Sorry for the late addon here, andI understand there is low chance of response – but I have to ask wouldn’t the guys in Jersey deliberately trash the PA plans for the vent because that way, when they had to hold their own large(r) size events the expectations of how well they could do it would be lowered?
OK, so while there is still a month left, this isstarting to look like a flop. I think they managed to scare everyone away.
On today’s local news, there was indeed a new PR campaign by the city that basically said ‘Come see the Pope! The traffic, walking and crowds won’t be so bad!’
Mayor Nutter also criticized a story in the Washington Post (which criticized Philly’s plans for the Pope’s visit). Nutter basically said ‘I know better than the WP’s sources.’
I’m as Philly as it gets.
In typical Philly fashion (people running Philly and/or raised in culture of Philly), they will do everything to ensure that you go to bed wondering if they got a grip on this thing.
The biggest symptom that everyone here suffers from is rationalizing any shortcomings in anything and everything. Doesn’t matter how they rationalize it; they will. ‘‘Philly, you should be doing THIS, says world experts.’’ Philly rationlaizes why that is not necessary… for Philly. Maybe okay for everyone else, but here…ummm… no.
Also, they have to make sure everyone outside of Philly thinks, “Boy o’ boy, that’s gonna be fucked up for Philly.” I assure you, with every fiber of my being, people from this area NEED THIS RESPONSE LIKE A DRUG. They cannot, and they WILL NOT, rest if everyone outside of Philly is like, "Hey, that’s some pro moves Philly; yer all grown up like you should be for the second largest East Coast city that’s been around, like, FOREVER.’’ Again, the fucktards in charge NEED outsiders to say, “Damn, Philly, that’s fucked up.”
It’s like a drug addiction.
AND… people are raised to think small here… like, “Oh, we’re l’il ol’ Philly with the big ol’ Pope thing coming to town. We can’t handle this! Let’s panic.”
I write this as I look at Independence Hall. This damn city is too far along to act like this… but it never stops.
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But now they just came out (with a contradiction from earlier pronouncements) that tickets will be required to get in the first 4-5 blocks of crowd. As of now, they will only be distributed to local parishes.
Are you one of the 75% of local population that isn’t Catholic who was interested in coming because the spinmeisters billed it as an ‘event for all, not just Catholics’, well F U. Are you one of the 50+ people who were planning on coming from the U of Iowa, or just a family from another state? Maybe not anymore as you won’t be getting tix. Or maybe you could still come & watch one of the 40 Jumbotrons that they’re setting up, some so far away you can’t even see the opposite end of the main street he’ll be on. :rolleyes:
Even the City Controller says this has the making of a boondoggle.
I just saw this on the news this morning. IMO, the worst part was the stated “Tickets do not guarantee entry.”
My ham radio club was contacted about providing communication during the papal visit. The catch is that you have to be able to get into the city. Even though I know people in Philly that I could theoretically crash with, I’m not willing to even try to do this.
Never mind. The emergency management agencies have this covered. See you in Philly!
Allright, reviving and bumping…
Anyone in the region… how are y’all weathering the Popeocalypse?
Away from center city and with no plans to go anywhere, I’m fine. However, from what I’ve seen, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and My have all suspended normal programming in favor of hours upon hours of Pope coverage.
In related news, KYW news radio referred to Philly as “Pope-opolis”. They called the traffic problems a “Pope-nado”. They also said “If you’re driving into Philly, may the force be with you.”
Last night I had reason to be at the Cathedral where he gave Mass today & therefore, had to go thru one of the magnetometer stations (being staffed by TSA :rolleyes:) & got to watch the tech setting up another one by strapping a knife to her leg &/or other objects & repeatedly walking thru it until it got the desired (high sensitivity) results. I do not anticipate security clearance to be quick in the morning & expect people missing Mass because of waiting in line so long.
As predicted, people weren’t able to make it thru security to get to Mass. (Security station is two blocks to the right of the picture!)
Also, restaurants in Center City take a hit