WASHINGTON — President Obama may be having second thoughts about returning to the Second City.
Contemplating his post-retirement options, Obama is telling friends he would like to follow Arkansas-born Bill Clinton’s example and move to New York.
He’s considering the move despite a longtime love of Chicago, home to his beloved White Sox and the most likely location for his future presidential library.
Chicago is also a major component of Obama’s political brand: On the campaign trail, he cited his formative years as a community organizer there much more frequently than his time in New York as a Columbia University student in the 1980s.
Politico reported Obama’s Big Apple dreams in a story about his second term.
“There’s plenty of room here for people who have enough money and want to hang out with the media, cultural, and political captains of the world,” said New York political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who added that the idea made “great sense.”
Obama’s next-step life planning comes as he has been airing frustrations with aspects of the presidency that limit his lifestyle and freedom of movement.
He said in an interview last week on Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan’s TV show that he yearns to take a solo stroll and perhaps people-watch at a cafe.
“The thing you miss most about being president is anonymity,” Obama told the “Live with Kelly and Michael” TV hosts.
He’s been a frequent visitor as president to New York’s vaunted fundraising cash machine.
In April, the president brought along First Lady Michelle Obama and stayed overnight.
The couple also took in “A Raisin in the Sun” on Broadway.
Obama still has a big house in Chicago that he visits occasionally, plus friendships and connections in Hawaii, where he grew up.
If Hillary Rodham Clinton were to seek and win the presidency, it could result in three current or former presidents with New York-area addresses.