Obama Visits New York for Star-Studded Fund-Raisers Members of the Secret Service outside the West Village home of the actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. President Obama swept through New York on Thursday evening for a pair of high-dollar, high-wattage fund-raisers where some of the city's top fashion luminaries lent their cash and their star power to his re-election campaign. Spectators awaiting the arrival of President Obama. Under heavy security and the close scrutiny of celebrity news outfits like "Inside Edition," the president and the first lady arrived at the West Village townhouse of the actress Sarah Jessica Parker for a $40,000-per-plate dinner co-hosted by Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue and one of the Obama campaign's highest-profile donation bundlers. The event drew not just big names in fashion design like Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole and Millard Drexler, but also stars of film and music like Meryl Streep and Aretha Franklin. Ms. Franklin left the event early and stopped to chat with a group of reporters and photographers who were being kept at bay in a holding pen across the street from Ms. Parker's home. Asked what the president said to her, Ms. Franklin exclaimed, "Whoa! The Queen of Soul! Inside the house, Mr. Obama delivered a standard speech, taking Republicans to task for what he said was an expensive distortion campaign. Summing up their attacks, he said, " "It's the fault of the guy in the White House." " "It's an elegant message," he added. It happens to be wrong. Then he fielded questions, with Ms. Wintour moderating. "Anna is going to moderate," he said of the no-nonsense editor, "to make sure I don't call on the wrong person." The stop at the home of Ms. Parker and her husband, the actor Matthew Broderick, was just part of the president's short, schedule-packed dash through New York. After landing at Kennedy Airport, he boarded a helicopter for the short flight to Lower Manhattan, where he visited ground zero and the construction site at 1 World Trade Center. He and Mrs. Obama signed one of the building's beams and were joined by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. After the visit to the Parker-Broderick home, Mr. Obama headed uptown to the Plaza for a second star-studded fund-raiser. Mariah Carey was on hand for a performance. With a rise in the unemployment rate and with the economic recovery sputtering, critics have tried to turn the president's association with fashion chic and celebrity into a liability. And an unfortunate bit of timing did not help. The Obama campaign released a video with Ms. Wintour promoting Thursday's fund-raiser on the same day that the Labor Department's May jobs report showed some troubling signs of economic weakness. Juan Williams, a Fox News analyst who generally expresses moderate political views, said of the video, "It looked like the Romney campaign planted Dr. Evil in the house of Obama and he said, "You know, on the day the grim job numbers come out let's have someone who reeks of ornamental excess announce that the peasants can have a place at the table." " Thursday's New York Post published a color photo of a maid buffing up the door to Ms. Parker's townhouse. "SJP has the help primp home for prez fund-raiser," the headline read. Residents of Charles Street, accustomed to the occasional paparazzi stalking their block in pursuit of Ms. Parker and Mr. Broderick, seemed to have little issue adjusting to the temporary inconveniences of a presidential visit. "It happens," said Ruth Abel, an executive assistant and an undecided voter who was walking her dogs Thursday evening. The worst thing is they took away all the trash cans. So what are you supposed to do when you have a doggy present to get rid of?