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Obama's White House to Main Street Tour Big Day in Buffalo, NY

by Rhonda J Mangus | May 13, 2010 at 03:08 am

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President Obama's White House to Main Street Tour in Buffalo, NY Today

President Obama is scheduled to arrive at 12:25 p.m. today at Greater Buffalo International Airport. Buffalo News reports, The only people who will be able to see Air Force One when it lands will be ticketed passengers who have a view of the airport runways, said Lawrence M. Meckler, executive director of the NFTA, which runs the airport.

While no public events are scheduled during this three-hour visit, rallies and protests will be held at the corner of William and New Babcock streets.

Groups Supporting The President

Several pro-Obama supporters, including St. John Baptist Church who is calling attention to the Buffalo church's urban-development projects, will be on hand at today's rally.

A crowd of more than 1,000 is expected to gather at William and New Babcock streets for a rally in support of the president, and that's just one of many gatherings and protests Obama may see from a distance on his first trip to Buffalo as president.

Protest Groups Part Of Any Presidential Visit

According to the Buffalo News, members of the Tea Party Movement, Seneca Nations, and anti-abortion groups are expected to be present to protest President Obama's policies on government bailouts and health care reform, new laws banning shipment of Seneca tax-free tobacco products by mail, and Obama's pro-choice views, respectively.

Buffalo firefighters and police will also attend the rally to protest their lack of pay raises.

"We're not protesting the president," said Lt. Robert P. Meegan Jr., president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association. "We just want to make him aware of the situation here in Buffalo."

In addition to touring Industrial Support Inc., President Obama will meet briefly with Families of Continental Flight 3407, which crashed in Clarence, NY in February 2009. All 50 passengers on board died in the crash.

Details of the meeting have not been released. In fact, Susan Bourque, who lost her sister Beverly Eckert in the crash, does not know where it will be held. She is looking to send a message to President Obama, "We have been working toward increasing aviation safety and the vehicle we've been using is the FAA reauthorization bill." The families are seeking more stringent safety measures in the final version of the bill. "There's not a whole lot we can do right now, but we hope we can present our case to the president, and we hope he would understand our case and commit to helping as much as possible," says Bourque.

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Amy Judd

at 07:16 on May 13th, 2010

Good coverage about his visit and other events going on as well.

Amy Judd

at 15:15 on May 13th, 2010

I have to say I found coverage of Obama's visit to Boston today quite limited, lots on him visiting the NYPD headquarters, but not much about earlier in the day. Did anyone else find any good coverage about his visit?

Rhonda J Mangus

at 00:11 on May 14th, 2010

Hi, Amy! Sorry for the delay:) I added some video on Obama's visit here in Buffalo today -- the local news stations (2, 4, 7) covered the visit. It really went quite well -- other than the fact that major portions of the thruway were blocked off -- delaying emergency personnel, in point, access to hospitals.