy or delivering tangible economic results for middle class Americans?"

Staff writer James O'Rourke and the Associated Press contributed to this report.