Nearly half of Central Park will be closed Friday for Pope Francis' visit

NEW YORK (WABC) -- If you're not attending Pope Francis' procession through Central Park Friday, you may just want to avoid the southern half of the park.

Nearly the entire southern half of the park will be closed off to the public. The southeast corner is excluded, but the rest is off limits.

The closures run from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. The blocked-off area starts at West 81st Street on the Upper West Side along the road that ends up at East 79th Street on the Upper East Side.

Here's a look a map the city released of the closed-off area. Any parts highlighted in red will be closed:

Pope Francis' procession through the park is expected to be in front of an audience of 80,000 people. Only those who won tickets through a lottery will be permitted to enter the park.

There will be many other traffic diversions due to the pope's visit to the city. Click here to check out our list of all the street closures.

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For complete coverage of Pope Francis' NYC visit, check out our special section: abc7ny.com/pope