Biden Visit Disgruntles Drivers Bidin' Time In Traffic Jams

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — President Joe Biden was met with warm, albeit awkward, greetings at the Long Island City school that he visited Thursday, but some local residents were less pleased to see him in the neighborhood.

"Was just within 100 yards of the president and couldn't be more pissed at the traffic he is causing in Queens!" tweeted one person, who was one of many to complain on social media about the traffic caused by Biden's visit.

The Queensboro Bridge and stretches of 21st Street were reportedly shut down as the president's motorcade drove from a gun violence meeting at the NYPD Headquarters in Manhattan to P.S. 111 Jacob Blackwell, where he discussed the city's cure violence program with community leaders.

"You can avoid traffic if you're the President," tweeted one traffic reporter alongside a photo of the Queensboro Bridge span; empty save from the president's cars (to which another person tweeted "I would be the president just so that I wouldn't have to sit in traffic anymore.")

For most locals, though, the traffic on the ground was unrelenting. Neighbors reported 10 minute long commutes taking an hour, with some saying that closures made it virtually "impossible" to leave the house.

Many others reported issues with Queens' public transit, including the M60 bus, which runs from Manhattan to Queens but not directly through the aforementioned areas (though some neighbors said that Grand Central Parkway, which the bus traverses, was also closed).

Reached for question about the abrupt road closures and neighbors' complaints, the city's Department of Transportation referred Patch to the NYPD, who did not immediately respond.

One Queens resident who was grateful to see the president in the World's Borough, though, was Borough President Donovan Richards who said he was "deeply grateful to the president for not only his presence. here in Queens today, but his pledge of close partnership" in the fight against gun violence.

Thursday's visit marked the second time that Biden came to Queens as president, following his walk around East Elmhurst — and subsequent call for climate action — after Hurricane Ida ravaged the neighborhood.

Related Article: Biden Visits LIC School To Discuss Cure Violence Program