Pope Francis will see two different sides of Manhattan on Friday — when he addresses world leaders at the United Nations and later meets schoolkids in Harlem.
Thousands greeted the pontiff for his arrival Thursday in Manhattan, with crowds lining Fifth Avenue as Francis headed to a service at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
At the U.N. General Assembly, Francis is expected to discuss the need for peace, the plight of refugees and the role of poverty and bad government in driving conflict and migration.
While there, he due to meet U.N's secretary general Ban Ki-Moon and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After his U.N. appearance, Francis will pause at the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan where he will meet with ten families of victims and emergency responders before leading multi-religious prayer for peace alongside an imam and a rabbi, NBC New York reported.
"[It's] truly awe-inspiring, humbling and I think deeply, deeply meaningful," museum director Alice Greenwald told the station.
Francis then will meet schoolchildren in the heavily Hispanic neighborhood of East Harlem and offer a special blessing to refugees and immigrants, including people living in the country illegally.
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An expected 80,000 onlookers are expected to greet Francis after that for his processional through Central Park en route to a Mass for 18,000 at Madison Square Garden.
Francis's visit to New York is the first by a pope since Benedict XVI toured the city for three days in 2008. A massive security operation has been put in place, and transportation officials have warned of traffic gridlock and urged people to stay off the roads on Friday.
The NYPD warned that it would set up some 37 miles of roadside barriers during the holy visit.
After his packed New York day, Francis will head to Philadelphia for the weekend.
The pope been stressing the need for peace and empathy on his stops in the U.S.
In his historic speech to Congress Thursday, Francis said: "Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated," adding: "Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves."
He underscored his message by traveling to a downtown Washington D.C. church where he mingled with homeless people, blessed their noontime meal and walked among them while they ate.