OMG, someone who's not suffering from Potomac Fever. Oh, the humanity!

Think of the cost to the city in terms of the snarl right near a major, major intersection -- 5th Ave and 57th Street -- and the cost of keeping a security detail on the First Family in two places.

This is a huge imposition on New Yorkers and anyone who visits the city for business, especially, but for any reason.

The First Lady already gets her own security detail anyway, so this is not a cost above and beyond what the security would ordinarily cost.

As for the location, I'm sure Trump Tower is a pretty secure place already, given its eponymous resident.

And I'm not really going to lose any sleep over an imposition to New Yorkers. Just sayin'.

If anything, Melania's decision to stay in one place is going to cost less than Michelle Obama or Hillary Clinton's vagabond ways did.

No matter where any president or his family happen to live/vacation, or where he or his family happen to travel, or where his children are enrolled in school, there are always transportation/ security/ and traffic jam problems.

This seems a trivial issue to raise.

Funny how this was never an issue when Obama shut down large portions of L.A., or a good chunk of Oahu, or Martha's Vineyard.....

I think it is great that she is putting the best interests of her son first.

The couldn't move into thr White House until the inaguration anyway and there is no more hassle or security issues taking Barron from Trump Tower to his school, than it woild be taking him from the White House to somewhere like Sidwell Friends (or some other DC school)

I remember when the Carters put Amy into some ghetto public school close to the White House as a publicity stunt to demonstrate their support for the teacher's unions. What a nightmare, for both Amy and the Secret Service.

Private schools are generally have good security, which takes a lot of the burden off the Secret Service. Public ones do not.

... or Bill shut down LAX for two hours to get a haircut.

But, that would be raising a "two wrongs" fallacy. If Melania Trump costs people more by dint of being FLOTUS-at-home, as opposed to living at the White House, then there should be an evaluation based on more than speculation.

I doubt that this was a hasty decision, and I bet the Mayor's office had something to say.

I wonder what home-schooling for Barron, at the White House, would cost? How many courses, how many business contacts, how many schoolmates and teachers?
I wonder what Federal intrusion on Trump business and social life will do to his and her business. That seems more likely a reason. It was a plausible reason for Hillary keeping her own email server, supposedly to keep the Feds from finding out what was going on.

I wonder what Federal intrusion on Trump business and social life will do to his and her business.

Heaven forfend a president's business interests be subject to any kind of federal "intrusion."

Private schools are generally have good security, which takes a lot of the burden off the Secret Service. Public ones do not.

Are you actually suggesting that the Secret Service will have to do less because a First Kid is in a public school?

This is hilarious. I'm imagining the umbrage if Michelle Obama or Laura Bush declared they wouldn't be moving into the White House: "NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU?"

^^^

(I meant "will have to do less because a First Kid is in a PRIVATE school?")

My heart breaks for the tender hearts of Manhattan, the island in New York. All those people ever wanted was a little peace and quiet.

They're at risk for a "snarl."

"Are you actually suggesting that the Secret Service will have to do less because a First Kid is in a public school?"

Your reading comprehension is poor.

What I am suggesting is that the Secret Service will keep right on doing whatever the drill has been getting Barron to school in New York City, as I am sure they have been doing since August,

Or did you poltical idiots think Secret Service protection for Presidents and their families starts on inaguration day, and ends the day they leave the office?

It will be considerably more hassle to switch mid school year in late January, than to finish out the year the way they have been, and then reevaluate.

I wonder if Sidwell Friends would accept a Trump supporter.

(I meant "will have to do less because a First Kid is in a PRIVATE school?")

Kevin at November 20, 2016 10:55 AM

Yes, I do, and if you knew anything at all about security, you would understand why as well.

Yes Kevin, there are private schools that do reduce the burden on the secret service. Not all of them do but there are a number that do.

I fail to see how this will really impact New York much. But like Conan I don't really care either way.

More significantly, this is what we are going to get from the press for the next 4-8 years? Oh no, the president ate without press oversight. Oh no, the first lady isn't in the White House tonight. What is next? Oh no, the press can't monitor the presidential bowel movement. They demand a camera!

I wonder if Sidwell Friends would accept a Trump supporter.

Pretty sure Sidwell Friends is more focused on the money than the party registration; Tricia Nixon is a graduate. The Nixon family were/are Quakers and Sidwell is a Quaker school.

I do remember an editorial cartoon, likely in 1992, with Bill Clinton standing by Chelsea and saying to the press: "We've decided not to send Chelsea to a public school because her Secret Service Agents didn't want to be outgunned."

More significantly, this is what we are going to get from the press for the next 4-8 years? Oh no, the president ate without press oversight. Oh no, the first lady isn't in the White House tonight. What is next? Oh no, the press can't monitor the presidential bowel movement. They demand a camera!

Ben at November 20, 2016 11:21 AM

Expect to see non stop carpet bombing coverage of this kind of trivial crap, as many of us predicted before the election.

