On Saturday night, some relatives flew into JFK from California. I met them in NYC for a night out on Broadway, which is one of my favorite activities in the city. Their flight was scheduled to land at 5 p.m., but was delayed a half hour and forced to circle because of a VIP on the ground.

Luckily, they made it from JFK without traffic, and we made it to the theater with five minutes to spare. After the show, we expected to see Broadway crowded. We were also curious to glimpse the city’s new arrangement — Broadway is closed off to traffic between 42nd and 47th streets; it is for pedestrians only.

Instead, we were quite surprised to see an enormous number of police on 44th street, blockaded off by two cement trucks. I became nervous at first, as I thought something violent had happened. I ushered my relatives through the crowds, only to hear that President Obama and Michelle were in town, attending theater. My first reaction was, “That’s nice; good for them.” Then I wondered what event had brought President Obama to New York. I hadn’t heard about any official meetings.

I later learned that it was date night for the Obamas; a fulfillment of President Obama’s campaign promise that he would take his wife to Broadway once the election was over. Now, I, personally, would love to meet a man who keeps his promises. I imagine it is equally as hard to find those men in Washington as it is in New York. However, I can’t say I’m pleased with my tax dollars going to the President’s security detail for his date night. Not to mention, we can’t forget the accommodations they made to get to NYC in private aircraft.

Why again was it such a problem for CEOs to fly private jets when they were actually conducting business and helping the economy? Mr. Obama couldn’t be bothered to take Amtrak to NY, or, at the very least, combine his leisure plans with an official visit to NYC? That is, after all, common practice for most other business travelers when they are on the road. I doubt I, or the general public, will ever get answers to such questions. At least the show we saw, Blithe Spirit, was worth the extra commotion!

I would also like to extend my thoughts and prayers to the friends and family of those who have disappeared on Air France Flight 447.

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 9:23 am and is filed under Broadway, New York, Opera/Ballet/Musicals, Operas/Ballets/Plays, Tourism/Sightseeing, Entertainment, Transportation, Cities, Alex's Blog, Airports, Opinion, Security, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.