As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation weeklong San Francisco conference came to a close Friday afternoon, blocks of fencing lining the security zone around the Moscone Center were lifted from city streets and once again accessible to the public.
The signature black barricades wrapped around the security perimeter, termed an “exclusion zone,” only permitted pedestrians to enter the outer belt without screening but required authorized passes to enter the area around Moscone and Yerba Buena Gardens
Prior to the conference, the federal government declared APEC a National Special Security Event, a designation that underlined the potential for a terrorist attack or major civil disruption.
The first-of-its-kind designation in Northern California meant the United States Secret Service was in charge of security for the event, which was attended by dignitaries and CEOs ranging from President Joe Biden to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
By Friday evening, most of the fencing around the security zone was being taken down by city workers with residents being able to freely enter and exit the area.
See below for before and after photos of San Francisco barricades during APEC.
