Tuesday morning in Central park looks like this: birds twittering from the canopy created by over-lapping tree branches, joggers thudding along on the pavement, and serene New Yorkers sit on park benches holding their daily newspapers completely indifferent to the world.
Then it all changes.
Piercing beeps come from large trucks as they back up along the winding roads of Central Park. Metal barricades clank together travel throughout the park causing the birds to scatter and squirrels to take cover behind shrubbery.
“Connect those two together and move that over there,” shouts one worker as the noise from the large trucks increases due to the addition of park conservancy vehicles and NYPD vans.
A brigade of NYPD officers swarms the park by sunset. Security personnel, dressed in regular civilian clothing, hold the leashes of tactical dogs that are being instructed to practice jumping over barricades, stopping on command and sniffing out possible threats.
NYPD has deployed 6,000 cops to Pope security detail. According to NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller, 1,773 police cars, 818 tons of concrete block and 37 miles of barriers and fencing are in place.
Central Park has become complete mayhem in a matter of hours. It is no longer a place for those seeking refuge from the daily chaos of New York City. Instead, Central Park has become a Jumbotron advertising Pope Francis’ expected arrival.
NYPD spent all of Tuesday gearing up for not only the arrival of the Pope, but also for the eighty-thousand-plus ticket winners that will come marching two by two to the public space.
Though 80,000 people sounds daunting, Pope Francis’ Central Park turnout will not be a challenge compared to the 125,000 people that attended Pope John Paul II’s Great Lawn Mass in 1995. Pope Francis will not give a sermon on the lawn due to the Global Citizens Concert Saturday night which features Beyoncé, Coldplay and Pearl Jam.
Still thousands more will migrate to the center of Manhattan. Some who come to see the Pope pass through the park are devout followers. Others, like local New Yorker Thami Moscovici, won’t be able to see the Pope, but are still zealous admirers.
“I’m Jewish, but I love this Pope,” said Moscovici. “I think he’s fantastic. The fact that he says stop proselytizing, live and let live, let people believe what they want to believe…he seems more open minded and understanding of the world in general.”
Moscovici said that she was thoroughly impressed with the Pope’s scientific background that contributes to his understanding of climate change and felt that he was being “nicer to Catholics in general” on issues such as annulments.
Despite her enthusiasm for the Pope, Moscovici realizes that this historic event isn’t going to be easy on New Yorkers who are trying to carry out their daily lives.
“Oh, I think it’s going to be a mess! It’s going to screw up my day, but I guess it can’t be helped. My day job is dog walking and at the time he’s [the Pope] going to be here, I have a dog for an hour. I usually come here [Central Park] and I’m trying to figure out where I’m going to go.”
Moscovici exits the park taking one last glimpse of the Central Park she has come to love as a local.
“They’re going to have a lot of work afterwards cleaning it up. I’m hoping that there is no violence that nobody gets crazy, but we’ll see. I love this Pope. I want him to be Pope forever.”