he is flying a share teared american airlines flight. so po luck remarks are ex- -public remarks are expected. there will be presentations including one from a group of five children. lucy yang is at the airport for us. >> reporter: diana, i couldn't be in a better spot on the tarmac. behind me are the stairs the pontiff will use to descend from the plane and to the left of the stairs are about 200 lucky greeters to welcome the pope. they are assembled here as are well wishers, the elderly, homeless, they have been invited to welcome the pontiff. these are the very people pope francis wants the world to em braces,ing the young because they are the future of the church. the homeless, they are the most vulnerable. the elderly, we even have a birthday girl invited. young mary turns 100 years old today. what better way to celebrate, a century of good living meeting

the pope. providing music for his arrival, the high school jazz ban playing new york, new york. this pope is scheduled arrive any minute now and after a brief meeting here, he will fly on the helicopters beyond the stairs to manhattan where he will begin his official greeting and his whirlwind tour of new york. i want to mention the crowd had to assemble so early because of security issues. what did they do with the hour plus time they had out here in the baking sun? they have been praying and skinning, preparing their hearts to meet the pontiff. live at j.f.k. airport, lucy yang for channel 7, eyewitness news. >> thank you, lucy. the pope may be in the air but his ride is here. a popemobile and other vehicles arrived at the town house on 72nd street. that's where the pope is staying. that is an open air popemobile

and actually touch folks who are along the parade route. the residence of the nun see ya is where the pope's -- nuncio is where the pope's representative lives. pope francis' first event is an evening prayer service called vespers. 2500 members will fill the pews. >> they are likely to hear a message that carted analysis and bishops should embrace a simpler life. the fourth pontiff to visit the best known cathedral. sade is outside saint pat's waiting for the pontiff to come. >> bill and diana, let me show you the excitement is building along 5th avenue. there are so many people out here since early this morning. some arriving since lunchtime hoping to get a moment with the pope. he always seems to break protocol. they hope it does that today and have that personal moment

if you take a look behind me, you will see people with some fluorescent colored vests on. those are people who were part of this renovation project. it was a three-year $177 million renovation project. almost 4,000 stained glass windows cleaned, the marble replaced, ceiling repaired. this is a great honor to work on this project. they are hoping to have a moment with the pope again today. the vesper service begins at 6:45 this evening. the pope will be met by cardinal dolan, robert richie, governor cuomo and mayor de blasio. it is just 2 1/2 years into the pope's papacy. letter pope francis has achieved global appeal. when you look at the crowds and some of these faces, the people that you see come from all walks of life, all backgrounds and all faiths. >> pope francis is really

who maybe are not the people that go to church every sunday, might have been estranged from the church or never even been catholic. he has a way of connect being with people and making them feel loved. there is tremendous, tremendous excitement around this. >> reporter: as we have been mentioning, the excitement is building. he will make his way along 5th avenue outside of st. patrick's cathedral. we will check in with joe torres who has more on the massive renovation project underway at saint pat's. i spoke to a few people that were even doing polishing a few hours ago. >> reporter: there are always details to be ironed out before the pop arrives. what a privileged spot, blessed spot that we have on 5th avenue. i am across from the massive doors that guard the entrance to st. patrick's cathedral. how big, 9,200 pounds.

this good since it was dedicated in 1879. it's coming off a three-year renovation project that was officially announced, no surprise, saint patrick's day 2012. the price tag $177 million. that tells you it was more than a paint up and touch-up. there is new limestone. the 230-foot spires got plenty of attention. there you see some of those workers. we are told that the sunshine that now pours through the 3700 individual panels and the 75 restored stained glass windows, that you will absolutely walk away with spiritual goosebumps when the sun comes shining through. listen to the reaction from cardinal dolan. >> this st. patrick's cathedral beautifully repaired and restored, this is the church most visited by popes outside of italy. we are proud of that.

