WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - President Barack Obama will carve out some time this weekend for two people he has described as "magnificent" but who, he says, find him boring: his teenage daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Upping his game as dad-in-chief, Obama will hang out with his daughters in New York City on Friday night and Saturday, a rare diversion from his weekend schedules, which usually involve work and golf.

Obama has often spoken about how sad he will be when his daughters leave the nest.

Malia, 17, has been spotted touring colleges.

"I'm already dreading that empty seat at the table when Malia goes off to school next fall," Obama wrote in an essay last month in More magazine.

The White House was mum on the itinerary for the father-daughter weekend.

First Lady Michelle Obama was staying back in Washington.

First, Obama will do a little bit of business.

He will attend a small fund-raiser on Friday evening hosted by shipping magnates George and Nitzia Logothetis for the Democratic National Committee, where 30 supporters will pay up to US$33,400 a ticket.

The New York Post reported the Obamas would hit Broadway for a performance of hip-hop musical Hamilton on Saturday.

On Friday, Sasha, 14, boarded Air Force One with Obama for the weekend getaway, along with two of her friends.

Malia is rumoured to have a summer job in New York City working on the set of the HBO television series Girls.

Obama has said he was worried about how growing up in the White House "bubble" would affect his daughters - fears he said turned out to be misplaced.

"They're kind, they're thoughtful, they treat everybody with respect, they don't have any kind of airs. They're confident, but without being cocky," he told Marc Maron on his podcast "WTF" last month.

"Now, unfortunately, they're hitting the age where they still love me, but they think I'm completely boring. And so they'll come in, pat me on the head, talk to me for 10 minutes, and then they're gone all weekend," Obama said.

"They break my heart!" he said.