CONCOURSE — The Bronx hasn't given up on getting a visit from Pope Francis just yet.
Although efforts to convince the pope to hold a mass at Yankee Stadium during his upcoming trip to New York City fell short, 161st Street Business Improvement District Executive Director Cary Goodman is still pushing for him to at least pass through the borough as part of a papal motorcade.
"It just seems to me like if a Mass is not going to be celebrated, the history should at least be commemorated," Goodman said. "And the best way to commemorate that would be to have the pope drive past the site of the stadium."
The motorcade will reportedly pass through Central Park, but Goodman stressed that a trip through The Bronx would be a fitting tribute to the borough's tradition of papal visits and a way for Pope Francis to connect with New York's Hispanic population.
"On River Avenue, we have that enormous footprint from the old Yankee Stadium that could be filled with people cheering and waving and paying their respects," he said.
The archdiocese did not respond to a request for comment.
Pope Paul VI previously visited The Bronx in 1965 to hold mass at Yankee Stadium, while Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI did the same in 1979 and 2008, respectively.
To prepare for the upcoming papal visit, the BID is planning to put up murals in the neighborhood for these three popes and Pope Francis, Goodman said. The organization plans to unveil them on Sept. 12 during a street fair.
Goodman has been working for months to get the pope to come to The Bronx. He maintained that the reasons Pope Francis should visit have already been well publicized, and it was now up to the archdiocese, the Vatican and City Hall to decide to bring him up here.
“I think that case has already been made when we put out our open invitation,” he said. “I haven’t heard that any of that interest has waned.”