new yorkers are grateful. they know people come. new yorkers have wonderful reputation and the capitol of the world as pope john paul said it. we like having company. >> talk about having company, you showed the picture from your angle. we will show it to you from ours. these are the workers, masons, electricians, carpenters, they were responsible and involved in the restoration of the cathedral. you will see them there in their vests that they normally wear to work. some have their helmets, no jackets and ties. they were instructed to wear those clothes so that the image would be crystal clear to the pope when he arrived that they are the ones responsible for the handiwork. the cathedral looks fabulous. that's the latest from you in midtown. back to you. >> thank you. as you look over our shoulder, that we believe is the american airlines 777 called by the faa shepherd one. it's a chartered plane.

for a landing at j.f.k. we are tracking the flight. 5:07 which it just changed to so it is on time as predicted by the flight tracking service we are using anyway. the pope coming in on this american airlines. he will use this to fly around to philadelphia then back to rome on sunday night. >> we have lucy yang at the airport right now they got to be excited. >> diana, this is what it's all about. we have been waiting for this plane to arrive. we will pan to the plane. this is what they are cheering for on the tarmac. if we can go to the flags over there. you can see them waving the flags. this will be a visual point for the pontiff. we are watching the plane slowly descend. the crowd is excited. lots happening and lots of enthusiasm building. they have been singing, praying and waving flags.

we will have more when he walks down the stairs. back to you. we see the plane putting wheels down on the tarmac. it will take take a few minutes to taxi around up to the stairs. the pilots open the windows put out the papal flag then the u.s. flag. >> we saw that when they left andrews. they could be putting the flags out again. lucy is at a good location at the base of those stairs. she will have a good photographic shot of the pope getting off the plane. >> absolutely. it's important to note the plane landing in queens and the brooklyn diocese that covers parts of queens will be there

to greet the pope. the bishop will be there with the official welcoming ceremony and we have with us right now on the set father alex santorum. can you give us information on the protocol here and what we can expect? good to have you with us by the way. >> thanks, diana. the bishop of brooklyn, he would be the diocesan bishop well coming pope francis. it's sort of on his turf. >> he has that then a series of ceremonies and events that will take place. we are told there is no open mic, that he will not make public remarks but he will be greeted by the five young children and the band will be playing. the archdiocese. ethnicity, ages, so he gets to see sort of a snapshot of what

>> as i recall it, the brooklyn diocese hired an artist that converted to catholicism to paint a mural of pope francis near madison square garden. they were responsible for doing that in manhattan. >> certainly there is a closeness between the two arch di 0 sees. >> let me ask you a question waiting for the pope to arrive. you saw his speech this morning to congress. what did you think of it? >> it was masterful. he touched on themes that neither favored rockets nor republicans but -- democrats or republicans but moral themes. he said it in a way so everyone could hear him and not feel turned off what he was saying. >> tonight he goes to saint patrick's, vespers prayer service but the audience will be different. it will be all clear identify for the most part and a few politicians in the front row. what will the message be there? it will be a different message.

>> yes, i think the message will be that we have to be among the people. i am a pastor of a parish in hoboken, new jersey. i think he is telling us that we shouldn't be occupied with administrative things as much as we should be meeting people, meeting their needs and reaching out to people. this is a pope who is a healer. he talks a lot about bringing people to the table as he did with fidel castro. that was a way for him to show that we have to dialogue with people. >> we are looking at the live pictures here, we see mayor de blasio arriving at saint patrick's. that is showing the outside shot in front of st. patrick's cathedral. he is stopping by to say hi to some of the folks there. >> did i hear from the control, was that a delta flight and not american? that was not the plane or was it the plane? anybody in the control room. >> apparently that was not the pope's flight.

