Metro

Obama’s city visit, Rockefeller tree tourists create traffic ‘nightmare’

Is he gone yet?

President Obama’s fund-raising foray into Manhattan today created enough gridlock to make Congress envious — at almost the exact moment that thousands of tourists jammed into Rockefeller Center to watch the Christmas tree-lighting.

“This really sucks, it’s aggravating,” griped Rob Vam, 49, who got jammed while trying to cross from Fifth to Sixth Avenue. “Keep the President out of the city.”

Obama’s ill-timed trip turned Midtown into a parking lot for hours, and ticked off New Yorkers simply looking to get around as the President glad-handed fat cats from the Upper East Side to the East Village to the Sheraton New York.

At the same moments, pokey tourists were clogging the barricade-lined streets near Rockefeller Center — just a few blocks from Obama’s final stop — to watch as a 75-year-old Norway spruce was illuminated a little before 9 p.m.

GALLERY: ROCKEFELLER TREE LIGHTING

“Every time Obama comes to New York, it’s a nightmare,” said Tom Hall, 52, who was trying to get home to the Upper West Side from Midtown. “It probably wasn’t a good idea to have both of these events the same night.”

Obama touched down at JFK at 5:14 p.m., zooming into Manhattan for a three-stop fund-raising blitz that wreaked havoc on Midtown streets and bus routes while aggravating commuters.

“I’m totally screwed getting home,” fumed Celeste Gold, 30, a who was struggling to walk home to Hells Kitchen. “I’ll be directed the whole way by police.”

At Gotham Bar and Grill on East 12th St., fans of the President paid more than $35,000 for an exclusive sitdown. On the Upper East Side, the price was $10,000 a head.

Elsewhere, the price was a lot of time and aggravation.

“I can’t even get to my sister’s around the corner,” said Saranda Savanovic, 23, of Midwood, who was corralled in Midtown. “There’s a slot of commotion.”

Steven Mastorelli’s efforts to get to the Port Authority for a bus ride back to New Jersey resulted in a walk that turned out to be three times as long.

“Usually this takes me 15 minutes, but it’s already taken me 45 minutes to walk seven blocks,” said Steven Mastorelli, 20, who was walking to the Port Authority for a bus ride back to Jersey. “Everybody is just trying to get home.”

Courier Sam Miranda was forced to walk six blocks to W. 48th St, and Sixth Avenue to make a delivery by hand after a massive traffic knot forced him to park his car in a garage.

“I should have been done two hours ago,” he said. “I’m pretty pissed off.”

The good news for New Yorkers?

Obama heads out of town tonight. But the Christmas tree isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, setting up more holiday gridlock hell.

“Tourists who stand in the middle of the sidewalk are a pain in the ass,” fumed Brant Kellon, 28, of Harlem. “The tourists who don’t know where they’re going or when to cross the street drive me crazy.”