chris. let s see if the windows are down. we could catch a side of him. he s on the right side. on the right side there. and there he goes. it s a quick pass. it is a very quick pass. but i think these folks who have their cell phone cameras out tonight got a much better shot of the pope than they did coming in because i was literally in this same spot, chris, looking for the popemobile when all of a sudden he appeared right here 15, 20 feet behind me and i had no chance to get my camera out in time to take a quick pic. so there he goes. he s going to retire for the night. and i think a lot of these folks if they got good pictures, will retire a little happier than they did this morning when they woke up. they actually got to see him. chris, back to you. ron, thanks so much. it never stops being delightful to me, the image of the fiat hatchback, in the midst of the massive suvs. and the pope in the back seat in what looks cramped.
so i think the crowd here is significantly smaller than we saw for the arrival. and because so many people expected to see him in the popemobile and he goes by there s the fiat there. i beg your pardon. that is not the fiat. we ll continue to look for it. so many people missed it, chris, because it is diminutive compared to these large suvs you see with the red and white lights. so folks who have their cameras out tonight should have a much better shot than some of the folks who were here a little while ago, a couple of hours ago trying to get a glimpse of him. now, the pontiff sat on the right rear of that fiat on the way down to the cathedral tonight. so the folks on the west side of the street were in the best position to get a glimpse of him coming in. we ll just have to see if we can see which side he is seated in the rear of the vehicle on the way northbound on fifth avenue. but as you can see, there s a lot of excitement here. we should be seeing him momentarily as the motorcy
residence that is just north. and you can see there the crowds that have assembled outside. stephanie. you can see him now. reporter: yeah, pope francis just made his way out. he s getting back in his motorcade. now, when he came down fifth avenue, he was in the popemobile and he was waving to crowds in the open popemobile. now he s getting into that now familiar fiat. this is going to be one of those closed motorcades. and they re going to take him up to the papal nuncio where he will spend the night. there are still people on the streets here hoping to catch a glimpse of him, and outside of the cathedral you still have those crowds assembled that had basically the golden ticket really outside the cathedral standing at its doors. on one side a number of school children from the area and on the other the workers who worked on the renovation of the cathedral.
reporter: so now they re beginning to move here. you see the convoy slowly edging off. this is not going to be a slow trip. you can imagine that after the incredible day that pope francis has had, the poor man probably just needs a little sleep. all right. i want to bring in now nbc news correspondent ron mott who is on 59th street and 5th avenue just up from where the pope departed st. patrick s cathedral. he is coming your way, ron. reporter: yes, he is coming this way. he is probably a good block and a half away. we re just at the corner of 59th street and 5th avenue, which of course is the start of central park. and the pontiff is heading up to the upper eastside, about a half a mile, chris, up on east 72nd street where he will take rest for the night. so i think the crowd here is significantly smaller than we saw for the arrival. and because so many people expected to see him in the popemobile and he goes by there s the fiat there.
again, this is a gesture the pope has made. is this the car he went out and bought? because he went out and bought a used car there was a car he drove around when he was the cardinal in argentina in buenos aires which was also famously something of a beater. this a brand new fiat i should note that the pope has been transporting in. he is now making his way north on 5th avenue. we should note of course 5th avenue goes south in manhattan. this is all being rerouted and redirected for the benefit of the pope. this is, as ron mentioned earlier, the arrival was in the open popemobile sort of more ceremonial motorcade in which people could see him. this is him basically retiring for the night as he heads up to 72nd street, where he will bring a close to a very, very busy day. a day that began in washington, d.c. with the first ever joint speech to congress. charlie, your thoughts on that