"Times Square was the capital of exhibitionism, " Sharon Zukin, a professor at Brooklyn College and author of "Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places, " a book chronicling the city's gentrification in recent decades.
In a homily a year after Mr. Kirchner assumed office in 2003, the new pope assailed "exhibitionism and strident announcements" that he said characterized Argentine public life, in what was perceived as a thinly veiled critique of Mr. Kirchner.