New Administration Inspires Hope for Full Access to Statue of Liberty
NEW YORK -- For more than a hundred years, generations of New Yorkers, as well as tourists to the city, have made the trek up the spiral staircase to the crown of the Statue of Liberty, to peer through the small windows at the unparalleled view of New York Harbor.
But that iconic experience ended with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. All the national parks were briefly closed, but Liberty Island, the statue's home, remained shut for several months. When the island was reopened to visitors, in December 2001, the statue remained off-limits.
It was not until August 2004 that the statue's pedestal was opened to the public -- but the National Park Service, which controls Lady Liberty, kept the statue itself closed. The Park Service cited not security concerns but health and safety: The narrow, double-helix staircase was treacherous, officials said; the statue's interior could get stifling hot in the summer; and some visitors suffered from exhaustion, panic attacks and claustrophobia after climbing the 162 steps from the top of the pedestal to her crown...
But closing the statue after the terrorist attacks, for whatever reason, has carried enormous symbolism, particularly for New York political leaders who have been demanding that Lady Liberty be fully reopened to the public.
Read entire article at Washington Post
But that iconic experience ended with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. All the national parks were briefly closed, but Liberty Island, the statue's home, remained shut for several months. When the island was reopened to visitors, in December 2001, the statue remained off-limits.
It was not until August 2004 that the statue's pedestal was opened to the public -- but the National Park Service, which controls Lady Liberty, kept the statue itself closed. The Park Service cited not security concerns but health and safety: The narrow, double-helix staircase was treacherous, officials said; the statue's interior could get stifling hot in the summer; and some visitors suffered from exhaustion, panic attacks and claustrophobia after climbing the 162 steps from the top of the pedestal to her crown...
But closing the statue after the terrorist attacks, for whatever reason, has carried enormous symbolism, particularly for New York political leaders who have been demanding that Lady Liberty be fully reopened to the public.