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People lined the streets of Harlem hoping for a glimpse of President Obama on the way to a fundraiser at the Red Rooster in Harlem.
They could barely see President Obama through his limo's bulletproof glass, but people lining the streets Tuesday cheered his historic visit to Harlem.
Straining her neck in hopes of getting just a glimpse, Chalise Bostic joined hundreds packing Lenox Ave. to welcome the first black President to the cultural heart of black America.
"<span style="font-weight: bold">To breathe the same air as him, it's perfect</span>," :/said Bostic, 21, a student at LaGuardia Community College.
Obama's motorcade drove west on 125th St. as throngs of people, some dressed in T-shirts bearing the President's face, packed the sidewalks and applauded, waved - and even cried.
"It's a historic day - our first African-American President in Harlem," crowed Columbia University grad student Lissan Hardware, 26. "It gets no bigger than this."
Supporters - and some protesters - were kept behind metal barricades far from Obama as he arrived at the Red Rooster on Lenox Ave., celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson's new comfort-food restaurant.
Some left grumbling that they couldn't get close enough to even see Obama arrive.
"I was hoping I might at least see him wave," said Aris Brown, 46, of Harlem, who brought along her 9-year-old son, Najeh Mahama.
Following the high-dollar fund-raising dinner, Obama attended a reception with about 250 supporters at the nearby Studio Museum of Harlem on W.125th St.
As Obama hobnobbed with the well-heeled inside, most of those outside just felt honored to be so close to the President, who last came to Harlem in 2008 on a campaign swing.
"<span style="font-weight: bold">If I had it, I would pay for the dinner, too," said Harlem resident Robert Brown, 56. "I'm so proud he came to the ghetto to represent us."</span>
Garbage trucks lining the streets blocked the best vantage points to see Obama, and the President probably didn't see protesters toting signs reading, "Where's the Doggone Birth Certificate?"But overall the crowd was clearly pro-Obama.
"I'm proud of him, not because he's black, but because of the things he has done for everyone," said retired Harlem nurse Leona Brown, 58.
"Being here is important," Brown added. "I can tell my grandchildren and maybe great-grandchildren I was here when the President was at the Red Rooster."
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011...dent_obama.html