Ready to wait 'as long as it takes'

Orlene Williams didn’t know about Taylor Swift’s wedding when she arrived for work Friday morning at 5 Penn Plaza. But after a security guard told her the office was closed for the Fourth of July weekend, she wandered across the street and sat down next to a woman who told her about the day’s festivities.

That was at 8:30 a.m. And even though the Brooklyn woman is "not a Swiftie," she’s planning to spend the entire day in the heat in the hope of spotting her.

"I’d like to see her with my naked eyes," Williams, who turns 63 on Saturday, said shortly after noon. "I have things to do today, but I can put it on hold. I’m going to sit here and wait."

Williams knows some Taylor Swift songs and likes what she’s heard.

"Her voice is touching," she said. "It’s just her natural voice. It’s not like she’s putting on something to sing. And she’s just down to earth. She’s a simple person."

Williams was enjoying the scene, filming videos of herself with TV cameras in the background, and of a Newsday reporter interviewing her.

"I think I’m going to be around here for the longest while," she said.

Nearby, Alex Castro of Malverne arrived at Rockefeller Center before 3 a.m. to get a good spot for the TODAY Show’s Maren Morris 8:30 a.m. concert. He hadn’t decided when he left home if he’d head to Madison Square Garden to check out the Taylor Swift scene. "I was thinking about it," he said. But once Castro, 30, decided to go, he prepared to be there all day. "As long as it takes," he said.

Castro isn’t sure if he’ll actually see Swift or anyone else beyond the metal barriers and other security measures surrounding the arena.

"We’ll just see what happens," he said.

But he was happy to be soaking in the vibe surrounding the wedding celebration.

"I’m a huge Swiftie," he said. "I’ve been following her since her debut album and her first songs, (like) ‘Teardrops on My Guitar,’" which is on her 2006 debut album, "Taylor Swift."

He finds Swift’s songs catchy and relatable.

"Her music really touches the fans," he said. 

Steven Hutchison is on the last day of his World Cup trip to the United States to see his home Scottish team play. They were eliminated, so after a trip to the Empire State Building on Thursday, Hutchison, 51, of Edinburgh, Scotland, decided to head to Madison Square Garden Friday afternoon. “I think just being part of a historic occasion,” he said when asked why he was there. “In the U.K., we have royal weddings, and I think this is the closest America will come to a royal wedding.”

Hutchison said he and his daughters are fans of Swift but have never seen her in concert.

“This is about the closest I’ll get to her,” he said as he stood in his traditional red-checkered Scottish kilt across Seventh Avenue from white tents that appear to be entryways for wedding celebration guests.

“Everybody wants to wish them well and be part of it, and be part of the experience,” Hutchison said. “I think this is one of those once-in-and-lifetime experiences that you can say, ‘On that day, this is where I was.’”

Hutchison said he isn’t sure how long he’ll stay.

“Probably until I get bored or need a drink,” he said.