It’s on us, Mr. President.
President Obama’s frequent trips to New York City — for everything from official appearances to champagne-soaked fund-raisers — have already cost New Yorkers well in excess of $2 million in additional security at Kennedy Airport, The Post has learned.
Michelle Obama’s trips to the Big Apple have cost hundreds of thousands more.
And those bucks come right out of the treasury of the financially strapped Port Authority, which doesn’t get reimbursed one penny for the honor of hosting the Obamas.
“Look, this is nonpartisan. This is what happens when you have a sitting president running for re-election,” a PA source said. “This is part of what we do.”
Officially, the agency that runs the region’s airports declined to discuss the costs of the visits, citing a strict rule of not commenting on presidential security.
The costs have skyrocketed in recent months because the heated re-election campaign has brought Obama to town for a wide range of events, including last week’s appearance at the United Nations and a trip earlier in September for a series of A-list Manhattan fund-raisers.
With relaxed campaign-finance regulations this year, the costs of the current race has reached the stratosphere and sent both Obama and Republican Mitt Romney into a fund-raising frenzy.
That, in turn, has sent the Obamas to the Big Apple because the city is home to so many deep-pocketed Democratic Party faithful.
PA breakdowns show each presidential trip costs the agency roughly $100,000. The first lady’s visits run about $75,000 apiece.
Those figures, of course, don’t include additional overtime expenses borne by the NYPD or those unfortunate enough to get caught up in the presidential gridlock that comes to town with the Obamas.
The costs include everything from securing Air Force One on a secluded stretch of airport tarmac to handling the press that typically attends presidential arrivals and departures.