Security, uncertainty clear out central Pittsburgh

Downtown carried on as a city at half-speed Wednesday, with many buildings closed, stores boarded up and blanket police coverage on the eve of a global economic summit that was bringing dignitaries, traffic headaches and the world's attention to Pittsburgh.

Platoons of police spent the afternoon tramping across the compact downtown known as the Golden Triangle, which includes most of Pittsburgh's skyscrapers and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, site of the two-day Group of 20 meeting.

The mood was an eerie mix: the adrenaline of celebrity-watching, a near-total law enforcement presence and the determination of business-owners to protect their properties - not unlike a shore town getting ready for a hurricane.

"I just somewhat have a sense that something potential might happen," said banker Paul Dawley, 41. Along with everyone else on the floor where he works, Dawley planned to get his work done somewhere else for the summit's duration. "I guess that's part of the reason I'm not coming in tomorrow or Friday."

Military helicopters buzzed overhead and Coast Guard boats zipped up and down the city's three rivers.

Police in riot helmets and carrying bundles of plastic zip ties took up strategic positions outside some of the city's cultural treasures, including Heinz Hall, home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. At times, their main duty seemed to be quietly acknowledging the well wishes of passers-by.

Massive metal barricades were in place to form a security perimeter around the convention center, with lines of black limousines bearing out-of-state plates parked in what normally would be the busy travel lanes of Penn Avenue, a major downtown artery.

Police and other emergency officials were on just about every block, some leading K-9 helpers, others carrying video cameras. Many rode in a seemingly endless stream of vehicles - from marked cruisers and SUVs to a hazardous materials truck and an ambulance towing a customized ATV.

A legion of private security guards also was out in force, positioned outside the buildings they were paid to protect.

One downtown food court was nearly empty and many businesses had signs saying they were closing for the two days of the summit.

There was no sign of the organized chaos that has accompanied similar international meetings in other cities and countries, although the potential for it on Thursday and Friday was on the minds of many Pittsburghers.

"I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the anarchist types are waiting for someone to get the ball rolling," said 57-year-old Paul Humphrey, holding a protest of a different sort - an anti-abortion prayer vigil - outside a Planned Parenthood office. "I haven't seen any evidence of violence. I've seen lots of police on bicycles."

Sales at Crazy Mocha Coffee Co.'s 10 downtown locations were off about 50 percent Wednesday, said general manager Adrienne Biondo. Some of the customers that did come through the doors of her shop near the convention center were foreign visitors in town for the summit.

They ordered far more espresso than the store normally sells - a phenomenon that Biondo's staff noted with some humor had also occurred during a recent convention of physicists.

"I understand people being nervous," Biondo said. "But we don't really know what to expect. We're not going to be boarding up anything here."

A couple of blocks away, Broadway Army Navy store owner David Abrams had just finishing installing about $250 worth of lumber he used to cover up his front windows, figuring it was "a lot easier to put up some plywood than to clean up a bunch of glass." He planned to shut down entirely for the two days of the summit.

Although Abrams had sold about 100 G-20 Summit T-shirts at $10 a pop in recent weeks, he was not happy about the overall impact on his city.

"It doesn't help our business," Abrams said.

The inconveniences for the city's denizens were expected to worsen come midnight Wednesday. That's when all vehicles were to be banned from a roughly three-block area around the convention center. In other parts of downtown, there will be exceptions for downtown residents' cars, buses, taxis and some delivery trucks.

Those restrictions are expected to be lifted Friday evening, after the summit ends.