Journolist needs something to write about, that they can wrap their tiny pinhead journalist brains around,

and Amy was an early drinker of the Trump hysteria koolaid.

New Yorkers Angry About Something

Now there's a shocker of a headline.

Expect to see non stop carpet bombing coverage of this kind of trivial crap, as many of us predicted before the election.
______________________________________

I doubt it. Given how much the media love to use scare tactics to get attention, there will likely be plenty of more serious issues to scare the public with - and write about. Especially with a president who has had so little relevant experience.

"I doubt it. Given how much the media love to use scare tactics to get attention"

Have you been reading the news lately? At least online it's been a non-stop fear barrage of stories about frightened Muslims, frightened Mexicans, frightened transgenders, frightened gays, frightened lesbians, frightened Democrats, frightened students.

Well, that and breathless reports that less than two weeks after the election and more than two months before the inauguration Trump's cabinet plans are in total meltdown.

All the hysteria, all the time. And after doing it for a year and ending up with Trump in the White House, does the media step back and change tactics? Nope. They double down.

In any case, here's hoping the Trump family creates the same sort of disruption to Manhattan traffic that the rioting SJWs created around the country.

Especially with a president who has had so little relevant experience.

We're currently finishing 8 years of a president with practically no relevant experience, and the media loved him.

We're currently finishing 8 years of a president with practically no relevant experience, and the media loved him.

Exactly. I keep hearing this "no experience," bit repeated but it was totally ok when it was Obama. At least Trump has some real world experience under his belt and hasn't lived his entire life in the insulated world of politics. Granted his has been an insulated world of money but he does know what businesses deal with and has had to make payrolls, do taxes, the books, etc.

Funny how this was never an issue when Obama shut down large portions of L.A.,

Says someone who doesn't live here. It's terrible. But it doesn't happen so often.

I also lived in New York For many years.

This is a very bad thing for New York. Ambinder in WaPo:

"Whenever a president moves, everything nearby freezes."

"A single presidential visit costs the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the city’s airports, $100,000 to pull off. With repeated, regular trips, price tags, delays and frustrations will scale up, quickly."

"Thanks to the barricades and blockages around Trump Tower, local businesses are already reeling from a mini-Trump recession. Henri Bendel, across the street from Trump Tower, shut its doors mid-afternoon at least twice this past week; there was not enough foot traffic to justify keeping the store open."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/18/how-donald-trump-will-retrofit-midtown-manhattan-as-a-presidential-getaway/?utm_campaign=buffer&utm_content=bufferd3610&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=.94830a772ada&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

"Whenever a president moves, everything nearby freeze"

You missed the point. This isnt *the President moving* This is his kid going to school. The very same school that his own security guards and the Secret Service have been taking him to since August.

The president goes places officially in a multi car motorcade. The kid goes in a bullet proof limo. The exact same way the Obama kids get to Sidwell Friends without snarling DC traffic for blocks.

Have you been reading the news lately?
__________________________________________

Well, I'd say the things you listed are more serious than where Melania and son will live. IF those particular fears die down (and if he actually lives up to his bad campaign behavior, they may not), again, there will still be other serious fears to write about. Like the threat of war, nuclear or not.

Like the threat of war, nuclear or not.

lenona at November 20, 2016 1:48 PM

If there is a nuclear war, It won't be started by Trump. It will be started by any one of a number of Thugocracies that Omama supported and enabled for the last eight years.

"Heaven forfend a president's business interests be subject to any kind of federal "intrusion.""

Okay. I'll send Federal agents, with cameras, guns and the latest electronic surveillance measures to your house, where they will see everything you do - and make it part of the Federal record.

Oh, you don't do anything they'd be interested in? I thought so.

If you did, everything you did from that point on would be an integral part of Federal records, and subject to their being released as political interests desire for the rest of your life.

You, personally, have the 3rd Amendment to keep Feds from taking up residence in your home, however quickly you are giving yourself away through public media, but a White House resident cannot expect privacy, ever, not a millisecond, for their time in office.

It's terrible. But it doesn't happen so often.

Precisely. It's a traffic nightmare, but it's not an everyday occurrence except for Washington D.C.

I'll send Federal agents, with cameras, guns and the latest electronic surveillance measures to your house, where they will see everything you do - and make it part of the Federal record.

I'm not the president, nor the president-elect. Scrutiny -- public, private, federal, all of it -- is part of the job.

Barron is the same age as one of the Obama kids was when the Obamas were elected. Any parent of a school-aged child is concerned about a move mid-term.

" As Michelle Obama realized over the summer and fall of 2008 that she was likely to become first lady, she asked a question that probably would have surprised outsiders: could she and her children delay moving to the White House? Perhaps it was better, she told aides and friends, to remain in Chicago until the end of the school year, giving her children more time to adjust, rather than coming right at the inauguration."

She ultimately decided to move right away. Let's see what Melania decides to do.

