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Hundreds cheer as a relaxed Barack Obama surfaces in Manhattan

He has been out of office little over a month, but Barack Obama was given film star treatment by hundreds of people after he surfaced in Manhattan.

The former president was seen in the Flatiron District of New York, Mail Online reported.

Wearing a dark suit, open-necked shirt and clutching a beverage in a paper cup, Mr Obama appeared relaxed as he entered an office building.

In the immediate aftermath of leaving the White House, Mr and Mrs Obama went first to California and then to the British Virgin Islands, where they stayed with Sir Richard Branson on his private island of Necker.

It was unclear who he was visiting, but speculation centred on the Simons Foundation, which has office space in the block.

Marilyn and James Harris Simons, the Foundation's founders, have been guests at the Obama White House on several occasions.

They also donated $670,000 (£537,000) to Mr Obama's own foundation which the president is establishing in Chicago, where he cut his political teeth. 

According to its website, Mr Obama's foundation will focus on "developing the next generation of citizens — and what it means to be a good citizen in the 21st century”.

Mr Obama was also photographed joining his daughter Malia at Emilio's Ballato, an Italian restaurant in Soho. She is currently living in New York before going to Harvard in the autumn.

Michelle Obama, however, was not seen in New York, although she was photographed on Thursday leaving a "soul cycle" class in Washington DC.