New York officials have joined Cardinal Timothy Dolan in condemning the scalping of tickets to see Pope Francis' motorcade during his upcoming visit to New York City.
About 80,000 tickets were dispersed through a city-sponsored lottery system for the pope's Sept. 25 procession through Central Park. The city of Philadelphia, where the Pope plans to host multiple masses over the weekend of Saturday Sept 26, has reported similar scalping issues with tickets to Papal events.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the act of scalping the tickets for thousands of dollars was "disgusting" and "absolutely inconsistent" with the pope's beliefs.
More than 93,000 people entered a lottery to see the pope as he rides through Central Park during his visit to New York next week.
The city has begun distributing the tickets and some have popped up for sale on websites like Craigslist and eBay.
The mayor said those sites would attempt to cancel the sales.
De Blasio delivered his rebuke while outlining the massive security measures being put in place for the pope's visit, which comes during the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting.
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eBay has since announced that it would remove listings for tickets to Papal events because they violate its ticket policy, a spokesman for the company told the Philly Voice.
Dolan, the archbishop of New York, says tickets were free for a reason — to give as many people as possible the chance to participate in the pope's visit, including those with "modest means."
Sen. Daniel Squadron says the ticket scalping is in direct conflict with the spiritual leader's message.
Sen. Chuck Schumer commended eBay's decision to ban pope event tickets.
