No President is safe, or any other public figure, for that matter.
Still, it's bad public relations to engage in this kind of activity during these economic times. Sure, everyone does it, they're always stepping out to The Ranch, or The Fishing Lodge, or Camp David, and no one begrudges the hardest job in the world a little time off and R&R. But there is always a lot of business travel involved, it would have been good form to take advantage of a working trip for this. For example, he could have opened a library or given a speech in Manhattan or something while he was in the City.
At least he wasn't turning the White House airconditioning on full blast so he could light off the fireplace in midsummer.