By SARAH GARLAND

I took on the pope beat last weekend for a few days. While most media outlets flooded the zone with armies of cameras and reporters furiously scribbling about every move he made, it was just me for the Sun. On Friday, I followed hundreds of other reporters onto a caravan of buses and into a Secret Service security quarantine where we were denied food or water for about seven hours (last time I was funneled through Secret Service bag check, we ended up in a room with a lavish breakfast buffet. But that was for President Bush, this was for the Pope. Fasting, I suppose, was somehow more appropriate). In the end I was rewarded by some great interviews with folks who showed up at the church on the Upper East Side to see Benedict, including a group of ecstatic nuns and a grumpy priest who provided my kicker. Here are some dispatches from the weekend, including a long news analysis looking at the impact of the trip

At ‘Crossroads,’ Benedict Calls for Increased Faith
April 18, 2008
http://nysun.com/news/%E2%80%98crossroads%E2%80%99-benedict-calls-increased-faith

Benedict Reaches Out to Ecumenical Community in NYC
April 18, 2008
http://nysun.com/news/new-york/benedict-reaches-out-ecumenical-community-new-york

‘Use Wisely the Blessings of Freedom’
Pontiff Ends Visit With a Challenge
April 21, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/news/use-wisely-blessings-freedom

Thirty years ago, Pope John Paul II took a spontaneous detour into the South Bronx during a trip to Yankee Stadium to say mass. This week, I wondered what would happen if the new pope, Benedict XVI, would do the same, and what he might find there. I discovered one parish that had the same thought: the priest at St. Rita’s Church, a strikingly pretty little white-washed building that stood out in its rather depressing surroundings, had photo-shopped a picture of the pope over one of their church and created a banner. I also discovered that not much has changed in these neighborhoods since John Paul stopped by. It’s still one of the poorest Congressional Districts in the nation, and the say a noon mass each day at St. Rita’s to pray for an end to violence in the neighborhood. Yet, it was also a hopeful scene, even though parishes in the area have closed. (The photographer and I came across one church, a majestic baroque building, down the street from where John Paul said a blessing. The doors were flung open wide, so we walked in. Looking up there were glass chandeliers, opulent stained glass windows and a tall arching ceiling. But looking down, dust covered the pews, light fixtures were piled up for recycling, and a broom sat leaning near piles of dirt. We were soon discovered by a construction worker, who told us the parish was now closed and then scooted us out of the building)

St. Rita’s, on the other hand, was booming with new parishioners, most of them Hispanic. Meeting with some of them, I thought, hey, if the pope wants to get to know the American Catholic Church, no better place to come than here. So I guess we’ll see what happens…

http://www.nysun.com/news/new-york/bronx-detour-could-prove-edifying-benedict

Newsday (New York)
May 13, 2005 Friday
THE FOLD: PARKWAY LANDSLIDE;
Parked in rough spot
BYLINE: BY SARAH GARLAND
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A46

Landslide

When a wall collapsed on my car yesterday where it was parked along the Henry Hudson Parkway, my first response was a sigh of relief. The engine burned oil and the dented hood I never fixed must be pulverized now, but I crossed my fingers and hoped that my insurance covers landslides.
At first I thought my car, a red 1993 Honda Civic, might be the one sticking halfway out of the rubble. Then I found Ann Alston, 70, who claimed that the half-buried car was hers, a red Toyota Corolla she had just repaired for $5,000.
“This is terrible. That red color is hard luck,” said Alston, a resident of 1380 Riverside Dr.
My red car was parked farther north along Riverside Drive, now underneath two trees and 20 feet of dirt.
It turns out we were all lucky. Alston had parked her car an hour before the collapse and her neighbor, Joan Donovan, had pulled in just behind her.
“I saw they were inspecting the wall the day before, but I asked and they said it’s just a couple of loose bricks,” said Donovan, who said she has noticed engineers taking photographs and monitoring the wall for several years. “I asked if I should park here and he said, ‘Yes, it’s fine.’”
Finding a parking spot in Washington Heights is a nightmare, so when I found a spot along the entry ramp to the Henry Hudson Parkway after cruising the streets for 45 minutes, I was ecstatic. I never noticed the loose bricks in the wall above. Instead, I halfheartedly jammed The Club onto my steering wheel, not bothering to lock it in the hope that some unsuspecting thief might steal the car and relieve me of my burden. I never dreamed I would get this lucky.
Chris Kane, a firefighter who responded after the collapse, said it would take a long time to dig the cars out. After I described my car to him, he congratulated me on my good fortune. “It’s going to be worthwhile,” he said.
Donovan and Alston were not as chipper as they waited to hear word of their vehicles. But they brightened when Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrived to express his condolences for our loss. They said they were happy to see him, and Donovan even suggested she would throw her support to him in the mayor’s race.
“I’ll vote for you if you get me a new car,” Donovan said.