The visit will also mark the first time an Oval Office occupant has come here in 15 years. On Nov. On Feb. Bush attended a fund-raiser for former Republican Rep. Students and teachers from St. Christopher's School in Grant City lined Greeley Avenue to catch a glimpse of the presidential motorcade as it made its way from Miller Field -- where, like Obama, he arrived via helicopter -- to the Hylan Boulevard hall. And on Oct. Johnson came to Staten Island to campaign for gubernatorial candidate Frank D.
He arrived by motorcade over the span from Brooklyn, and ascended a platform set at the entrance to the bridge plaza for a dedication ceremony. The presidential motorcade was exempted from the toll, according to Advance archives.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the only president to visit the Island twice while in office -- both were re-election campaign swings, in and During FDR's visit, the presidential motorcade was escorted down Forest Avenue in West Brighton, where thousands lined up to catch a glimpse of the "New Deal" president. For his second visit, Roosevelt arrived via the Bayonne Bridge.
With crowds lining the streets and lights flashing from police motorcycles that were providing escort, the motorcade made its way to St. George and boarded the old 69th Street Ferry to Brooklyn. He used a silver-tipped spade to turn the first patch of earth for the project. He then turned some more dirt with an Indian ax-head made out of either the thigh bone or shoulder blade of a buffalo.
The tool had been discovered in Tottenville 30 years earlier and was believed to "have been in use before Caesar crossed the Rubicon," the New York Times wrote at the time. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower also made campaign stops on the Island before they ascended to the nation's highest political office. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.
