President Joe Biden arrives in New York City

September 18, 2023 Mary Frost

An osprey lands in Downtown Manhattan. Photo by Mary Frost

Reader Response

Thank you for sharing the short video of the U.S. President’s arrival at the downtown heliport.

Longtime residents of the Heights, we have watched U.S. presidents come and go, as we have a clear view from Columbia Heights, overlooking lower Manhattan and New York Harbor.

A few notes from our memories…

Flashing light show on the FDR

On one evening departure many years ago we noticed that brigades of

NYPD vehicles speeding down the FDR to the heliport, where three helicopters waited; another wave of police cars came, still no president; then on the third wave of vehicles we saw police boats speeding along with the cars on the FDR; arriving at the heliport, a number of men, maybe a dozen, all wearing the same style overcoat, lept from their cars and ran to the helicopters.

It would have been impossible to pick out the president. Then, all three helicopters took off in different directions.

President Clinton’s Camel Hair Coat

Once on the daylight arrival of President Bill Clinton, known for his camelhair

overcoat, there appeared three different helicopters, as a dozen black SUVs awaited on the landing pad. Out of the helicopters poured what seemed to be a couple of dozen men in camelhair overcoats, each about 6 ft-plus in height.

They all ran to the waiting SUVs, which were escorted by three squads of

NYPD vehicles onto the FDR for a trip uptown. Police boats waiting as river watchdogs, accompanied the entourage along the FDR uptown.

We had to marvel at the ceremony and wonder: how much gasoline and manpower did THAT take? If people could keep secrets, we could have just placed the president in a private rail car, taking a normal train from DC to NYC Grand Central.

– Two longtime residents of Columbia Heights