>> i have to look up and track it again. >> not the plane. >> we were told it was but it was not. we are waiting the arrival of pope francis at j.f.k. >> lucy are you aware that was not the correct plane out there. we got excited in advance. >> diana and bill, everyone is excited. his plane has landed. it was circling around so it can make its way to the stairs. it's easy to get confused with all the planes lined up, some to take off. we are waiting for the one with the pope to arrive here at the tarmac. we need a if you minutes for it to turn around. it's on the ground. the folks are excited. it made a safe landing. lots of prayers answered there. so much enthusiasm for his event in the next few days. >> he has only 40 hours in new york city but he has a lot

packed into the 40 hours. those two choppers that you see there, secret service choppers and they will be taking the pope to a heliport in lower manhattan, the wall street heliport. you would think the 31st but the wall street is a safer place for him to go. you see that second chopper there, not just one but two choppers. that is because the group behind the pope is there to protect him and to rescue should there be a problem with the helicopter that he is riding in. so, it's there for protection and rescue, none of which we hope would happen obviously but that's the reason. >> the secret service is paying for this, american taxpayers are paying for this. this is the same procedure that they use when they shuttle president obama or vice president biden in to new york city, a lot easier to get them in by helicopter than trying to

fight the l.i.e. >> okay. i'm seeing cardinal dolan out there. >> he was at the airport. we were told he was not going to be there. do you know anything about this. >> i think since he will enter the new york archdiocese he probably wants to accompany him so when he gets off the helicopter, cardinal dolan is with him. >> that is a surprise. >> we had conflicting reports throughout the day. first he would be there then no, now clearly as you see he is going to be there. are you going to see the pope. >> tomorrow morning at the 9/11 interfaith presser vice i will be there. >> that is a moving part of this trip to have the holy father going down to experience an area that has changed greatly in the past decade plus. to see now the museum and to also take time at that memorial there. that will be perhaps the most moving part of the trip in new york city. >> his message of peace and

also in buenos aires he was involved in interfaith relations. he had good relations with the muslims, jews, pentecostal christians and that's why he asked for this interfaith service at the site. >> bill, we have the plane. >> they have the vatican flag outside. >> we can be assured because of the two flags flying. and it says american on the side. >> and not delta. >> we have two flags out there. >> it is pulling up. what will happen, it has to move around and adjust to get in front of the stairs there and then it takes a few moments. you know, bill, also riding on this jet is the press corps, the vatican press corps that rides with the pope. the pope is traveling with about 30 people from the vatican who tend to ride up in the front of the plane but the pope likes to go back and chat and talk and has been known to share food.

>> not only share food but his thoughts. on the way back from cuba to washington, he went and had a little press briefing where he took questions. sort of unheard of by any other prior pope. >> as you recall, pope john paul when he was coming over and pope benedict actually broke his silence and started talking about the pope sex abuse scandal during the news conference when he was coming over. >> >> benedict visiting the 9/11 memorial when he was here as well. the security for this pope beyond anything that new york city police department has ever engaged in. commissioner bratton calling it the biggest security endeavor the city has ever undertaken. tomorrow at the height of the city's gridlock shut down, 83 blocks in manhattan. 10.3 miles at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon will be shut down to the public.

>> lucy yang at the airport. lucy, as you are watching this plane taxiing up, tell us what you are seeing among the crowd of children there in particular but just among the crowd. what is on their faces and what is the >> well, diana, i'm taking pictures for myself of this momentous arrival. i am taking photos of the plane arriving. the five children who will be greeting the pope and presenting a spiritual bouquet to him have been pulled aside in the pen area amongst the other greeters to easily access the pope and present to him this list of prayers and good deeds that have been done among 86 catholic churches in the diocese. a beautiful thought. he doesn't need any material items. this is the message he has been preaching all over the world to live out the faith. that's what these five children will present to him.

there are many among the 200 in the crowd that are waving flags, smiling, screaming. i don't know if you can hear them with the noise from the planes. you mentioned about the press corps traveling with the pope. there are two stairs. the one i am closest to is the one the pope will descend. there is another one for the back of the plane. that is the one the press corps will use to get off the plane and then of course they all rush to new york city. diana and bill you mentioned that the cardinal is here. he is on the tarmac. guys, can you go over -- gus, can you go over to the cardinal greeting him on the tarmac. we heard word earlier that he was arriving. he is a jovial guy. i will have to tease him that he wanted to bum a free ride with the pope in the chopper into manhattan.

