In a solemn moment at 1 World Trade on Thursday, President Obama placed his hand on the First Lady’s back as they stared silently out a window, pondering the National September 11 Memorial 22 floors below.
“It’s beautiful,” the President said of the two massive fountains that now cover the footprints of the twin towers.
Later, Obama took in the memorial from ground level, and was clearly moved. “You don’t expect how powerful it is until you go down there and hear the sound of it,” he said.
Joined by Gov. Cuomo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Mayor Bloomberg, the President and First Lady signed one of the final steel beams that will be added to the tower, which will rise to a symbolic 1,776 feet once completed. In truly presidential fashion, Obama included an inspiring inscription that spoke to the nation as a whole.
“We remember. We rebuild. We come back stronger!” Obama wrote in red marker, finishing with his signature.
A view of President Barack Obama’s signature after a ceremony where he signed a steel beam that will be used to top off the One World Trade Center tower after touring the 22nd floor of One World Trade Center in New York, New York, USA, 14 June 2012. Obama is also attending a number of fundraisers while in New York today.
” title=”
A view of President Barack Obama’s signature after a ceremony where he signed a steel beam that will be used to top off the One World Trade Center tower after touring the 22nd floor of One World Trade Center in New York, New York, USA, 14 June 2012. Obama is also attending a number of fundraisers while in New York today.
” data-src=”/wp-content/uploads/migration/2012/06/15/GRLEPK3VYDGDI3HCWTQGIT6PPA.jpg”>
A view of President Barack Obama’s signature after a ceremony where he signed a steel beam that will be used to top off the One World Trade Center tower after touring the 22nd floor of One World Trade Center in New York, New York, USA, 14 June 2012. Obama is also attending a number of fundraisers while in New York today.
More than two dozen hardhats cheered Obama as he initially approached the beam. He shook hands with a lucky half-dozen, slapping some on the shoulder with his left hand as if they were old friends.
Before the John-Hancock-ing began, Obama joked to his fellow signers: “Don’t mess it up, everybody!”
Obama admired Cuomo’s penmanship, telling the governor: “That’s a nice signature!”
The beam, 28 feet long and weighing 61/2 tons, was painted white, with the name of the tower written on it in blue. It is destined to form part of the top floor, and will be lowered into place during a upcoming ceremony to mark the completion of the tower’s steel framework.
His message of American resiliency added to the beam, Obama turned to the assembled workers and commended the more than 60 trade unions laboring to make the tower the Western Hemisphere’s tallest skyscraper.
“I couldn’t be prouder of you guys building this unbelievable structure — this is what the American spirit is all about,” he said.
The President was greeted heartily by other construction workers as he left the site. One, a woman, wore a T-shirt that included a likeness of Obama’s face. He and the woman laughed together.
In the whirlwind fashion typical of a president in the heat of a reelection fight, Obama, who had delivered an economic speech in Ohio earlier in the day, quickly changed gears after honoring the hardhats. He moved on to a routine that he now knows quite well — mingling with the rich, famous and fabulous to raise campaign dollars. On Thursday, Obama’s fund-raising itinerary could have been titled “Cash-grabbing and the City.”
From Ground Zero, the President’s motorcade zipped up to the West Village pad of “Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker for a $40,000-a-head event.
The fund-raiser at the actress’ Charles St. brownstone was dubbed “A New York Night” and co-hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who — naturally — supervised the decoration of the townhouse earlier this week.
Trombone Shorty, a jazz/funk musician from New Orleans, provided entertainment for the 50 guests, a well-heeled group that included Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, legendary singer Aretha Franklin and fashion designer Michael Kors.
The second fund-raising stop was a gala at The Plaza hotel, where some 250 supporters contributed $10,000 each for a chance to hobnob with the 44th President. Mariah Carey performed, and Alicia Keys and Newark Mayor Cory Booker spoke.
The tag team of fund-raisers was expected to pull in $4.5 million for Obama’s campaign, which is facing a Republican fund-raising operation that is continuing to gain momentum.
In May, for the first time, Mitt Romney and the Super PAC-backed GOP took in a monthly haul topping that of Obama and the Dems — $76.8 million to $60 million.
No longer fettered by primary contenders, Romney, together with the Republican National Committee, erased a fund-raising deficit of nearly 10-to-1 that Obama had enjoyed as of late March.
Earlier this week, billionaire Sheldon Adelson gave $10 million to a pro-Romney outfit.
Feeling that pressure, Obama has continued to go to the New York campaign “ATM” — Thursday’s events were his 27th and 28th cash grabs in the city. He has fund-raised more in only two other locales: Washington D.C. and California, where he has stopped to fill up the war chest 36 and 29 times, respectively.
With Linda Kinstler, Joanna Fantozzi and Brenna Walton
