wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

President Barack Obama made a campaign stop in New York City on Thursday hoping for deep pockets at four fundraisers, including a concert at the Harlem’s Apollo Theatre headlined by Al Green and India Arie.

Apparently not content with simply praising Green, Obama suddenly launched into "Let's Stay Together," warbling "I, so in love with you" - complete with vibrato - at the Apollo (Watch video below).

Supporters of the president lined up along 125th street in both directions to access the show. Milly Murphy, a retired teacher living in Harlem, rattled off reasons why she was coming to the concert.

"The health bill, the concern for people who are not doing well economically, good Supreme Court appointments, certainly putting Leon Paneta in so that the departments focused together and got bin Laden," she said. "I mean the list could go on."

For 15-year-old Daniel Clark, the night was a chance to meet a hero. The sophomore won a ticket for him and his father to attend by being a top student in his civics class at Democracy Prep Charter School.

"It's very inspirational especially since I want to be the mayor of the City of New York," he said.

Not all the Obama supporters there were even going to the concert. Hugh Thorne, 73, posted himself at the corner of Frederick Douglass Blvd and 125th street where concert goers were lining up. Describing himself as a "one-man parade supporting a one of a kind president," Thorne held a homemade sign that read: One Brilliant American Moving America.

But not everyone had kind words for the president. Alec Hall, 26, said he was involved with the Occupy Wall Street protest from its inception. He was among a phalanx of protesters that police kept across the street from the theater.

"I'm afraid that the energy and the criticism that it brought to the fore and the attention of the media and the country is in danger of simply being translated into electoral politics and a discussion of the status quo," said Hall. "This protest right here doesn't address anything but the status quo because we're here protesting a president when we should really be protesting everything that surrounds the president.

The president attended a $35,800 per ticket fundraiser at the home of director Spike Lee, and two small fundraisers at Daniel Boulud’s eponymous Upper East Side restaurant, Daniel. Tickets start at $5,000 for the first restaurant fundraiser and $15,000 for the second. Obama raised more than $220 million for his campaign and the Democratic National Committee through the end of 2011.

Obama told donors at one stop in the Big Apple that he made U.S. foreign policy stronger during his first term, vowing support for Israel's security and defending his administration's approach to Iran. At another event, Obama said, "This is still going to be a tough race, regardless of who they nominate." Still, he told the room that he was "very confident" of winning re-election.

The fundraising trip falls on the same day the Obama campaign unveiled its first TV ad of 2012 focusing on the president’s record on energy and ethics.  The ad accuses “secretive oil company billionaires” of attacking the president with ads that “fact-checkers say are not tethered to the facts.”

The new Obama ad appears to be rebuttal to one produced by group called Americans for Prosperity targeting the administration’s support for the failed solar energy company Solyndra, which secured $535 million in government backed loan guarantees before declaring bankruptcy.

Earlier this week, Republican Mitt Romney held a fundraiser at the Sheraton Hotel in midtown Manhattan, where supporters were also met by handful of protesters.

Similarly, protests are planned for tonight outside the Apollo Theatre where activists and local homeowners affected by the housing crisis will ask the president to hold banks accountable by ordering a federal investigation into Wall Street's involvement in the foreclosure crisis.

With reporting by the Associated Press