Secret Service: We Expect City To Be "Open For Business" During Papal Visit
By Pat Loeb
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Secret Service says there's still no final word on security plans for the Pope's visit to Philadelphia, but they expect the city to be "open for business."
Deflecting daily questions and speculation about how much restriction the visit will cause, city officials have invoked the Secret Service as the ultimate arbitrator but the Secret Service says other agencies, and businesses, have plenty of latitude.
"The Secret Service does not force businesses to close," it says, and "has not directed any of the transit systems to limit stops."
True to a point, says SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams. Its Papal visit plan is primarily to insure it can accommodate the expected crowds, but closing Center City stations, she says, was not their call...
"Those stations we have been asked to close."
The Secret Service says the hold up in final plans is that the "configuration of the venues (the Pope) will visit has not been finalized," but they will be released, once complete.