MILWAUKEE — It was a lively Wednesday downtown with President Biden nearby. TMJ4 was outside the Pfister Hotel as the TMJ4 motorcade traveled down Jefferson Street and dropped the President off at the hotel that night.
That means residents can expect closures and barricades to remain in place until Biden leaves the city on Thursday morning, and it also means reduced business for area business owners.
“It was very quiet,” Diane Wilson told TMJ4. “There are no cars, and there are really no people.”
Wilson, owner of P'Dia Tailoring, said it was unusual to see an empty street Wednesday on Wisconsin Avenue, where her shop has been for the past 14 years.
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Due to the president's visit, car traffic was blocked and her store was only accessible by foot.
“I didn't know what to expect,” Wilson said of the closure. “We always thought everything would be further down the road.'' [toward the Pfister]. ”
This isn't the first time the store owner has seen a sitting president parade through downtown. Wilson was seen on two visits to former President Barack Obama during his tenure.
”[Traffic] was about the same, but this one seems a little more intense than that,” she recalled.
The severity of the detour has also slowed down the business of a neighbor across the street.
Solimon Bekare, owner of the Alem Ethiopian Village restaurant, said blocking the road with cars has affected the number of diners.
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“It's a little slow. It's mostly pedestrian only and people park too far away so there's no regular traffic,” Bekale said. “The president will also be staying overnight, so I think it will be like this all night.”
Bekale said while it was exciting to see the president so close to the store, security measures keep customers separated from businesses within the perimeter.
However, despite the economic downturn, the owner says it will be business as usual.
“We're still open! We want people to come in, walk across, park a little further away, but walk across,” Bekale laughed. .
Both Wilson and Bekare say it's great for the city to have the president in town and put downtown Milwaukee on the map, even though business is down.
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