Yes, there will be a need for more security; but, let's face reality here - Most of the security around Trump Tower recently put in place would NOT be needed if it weren't for the crybabies on the left.

Boo-hoo, they lost and now want to destroy other's properties, other's way of life, other's livelihood, etc.

How about whenever a leftwing celebrity needs security as well? Do folks piss and moan over that added cost to the taxpayer?

Interestingly, leftwing protests take over the streets and no one complains about the extra cost there. But, if a right-of-center group want to show support for the US, they are denied "permits" because, they are told, security would be an issue.

One event which, in my opinion would have been grand, was to be returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq marching down the Canyon of Heroes was cancelled for just that reason - security wouldn't work. Yet, Ball teams do that parade down the Canyon of Heroes all the time!

Or when Obama and the first lady would travel to NY for fundraising, or just to "take in a show"? Did the left piss and moan about how that was a pain? Hillary's (and Trump's) decisions to hold their election night stays in New York were also a traffic nightmare. Funny, about that; Hillary used the Javit's Center which is funded partly by tax dollars. Any complaints about that? Trump wanted to hold his in his own building; but, was told it wasn't public enough. So, his campaign paid for a hotel - not funded by tax dollars.

Sorry, I am not buying this latest "look at those nasty Trumps" news story.

I gave up buying newspapers because of their bias. Based upon the stories coming out on TV news and even those stories on the web I have a feeling that I am going to be gaining a whole lot of free time as I give up on reading anything ever again from the MSM.

So, let me thank you in advance, Amy, for reporting on these stories as you and a couple of other bloggers might just become my only source for MSM news. I just cannot stomach their bias any longer.

Yes, there will be a need for more security; but, let's face reality here - Most of the security around Trump Tower recently put in place would NOT be needed if it weren't for the crybabies on the left.

It has little to do with "crybabies on the left" and everything to do with securing air space, fortifying windows, providing secure telephone and internet connections, a state-of-the-art power supply, precautions against chemical attack, and TSA-level or higher security for everyone working, living or shopping at the building.

How about whenever a leftwing celebrity needs security as well? Do folks piss and moan over that added cost to the taxpayer?

You seem very concerned with a left/right political bent here. Protests go on outside the White House every day regardless of the political bent of the current resident, and accommodations are made for those.

Aside from the fact that a "leftwing celebrity" is not the President of the United States, I can assure you the same security issues would apply should, say, Barack and Michelle Obama have decided it was more to their liking to live and work, even part-time, in a high rise on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. There's a reason that presidential retreats are in rural and more easily secured areas.

"I'm not the president, nor the president-elect. Scrutiny -- public, private, federal, all of it -- is part of the job."

"Screw him, and his friends." -- there, fixed that for ya.

All of your friends would welcome that scrutiny, huh?

Glad to know you're in the "if you have nothing to fear..." crowd, willing to be searched "just in case". This attitude is the whole reason for the 3rd Amendment: most of the public can understand that having troops quartered in your home is a display of force to halt notions not favored by the State, but few realize that electronic surveillance is the modern counterpart of occupying your home.

Meanwhile, let us all note that travel, not residency, costs more for security, that the price has beein steadily increasing over the years due to coddling crackpots who think they should be able to alter the outcome of elections - and that it will have to cost the country more than $2 million a year to beat Michelle Obama's expenses, just for staff payroll.

"Funny how this was never an issue when Obama shut down large portions of L.A., or a good chunk of Oahu, or Martha's Vineyard....."

Really? I don't remember Obama living in L.A., Oahu or Martha's Vineyard for months at a time.

Especially on Oahu, when the president went to the North Shore, you basically couldn't get around on the North Shore of Oahu. There are a couple of ways around the North Shore, but only a few main roads, so most of the locals (friends of my aunt and cousin) were reporting they had to go way inland, then come back out on side roads in order to get around the North Shore. And some of these people are residents of the area (and one, at least, is a librarian, not some rich muckity muck that I could care less about inconveniencing).

Glad to know you're in the "if you have nothing to fear..." crowd, willing to be searched "just in case". This attitude is the whole reason for the 3rd Amendment: most of the public can understand that having troops quartered in your home is a display of force to halt notions not favored by the State, but few realize that electronic surveillance is the modern counterpart of occupying your home.

I'm not willing to be searched "just in case." Nor am I willing to quarter troops in my home. And I don't want electronic surveillance of my house.

What I said, and what I meant -- period, full stop -- is this:

"I'm not the president, nor the president-elect. Scrutiny -- public, private, federal, all of it -- is part of the job."

Glad to know you're in the "if you have nothing to fear..." crowd, willing to be searched "just in case".

She didn't marry a politician. I see no reason for her to have to give up her life. Most political spouses knew what they were signing up for, they hope, plan, and scheme for the White House for decades. I don't blame her.

You can pay for a lot of security, just off Michelle's staff's salaries alone.