>> for folks that don't know, the cardinal knows this pope very well. they have known each other for years and met each other at the vatican and in other ways. they are both jock officers with each other. this pope likes to joke around and we know cardinal dolan likes to joke around, goes pizza, diet, eating and food. it is a warm welcome that this cardinal will have for pope francis when he gets here. they are old friends. >> we all need those moments of a little -- a good laugh, a good joke here and there. you see the stairs being brought over to the pope's plane. shortly the doors will open. >> lucy, when you take a picture, tweet it out. we will all retweet you. >> bill, i wasn't shameless doing it as a selfie but i may be temperature meant when he gets out. >> -- tempted when he gets out. >> he likes a good selfie.

there is a lot of excitement. this is his first trip to new york city. father, i asked you about this, you come to new york city and you are in awe of the massiveness of the buildings and the structures here but you said this is not a pope that gets overwhelmed by buildings. he is more in tune with people. >> he moved out of his official quarters to live simply -- kind of the slums of aires. he is a people person. when you are with him, people say he is focused on you and he sees that as all the people gathering around. so now we have the stairs being pulled up to the door. we are waiting for the door to open. you have the shot there, the vatican flag, the american flag as well. 200 people gathered there. lucy -- >> the back doors have opened.

the press is leaving the back of the plane. but all eyes are on the front of the plane waiting for the pope to descend. you see the gentleman going up the stairs now waiting for him to open the doors. the flags are outside the cockpit. a glorious sight. the sun is perfect. the weather is ideal. who is praying for nice weather, i don't know but it's been answered. we have the two helicopters waiting to take him -- there we go. cheering. >> no red carpet or is there a little bit of one. >> diana, a little one. a little one at the bottom. at the bottom of the stairs. >> that is the bavarian high school band you hear playing new york,ing new york. >> father, you are watching this happen, you emotions. >> it's exciting to be in a

will get to see him, everyone is watching. >> the five children that present the gifts to him have now walked forward closer to the stairwell and they are being lined up getting ready to present to the pontiff. they are from five years old to 15 years old. all they asked was that they be outgoing. >> i read about that that there was 30,000 children that they chose and picked five people based on their personality to be outgoing among strangers and just to be ready to greet the pope. there he is. >> here we go, diana. >> here is the pontiff. >> he will be 79 years old. he has had a busy day.

>> he almost runs down the stairs there. >> he has one lung. he is in good shape. a lot of energy, too. that is a long day. he gave an important speech today to congress. >> in english no less. >> tell us who is greeting him, father. >> that is the bishop and there is cardinal dolan. there headquarter several others as well. >> president obama greeted the pope when he landed in washington on tuesday. today no elected officials. mayor de blasio as we saw him at st. patrick's not at j.f.k. >> bill, that advertise considered the official greeting site in manhattan. this is not the official greeting site. this is his first landing in new york city.

less formal and a little more real. lots more people here than officials. >> we see the five children there, lucy. >> diana, you see the children? they have been brought forward to greet the pope and present to him the gift. it must be a very amazing moment for these young children. i don't know if the 5-year-old understands how momentous this is but the 15-year-old has to be able to process all this. >> absolutely. >> it's interesting how his face lights up when he looks at the faces of children. >> some of these children were interviewed by joe torres earlier. they said in all honesty they didn't know what to expect. i got to assume that right now they are meeting a very warm and very real and very personable pope. a very accessible leader to their church.

but in particular focuses on children. he loves being around children. john paul ii loved being around children as well. >> he got a lot of strength there. secret service lifting that girl up,ing brought her to him. he kissed her and hugged her. she is public about her reaction to it. he is quite energetic. he has a big night ahead of him as well. he will speak to 2500 clergy. then he will turn in. he has a huge day tomorrow. >> now you hear the roar of the crowd gathered there. a small group about 200 people. now he is walking over.

the crowd of people there and takes time. >> this is a pope in been fast aires. >> he turned his papers in to retire. he was not expecting to stay in rome. this really did give him a second life. he did not speak to the press much. he relied on other people. this is knew for him. i drawed comparison when pope benedict came here and pope john paul. i don't recall seeing this kind of contact with parishioners and people. >> you see someone with extensive pastoral experience. >> he sounded like that in congress when he was -- i think

he did it in such a gentle way, the subject of that, you would think -- before it was over you wouldn't realize you were chided. >> that is his sense of trying to reach people in their hearts. he is not trying to persuade them. he wants them to think about it. he says it in a way that you can listen. almost like jesus with the parables. not the same but saying it in that way so they can hear it. >> he has the gifts that the people are giving him. [ inaudible ].

