Many NYC streets to close, buses to be diverted for pope

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, also appearing on CBS Tuesday, said there have been no credible threats made against Francis in New York, Philadelphia or Washington, DC, where the pope arrived Tuesday afternoon.

Along Central Park West, crews erected a metal fence, where roughly 80,000 people will gather for the papal procession on Friday.

However, the document says, “In addition to directly targeting the Pope, terrorists may choose to attack houses of worship in other parts of the city or to target other religious figures while the Pope is in New York“.

Police officials say more than 6,000 officers are assigned to the pope and the UN. 600 officers will be on duty during his visit.

He says the area will look quite different with all of the fencing up and a lot more of the security in place.

Complicating the security plan is that the pope will be in New York at the same time as 170 heads of state for the UN General Assembly. “All of our events in New York are ticketed events, so we have the ability to screen everyone coming in”, he said.

The mayor added of the pontiff: “He will make that choice, so it’s a balance that we’re striking”. We have the personnel, we have the equipment, we have the training.

At Madison Square Garden, only PIX11 was there as members of the Secret Service did a security sweep ahead of the Pope’s evening mass on Friday.

Everywhere the pope goes, he and the public can expect to be safe because the NYPD has anti-terrorism experience, de Blasio said.

Pope Francis arrived in the U.S. Tuesday and was greeted by the President, the First Family and adoring fans and faithful in his historic trip to America. “I’m assuming he’s bringing some of his own, so we’ll take all the help we can get”.

While Bratton joked last week about the pope having to pay his fare if he rides the subway, a church official in New York said privately that it is highly unlikely that Francis would attempt do so. Scores of emergency service vehicles are being marshaled. Individual cops will also be wearing smaller detectors with their uniforms.