Obama lands in Westport, not Stamford

The first of President Obama’s two fundraising stops Monday evening was at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa.

But unlike Obama’s trip to Stamford in 2010 — when the President headlined a fundraisser for Richard Blumenthal’s Senate campaign — Marine One, the helicopter carrying the president, didn’t land in the City that Works.

Kosciuszko Park, where many assumed Marine One would land before the President’s stop in downtown Stamford, was empty at about 5 p.m. except for a few people fishing and a couple pushing around a stroller.

Several helicopters were hovering above Stamford, but there was no sign of Marine One.

That’s because rather than landing in Stamford, Marine One landed instead in Westport, before the presidential motorcade made its way southbound on I-95 to Stamford.

State police closed the southbound on-ramp at exit 8 and the northbound on-ramp at exit 6 just after 5 p.m. because of “police activity,” according to the state Department of Transportation. The entire southbound roadway was closed as the motorcade passed by.

Obama then arrived at the Stamford Marriott at 5:36 p.m., where he was scheduled to speak to between 450 and 500 people before getting back on I-95 and heading to the home of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in Westport.

Ben Doody