>> when he was a teenager in his hometown, he had a young neighbor girl fell in love. he said to her, if i don't became a priest, i will marry you. and, of course, he went a different path and became priest. he wrote a letter to her explaining what he had done and apparently she never got it. her father got it and tore it up. how his life has changed. >> everybody with their iphones up, smartphones snapping pictures as quick as they can. you will see that shared on facebook. if you have a good picture, send it to tuesday and we will post it on our facebook page or tweet it as well. >> lucy, you are still down there, tell us what the crowd is doing. >> bill what i was told

repeatedly, he goes off script. this was not planned to greet one by one all these 200 well wishers here but this is what he wanted to do. he is giving a hug to one of them, receiving a hug. i should mention there are also in this crowd those who are disabled, mentally, physically disabled. they have front row seats to see the pope. again, these are the people he embraces. these are the people he told the rest of the world to take care of. that's why they are here. the crowd is enthusiastic making its way down the row of well wishers. you can see where he is because that's where the arms are up in the air. he is embracing people. this is a lot for him to do this.

but this is the kind of pope that he is. >> father, these people, 200 of them there hand picked by the brooklyn archdiocese. >> i made a mistake before. brooklyn is the diocese. >> i knew that as well. >> the brooklyn diocese hand picked all these people to be there, correct. >> yes. >> how would they have -- they looked for people that the pope would relate to. as lucy said, those who are suffering. >> in rome the wednesday audience he first greets the handicapped, disabled and sick people in the auditorium before he goes out to the general public. this is not an act. this is who he is. >> today in to have lunch with homeless people. he could have easily sat in the dining room with all the dignitaries he spoke to.

>> someone gave him a doll. >> i'm thinking on the other side of this, this is very special. >> he will be boarding one of the two helicopters that are there and he will be heading, bill, as you know, to lower man. >> wall street -- lower manhattan. >> wall street area. a few blocks the popemobile will be brought out and he will parade in the popemobile to st. patrick's cathedral. the man behind him is the same secret service agent with him

he was lifting that young girl up and brought her to the pope. >> a wave from the pope. he is in the helicopter now. once he gets to the wall street, he will go down fdr, i'm sure it will be closed off. we talked a little bit about the traffic nightmare. not just this visit but all the dignitaries from the united nations. i have been told tomorrow there will be 10.3 miles of roadway in this city literally shut down. 80 blocks of street closures. i can't remember a time in this city when we had that many streets closed off. >> that is at 1:00 the height of the shut down of the city. the city is shut down in so

undertaken. cost about 6 million when pope benedict was here. we have no idea how much this visit -- >> he was here three days. this is a shorter visit. >> less than 40 hours, 39 hours and 47 minutes between right now and when he leaves wheels up from this airport at j.f.k. saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. to philadelphia. it will be interesting to see who greets him in philadelphia, whether he is with the heads of the catholic church there. [ indiscernible ]

this weather is beautiful. >> a beautiful day like today. i noelle love our city as we love our city. >> this is not the first time in new york. this is the first time the pope, as a person has ever been to the united states. he came from argentina. >> he stayed close to home because he was involved in that >> keeping with the simple life, he will talk to the vespers tonight. he does not go to the papal retreat. he stays in his quarters at the

his vacation is to read more and sleep in. [ inaudible ]. >> he likes the sense of contact with people. >> we have a just with it priest coming on as our analyst for the vespers at 6:00, i wanted to get your take on this. is there tension between some clergy in the catholic church and this jesuit pope. style. when you do that, some people who are used to a certain way have to adjust. he is calling us to think about how we do things in a real way. i think being a jesuit is probably one of his strengths. 6:00. he is a jesuit priest.

