With President Biden set to visit Staten Island, residents brace for traffic mess – and a motorcade

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be spending a portion of their Thanksgiving week breaking bread on Staten Island.

That means road closures, detours, and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a motorcade ride through Father Capodanno Boulevard, which is set to be closed for several hours Monday evening as the president and his wife visit the borough.

The Bidens will be in Fort Wadsworth for a Friendsgiving dinner with service members and their families at the U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York at the base.

In preparation of their arrival, the Staten Island Advance/SILive spoke with residents along the long East Shore road regarding their thoughts on the stopover and whether the closing will be a significant inconvenience.

“It’s very interesting; I never thought I’d see a presidential motorcade driving past my house,” said Donna Curatola. “Whatever your views, it’s still the president and not something you see every day.”

Curatola confirmed that temporary closings along the street are commonplace due to various events that are held throughout the year. And although she would have liked some more notice of the closing, added that it’s something that “comes with the territory.”

Regarding that territory: “Please be advised that we have been informed that Father Capodanno Boulevard will be closed on Monday, Nov. 25, from 4 p.m. to approximately 8 p.m.,” Borough President Vito Fossella said Saturday in a statement. “We have also been notified by [the city Parks Department] that the Park N Rides along Father Capodanno Boulevard will also be closed starting Sunday evening and should reopen Tuesday morning.”

Other residents expressed less enthusiasm over the Bidens’ visit, with one woman saying she expected several hours to be added to her evening bus ride home from Manhattan. While a neighbor explained that she was a little worried that the street closing would affect a planned drive to the airport.

Hundreds of metal NYPD barricades could be seen lining both sides of Capodanno Boulevard, with signs posted on utility poles instructing residents that there was no parking in many areas on Sunday and Monday. It’s unknown how buses may be rerouted Monday during the closure.

Pleased that Biden would be meeting with members of the military, resident Dennis Holm said he didn’t believe he was going to be too inconvenienced as he only had plans to head out for some last-minute Thanksgiving shopping earlier in the day.

“For [President Biden’s] safety, I can take some inconvenience,” another resident pointed out.

The last time a sitting president visited Staten Island was in 2012, when then-President Barack Obama visited New Dorp to speak with residents and survey the damage after Hurricane Sandy.

In 2016, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton visited Staten Island on the same day for separate events during their presidential campaigns. More than 1,000 people turned out to hear Trump speak at the Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day Brunch at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield. While Clinton, held a get-out-the-vote event attended by more than 500 people at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, Livingston.

The Advance/SILive.com reached out to the both the NYPD and U.S. Coast Guard Sector New York for additional details regarding the event, but did not receive a response by press time.