Michelle Obama leaves the Greenwich Hotel, where she was having lunch at Locanda Verde. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
From the crowded sidewalks on both sides of Greenwich Street, all eyes and phone cameras were focused on the double doors of Tribeca’s Greenwich Hotel Thursday afternoon as fans waited patiently, some for well over an hour, to catch a glimpse of Michelle Obama The former First Lady and best-selling author was having lunch on Thursday at Locanda Verde, joined, according to The Daily Mail, by Sarah Jessica Parker, model Lily Aldridge, Georgia May Jagger and actress Olivia Munn.
Obama’s last reported visit to the restaurant was in 2012, for a Robert De Niro-hosted fundraiser for her husband, attended by such notables as Beyoncé, Whoopi Goldberg and Ben Stiller.
As fans waited in anticipation on Greenwich Street, which was closed to traffic at North Moore, some Secret Service agents occupied themselves by keeping the pack of admirers and photographers off the street and far from Obama’s path.
And then, finally. “Michelle! Michelle! Michelle!” the crowd shouted as she emerged, flanked by companions and security. Obama smiled and waved, but wasted no time. She strode briskly the few steps to a waiting car and was gone.