he can share more of that. i think that is the genius of this pope, the sense of detachment and being able to give us a message that resonates with jesus. >> i am watching the choppers. looks like there is a problem with the secondary chopper. someone came out of the chopper, the helicopter. i'm not sure what the delay is but there is a little bit of a delay. someone has disembarked. there they go. they will be heading to the hellly party down in wall

street, lower manhattan. from there he will be heading not to the residency but a location where he will be transferred to the popemobile. not a popemobile like we are used to in the past. this is an open air popemobile, a jeep as i recall. he will be in that popemobile and it's about 5 1/2 blocks. the people on the parade route are ticketed. they have been there hours and hours. >> he will get to the vespers, the service starts at 6:45. it's supposed to. it is supposed to go for an hour to 7:45. knowing the way people are, this could go longer. it may not be that much longer. >> we got late word that the pope is going to speak after the vesper service.

>> apparently we just got later word seconds ago, i will check my e-mail, we got an e-mail talking moments ago he is going to speak but no remarks. no remarks. a slight homily. that's it. >> no remarks afterwards. typically at a vesper service, help us understand. that is an evening prayer service, not a mass. there is no communion. it's a shortened -- a shorter service than a regular mass and more prayerful and more music, am i right. >> not really too much. it's part of what we call liturgy of the hours, where the mornings would say prayers at different parts of the day. the church has taken that and adopted it so that there is morning prayer, evening prayer which is what you are seeing here. >> because vesper in latin

means evening. >> i didn't know that. now we know. >> that is your nugget for the day. >> thank you very much, diana williams. we know the problems the church has had with diminishing congregation. harder to find people going into the priesthood. is the hope of the church that a visit by pope francis and the kind of response he is getting and what he is saying, his message will reverse that trend a little bit. >> i don't know if it will reverse it but i do think he is getting people to think about what happens why they are away. why they are distanced from the church. even as he talks about divorce and remarriage, he is trying to give a more pastoral tone so that people will give it a second chance. i think the sin knock in october will be different. he has tipped his hands.

i think he wants the cardinals and the archbishops to tackle with the issues so we get a more pastoral face on it. >> do you see an uptick in the number of people that come to church after a papal visit. >> i don't know if that will happen right away. i do think people might consider coming back, especially if the parishes do an outreach, maybe you should consider this. >> one out of three in the tri- state area call themselves catholic. many are not every day church gears but one out of three. this pope, for the two out of three in the tri-state that are not a catholic, there is an attraction to this pope and he is an even chanting figure and character that i don't think you have to be catholic to appreciate. >> his message is more universal. he is human. he speaks a human language that people can resonate with. even if you have another faith

or no faith, he's not offensive. >> sorry to -- father, the choppers are finally on the move. it looks like they are about to lift off momentarily. >> they don't need much of a runway. >> they are heavy. it takes a few minutes to get those things in the air. we have joe torres at saint patrick's. joe, just to let you know, the chopper is about to take off in a few minutes. you are not too far off from having that parade start down there. at we have been talking about the vesper service, tell us more about what you are seeing and what the anticipation is for this evening. >> reporter: diana and bill i am watching your coverage and listening to you and father malone. in the realm of getting the biggest bang out of your spiritual buck for lack of a better term. i was crunching numbers. new york is the second largest archdiocese behind los angeles.

metropolitan area, there are more catholics in our area than in any other place in the united states of we have four of the largest -- four in the top ten of diocese. brooklyn and queens 1.8 million catholics. long island, the diocese of rockville centre 1.4 million across the hudson in newark, the archdiocese of newark 1.3. 7.1million catholics living in the new york metropolitan area, all keeping a close eye on what is happening here today. >> and catholics are an important voting block as well. no president elected without the support of catholics in this

>> we have the first vice president, joe biden, elected and one catholic president. is there are a series of firsts. >> pope john xxiiird and president kennedy and president obama and pope francis. that was pointed out when they stood side by side at the white house. first african-american president and south american pope. trail blazers. [ inaudible ]. we have evolved. this pope is more accessible.

