Excitement Over Pope's Visit Builds In Queens' Little Argentina

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- In a slice of Queens they call Little Argentina, people are buzzing about Pope Francis' visit to New York City.

Pride for both Argentina and the pope abounds there. A life-sized cardboard Francis greets all who enter a soccer bar on Queens Boulevard. There's a bakery in Corona with the blue-and-white-striped flag painted across its side. Even the fire hydrants bear blue and white stripes.

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As WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported, inside El Gauchito, a butcher shop and restaurant, an 8-inch-by-10-inch photo of Pope Francis, an Argentinian, watches over the glass case of raw meat. Silverman overheard a customer mention "el Papa" -- the pope -- to the woman next to her in line.

"Yeah, a lot of people ask if he's coming, if he's coming here," said Marcello Civelli, whose family has owned the shop for 37 years.

"It's an excitement inside. It's a pride," he added. "It's a new thing in our community as an Argentinian. And it's something that makes this excitment, makes us happy."

Civelli did what he could to convince the powers that be to add a stop to the pope's intinerary in Queens.

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"We did," he said. "I spoke to a lot of people."

But it was not meant to be this time.

At an Argentinian steakhouse in Forest Hills, Horacio Salinas said he's been asked to make a grill for when the pope meets with church leaders.

Salinas said he's not very religious, but he's proud of Pope Francis.

"He's so smart, this pope," Salinas said.

Francis will arrive at JFK Airport on Sept. 24 and attend evening prayer at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The next day, he will address the United Nations General Assembly, host an interfaith service at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, visit Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem, take a motorcade through Central Park and celebrate Mass at Madison Square Garden.