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Bracing for the 'Popenado'

Current security plans have the feel of martial law.

The Parkway won't be the only place shut down for the Pope's visit in September: Center City, the Ben Franklin Bridge and even I-95 are expected to close. (MATT ROURKE/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The Parkway won't be the only place shut down for the Pope's visit in September: Center City, the Ben Franklin Bridge and even I-95 are expected to close. (MATT ROURKE/ASSOCIATED PRESS)Read more

"THEY'RE closing what?"

With the Popenado just over the horizon, that phrase is heard often among titillated, proud, yet beginning-to-be-ticked-off Philadelphians.

We love the idea of Pope Francis being here, but the actuality has us sliding toward lockdown, martial law lite. Is Snake Plissken in charge?

They're fencing off Center City? Well, that's understandable, I guess.

They're closing Regional Rail stations and rationing service? Well, maybe they have to do that to manage the crowds.

They're closing the Ben Franklin Bridge? Why? It's a bridge to nowhere?

They're closing Interstate 95? WTF? That's overkill. It can strangle the region.

Since the Secret Service is the lead agency in the planning, I want to know if Club Risque is inside the security zone.

OK, cheap shot.

The SS - oops, that's an unfortunate abbreviation - has two goals: to protect the pope and protect the public. Him from assassination, us from a terror attack.

The former is God's job. For the latter, the Secret Service wanted to ban water bottles within the security zone, the exclusion zone, the no-go zone, the erogenous zone, whatever they're calling it. Maybe the Secret Service didn't know it can be hot in September. In the end, it relented, but demanded all visitors wear mittens.

The "official" plans have not been announced, but there have been leaks, with varying degrees of believability.

You may have believed there wasn't a hotel room within 100 miles of Philadelphia when the pope visits. But a week ago the Inquirer held up a light and found - guess what! - there were many hotel rooms, such as at the Monaco, 5th and Chestnut, right on Independence Mall, where the pope will visit on Saturday, Sept. 26. The room will cost more than $300, but that's reasonable when you've got profiteers asking $100 for their living room sofa.

Many elderly will be among the estimated 1.5 million visitors and the city is telling them to be prepared to walk a couple of miles. City of Brotherly Love?

Pope John Paul II's 21-hour visit in 1979 came off well and I recall no excessive security.

No exclusion zones. No closing the Ben Franklin Bridge. No closing I-95. No telling people who live in buildings lining the Parkway, where Mass will be celebrated Sunday, they can't go out on their balconies.

I watched the 1979 Mass from a balcony at what was then the Plaza apartment building, looking right down at the papal platform on Logan Circle. Are we that much less secure today?

Regional Rail will be constricted and we don't know if the subways - Broad Street and Frankford-Market - will be running. They should be, to allow people to get to their jobs at restaurants and hospitals. It will help tourists, too.

The Popecalypse is projected to be the largest event ever in Philadelphia, but we need a balance between security and citizenry.

The crux of the problem are the outdoor events on the Parkway and the Mall. While iconic (and highly photogenic) they create extra security concerns, resulting in the Secret Service wishing to spin a civic cocoon.

A lot of plans have been drawn, but it's not too late to scrap them and admit we made a mistake.

Put the pope in Lincoln Financial Field, with its 70,000 capacity. (The Eagles are in New York that weekend.)

More people can see him on the Parkway, you say? Most will be many blocks away and will see him only on a Jumbotron.

Citizens Bank Park can hold overflow - the Phillies are out of town. If need be, Jumbotrons can be set up throughout the wide-open food distribution center.

I'm not saying the city can't make current plans work. It can, but at the price of turning the city into a stockade.

Phone: 215-854-5977

On Twitter: @StuBykofsky

Blog: ph.ly/Byko

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