the homeless people. they were good people to be -- but didn't have the proximity as this pope does. >> the chopper is taking off heading into manhattan. you see the one there. i assume the other is right behind it. that other one, again, is there to protect and there just in case. >> also a decoy as they fly in tandem. not everyone knows which one is carrying the pope. he is getting a view of manhattan that diana said earlier is spectacular as anyone that has flown in to one of these airports or out of, you know it's spectacular. he will talk on this trip. he has mentioned it, income he inequality that is mayor de blasio's main them in his campaign for mayor and this the last year. he will get a glimpse of this

and riding on 5th avenue, the ritziest street retail wise in the country. he will get a look at that. >> mostly people. he won't be window shopping because there will be so many lining the streets, he won't see the stores. >> there is an 8-foot wall on 5th avenue. he can't stop and window shop if he wants to. >> probably not lost on him or others that he is going down 5th avenue, a lot of high end stores. >> home to st. patrick's cathedral. $177 million spent on the renovation of that cathedral. >> which they had to fast track because they had planned the renovation. it was underway then they got wind and cardinal dolan told me about this. he got wind way back in april that the pope might coming to new york city and he said to the workers there -- that's why you see so many out in front of

st. patrick's cathedral this evening because they had to work extra hard and extra long hours in order to finish the job on time. and, so, as part of a reward for the hard work they put in, that is why you see them out in front of st. patrick's because of the extra effort that they made to get the job done much faster than they were supposed to. they were a good three months ahead of schedule. >> when you spend $177 million to remodel and expand the cathedral and close catholic schools because the church can't afford to under right the losses, doesn't that present a dichotomy to you. >> the church becomes our home. it's important to be able to gather people. because this cathedral is in in the later of you might say the capital of the world, it has to be preserved. you have to balance that. the archdiocese is able to get a lot of donations specifically to help in that way.

capital campaign for that that would be a separate kind of budget item in order to redo the cathedral. >> since it's the mother church of the archdiocese, everything is going to em mine nat from there. it's a sense of preserving not only the history but the continuation of the archdiocese. >> interesting, before we take a quick break. that plane will take there until saturday morning at 8:00 well guarded.

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pope francis in new york. he arrived about 5:09 today. next stop midtown manhattan after he lands and secret service provided helicopters at a heliport in lower manhattan. this city is ready to greet the pope. the pope will spend less than 40 hours on the ground in new york. when he touched down, we showed you a little while ago he was greeted by students and a high school jazz banned from brooklyn. pope francis boarded a helicopter en route to the wall street helipad in lower manhattan. >> from there he will be brought to midtown where he will appear in a popemobile to st. patrick's cathedral. tonight he will attend evening prayers called vespers. >> we showed you thousands of people have lined the motorcade route some waiting hours to see the pontiff. sade is outside the cathedral

with sade? >> reporter: the pontiff has arrived in new york and is about to make his way of 5th avenue. there are many kids behind me from xavier high school and notre dame. they erupt knowing the pontiff is about to arrive. behind me i have senator chuck schumer, you met the pope twice. >> good fortune. once on the way in and way out. on the way in i said how much i admire you, he said thank you. on the way out, senator lahey. he goes first says i am the longest ranking catholic in the senate and i admired your speech. i said to him i'm not catholic and i loved your speech. he laughed. the cardinals laughed. i will remember that moment the rest of my life. >> incredible moment for new yorkers. amazing man. he is soft spoken and powerful. a holy man. he moves people to action by his words. everyone in congress was impressed. the partisanship melted away.

>> the excitement is growing on 5th avenue. >> i can't wait to see him. my spine is tingling. >> it is tingling for a lot of people. again, you guys, the excitement is building on 5th avenue. the pope is about to get on the popemobile any moment on 5th avenue. he will be holding a vesper service this evening. everybody is waiting for the moment to witness history. back to you, bill. >> sade, give our best to senator schumer as well. thousands lining 5th avenue hoping to get a glimpse of the pope during the first open motorcade. >> you had to get a ticket in order to get inside to the parade route area. one person that mad to get inside is stacey sager. stacey? >> we are going to stefan kim. is that right? >> upper east side. when it comes to all this beefed up security on the east

