After getting a bit of negative press for the $30,000 a plate Red Rooster fundraiser last year, President Obama will now return to Harlem at a venue more accessible to the masses. The Daily News reports that the President will be hosting an event at the Apollo theater which will feature performances by Al Green and India Arie next Thursday. Tickets beginning at $100 to start, $200 for the balcony seats and $5,000 for a V.I.P. spot have been offered to the public. All of the $100 tickets have sold out and organizers expect the balance to sell out soon. This will also be the first time a sitting president has visited the Apollo Theater. More in the Daily News:
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Nice to see that he at least threw a symbolic bone to the middle class with the, albeit limited, $100 tickets. The concept of his Red Rooster fundraiser was kind of bizarre considering that it was so expensive that it was only attended by the ultra-wealthy and insider political players. Other than Charlie Rangel there were no actual Harlem residents in attendance, 'cause the ultra-wealthy/political players live in ultra-wealthy neighborhoods, not Harlem. And then of course some of the media reports that followed linked the fundraiser to the fact that Harlem is gentrifying, which kind of missed the mark considering that 99.9% of the attendees got back in their black cars and headed downtown or out to the 'burbs after the dinner was over. Maybe with this $100 price point you'll at least get some regular ol' Upper West Side liberals heading back to the train home after.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the first comment in the Daily News article to an extent-- the way they totally shut down the blocks surrounding wherever the president goes in NYC is extremely inconvenient. If you live, work, or are trying to do errands anywhere near the president, don't count on being able to get anything done while he's there. When he was at Red Rooster I had to go hang out at a friend's house 'cause NYPD wouldn't let me into my own apartment! Terrible.
I probably would have stretched for the $100 tickets if they hadn't sold out already :( $200 is a little further than I can stretch, though...
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