Obama Takes Central Park Stroll on New York Trip

President Barack Obama this weekend got to experience a simple pleasure usually denied to the commander in chief: a Saturday stroll in Central Park. On a rare personal trip with his two teenage daughters this weekend, Mr. Obama took crowds of onlookers, joggers and tourists by surprise with an unannounced visit to the Manhattan icon.

He was joined by his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng and her husband, Konrad Ng, on a short walk in Central Park just south of Sheep Meadow and the famous Tavern on the Green. Mr. Obama stopped to wave to the crowds and shake hands before a walk of about 20 minutes around the park.

Mr. Obama has long expressed his frustrations about the security bubble around him that makes it difficult to enjoy simple activities like a walk in the park. At a 2012 fundraiser in New York City, Mr. Obama joked that the only way he’d be able to pull off such a stroll was with a disguise.

“The thing that you miss most when you’re president–extraordinary privilege, and really nice plane and all kinds of stuff, but suddenly, not only have you lost your anonymity, but your capacity to just wander around and go into a bookstore, or go to a coffee shop, or walk through Central Park,” Mr. Obama said.

Capping off a week that saw negotiations wrap up on a nuclear accord with Iran, Mr. Obama, his daughter Sasha and two of her friends boarded Air Force One on Friday evening for a 24-hour whirlwind trip through Manhattan.

Mr. Obama attended a high dollar Democratic National Committee roundtable on Friday evening, before dedicating the rest of his weekend to family time.

Once in New York, Mr. Obama met up with his oldest daughter, Malia, who is working in New York City this summer. He dined with both of his daughters and their friends at Carbone, an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village, before visiting the Whitney Museum for a special after-hours visit.

On Saturday, Mr. Obama and his family had lunch in Gramercy Park before taking in an afternoon showing of “Hamilton,” a musical inspired by the life of Alexander Hamilton. Mr. Obama lived in New York City for four years, obtaining an undergraduate degree from Columbia University before doing a short stint at a business intelligence firm. He would leave New York City for Chicago, where he would become a community organizer.

He is also scheduled to visit New York again on Tuesday, where he’ll appear as a guest on one of the final episodes of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”