walking up or downtown, that is relatively easy and manageable. if you are going across town east to west with the barricades and closed off streets, that's where it gets tricky. with countless officers on the ground, 72nd street by madison is about to go into lock down. the popemobile has arrived and the vatican flag posted outside the residence on the upper east side where pope francis will spend two nights one step closer to the neighborhood turning into a frozen zone. residents here don't seem to mind. >> this is fantastic. this is the best pope. he is coming to our city. i live on 72nd street. i couldn't be more excited. >> reporter: when it comes to getting around, so far so good. they say they feel safe while being able to get to where they need to go. >> i travel the subway every day. every turn you see a cop. it's good. >> it hasn't been difficult getting around. >> so far, know.

this is u.n. week, the pope is here. an every day feeling. >> reporter: howard says the only thing he is doing definitelily, leaving the car in the garr -- differently, leaving the car in the garage. >> they have a listing of the streets closed off. five page print out. ridiculous. >> reporter: and he hasn't arrived yet. >> i tossed it on my desk. >> reporter: the nypd says when the pope is physically inside that residence and coming and going, this will be a frozen zone. forest deputies during that time that live here, they have to show an idea and escorted home by a police officer, on the upper east side, stefan kim, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> stay on. have you talked to anyone that had to do that yet? what is their attitude. >> that won't go into effect until tonight.

>> they will feel safe going home at night. >> safest place. >> officer walks them to the front door. >> thank you. he is outside the vatican building. >> the residency. >> you are taking a look at a live picture. this is the heliport in lower manhattan. it looks like a vehicle is now leaving and, bill, you probably know cars better than i do. i don't know if the pope got in that vehicle or not. is that a fiat. >> he has not gotten in. if he were in that car there would be secret service guys around. that is a fiat. it's similar if not the same one -- i think it's different -- the pope was riding in in washington earlier today and all of yesterday. no limo for the pope. >> no. very modest four-door fiat. >> the pope is heading down the fdr drive shut down at this point.

of course the folks on the parade route extremely excited that they will get to see the popemobile and n.j. burkett has been there all day. >> he is outside, right outside the security zone. is that right, nj. >> reporter: that's right. you can see behind me the sand truck set up here. you can see the nypd canine dog. this is thunder. he is nine years old. he is a shiloh shepherd i'm told out here helping keep the city safe this week. >> we will interrupt you because the pope has just landed. that's what you are seeing on the right side of the screen. the pope landed. one of two helicopters. >> they fooled us with the two helicopters. at least one landed, landing at the heliport on wall street. as diana said, they will get out then motorcade their way, not with the popemobile but real motorcade and the pope

that's why the fiat was at the landing strip. no limo for him. he will be in that car with three other people inside with him. >> n.j., fill us in on what is going on around the parade route. >> reporter: we are one block down and one block over from the cathedral but access has been limited the last several hours. you can see the officers are patrolling the checkpoint. the only people allowed in are people with press credentials like us, people with office ids and people with tickets. there are two tiers to the tickets. one allows access to the motorcade. the other ticket is the golden ticket that gets you inside for

a lot of people out here are jealous of those. back to you. >> now we have seen the second chopper land. we don't know which one he is in. >> that's a mystery. our cameras are there. we have several reporters in and around st. patrick's. you saw sade, n.j., jim dolan, kemberly richardson is there. >> we have stacey sager who has gotten inside the viewing area. she managed to get a ticket, not the golden ticket but one of those tickets, so, she is inside the parade route. >> let me track it out for you we will stay on the pope. we will see the parade, the little parade, mini parade to saint patrick's and we will

course we will bring vespers starting at 6:45. you gave a good explanation for those of you joining us as we begin the "eyewitness news at 6:00" period. what did you call it. >> vesper means evening in latin. it is an evening prayer service that typically arrives with sundown. it's a smaller evening service. not a full mass, not commune january. >> we are looking for a man in a white robe and white outfit. we zoom cardinal dolan is among those in the red. we don't know which helicopter he was on. father, any ideas. >> he is probably with cardinal dolan, i would imagine. >> okay. okay.