President Biden’s campaign fundraiser Thursday in Westchester County, home to Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, caused a traffic nightmare in the Hudson River town.
Westchester County officials closed a roughly two-mile stretch of Route 9 from Tarrytown to Irvington ahead of the 81-year-old president’s appearance at a high-ticket fundraiser.
No other road closures have been announced due to safety concerns.
On Thursday, the streets of Irvington were “full of new signs.” 1 X user reportedsharing images of barricades restricting roads to “local traffic” and “residents only.”
Irvington government offices, including city court and library, close at 1 p.m.
Five school district Children in the area were sent home early in anticipation of the traffic jams Biden’s visit would cause.
All after-school programs in the Irvington, Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Tarrytown and Hastings-on-Hudson school districts have been canceled as well.
“Thank you Joe Biden, Michael Douglas, and Debra Winger for stirring up traffic in Rivertown today,” one outraged New Yorker wrote. I wrote to X. “It’s clear that your celebrity fundraiser is more important than my kids being able to go to school all day or me drinking milk on Main Street.”
The president visited Syracuse ahead of the fundraiser to promote the $6 billion in subsidies awarded to semiconductor manufacturer Micron through the CHIPS Act.
After the event, he took Air Force One to John F. Kennedy Airport, then took a helicopter to Westchester County Airport, and then during rush hour the motorcade arrived at Douglas and Zeta-Jones’ $4.5 million mansion in Irvington. I headed to
The fundraiser was held in the backyard of the A-listers’ riverside home, and about 100 people sat under a tent to listen to speeches from Mr. Douglas and Mr. Biden, according to Poole’s report.
Mr Douglas said he was unable to attend the fundraiser because his wife was filming a new television series in Dublin, Ireland.
“Number 46 has to become No. 47,” the “Wall Street” actor said, calling Biden an “extraordinary veteran.”
Biden joked that he and the Academy Award-winning actor had something in common.
“We both got married way up above the station,” he said.
Biden told the audience that he hadn’t watched former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush money trial because he was busy “campaigning,” before saying that he was not watching former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush money trial, which frequently unfolds at the expense of his 2024 opponent. I cracked a joke.
“Just the other day, a guy who was about to lose came up to me and said, “Mr. I had to say, ‘Donald, I’m sorry I couldn’t help you,'” Biden said jokingly.
The president accused the 77-year-old president of “lying about the coronavirus and telling Americans to inject bleach into their arms.”
“He injected it in his hair,” Biden said.
Fashion designer Eileen Fisher. attorney Lodge Cohen and his wife Barbara; businessman and venture capitalist Robert Goodman and his wife Jane Lipman; hedge fund manager John Shapiro and his wife Shoni Shiverberg; Jonathan and Judy Siegel were all listed as reception hosts, along with Douglas and Zeta-Jones.
Tickets for the event ranged from $3,300 per person to $100,000 for organizers.
It’s unclear how much money the Biden campaign raised from the event.
The newspaper has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.
