I haven't been sleeping the best the last few nights, so when I woke up this morning at 5AM, I figured I stood a good chance to get a time pass to visit the Statue of Liberty. The statue was closed to the public on September 11, and remained off limits until its partial reopening last year. Anyone can buy a ferry ticket and visit Liberty Island to walk the grounds, but only a limited number of time passes are provided each day, allowing visitors to enter the statue. I arrived at 8AM, didn't have to queue, and within 35 minutes I was on the island.
Security is very tight. All visitors have to go through an airport style x-ray and metal detector before boarding the ferry. Then once on the island, visitors with a time pass have to pass a second set of tests. In addition to the standard x-ray and metal detectors, there is this really cool machine which blows air on you, then sniffs you for explosives. I have seen this once before, in Toronto at the CN Tower (where the machines look like an inverted dalek). The security at the Empire State Building wasn't as good, although there were many, many more security guards everywhere. When I visited the ESB, and passed through the metal detectors, I completely forgot about the mobile phone that sits in the special mobile phone pocket near the bottom hem of my shorts. The scary thing is that it didn't set off the metal detectors.
Since the bombings in London last week there is definitely a bigger police presence on the subways and at tourist sites. At Penn Station last week I passed an army guy in fatigues carrying a semi-automatic weapon (or was it fully automatic - I really can't tell). It is totally beyond me how a show like that is supposed to make me feel more safe. Why wouldn't ordinary revolvers suffice? Dan was telling me the other night that when he went to work on September 12 2001, there were only two other people on his peak hour subway train. A woman, also on her way to work, and an army dude with an automatic rifle.
But back to the statue. I am glad I did get to go inside. That's where the museum is located, and it was filled with fantastic photos and information detailing the history and construction of the monument. I also got to see up close the original torch, which was replaced with a brand new 24K gold gilded torch when the statue was renovated in 1986 for its centennial. The only part of the statue that was not reopened to pre-S11 access is the crown. It used to be the case that visitors could walk up dozens and dozens of stairs in a spiral staircase to access the "observatory" in the crown. The statue was never intended to be an observatory, and in fact there weren't even stairs inside the tower for the first two years of its life. The National Parks Service is firmly refusing to reopen the crown, saying that it prevents a safety risk more than a security risk (because the narrow spiral staircase is the only way up or down). But there is a movement in Washington afoot to introduce a bill to force the NPS to reopen the crown.
Anyhow, the highest I could go was to the base of the pedestal, just below Ms Liberty's feet. A glass roof has been installed at this point, so visitors can look up inside the structure. Did you know that the copper panelling is only 3/32" thick? The strength of the structure is provided by stainless steel (originally iron) latticework that resembles a bridge cantilever. The view from the pedestal level was fantastic, not just of the statue but of New York Harbour as well. Again, another good reason to try and get a time pass if you visit.
The ferry stops at Ellis Island before returning to Manhattan. I have been keen to visit the immigration processing centre for a long time. Yes, it is featured in many movies (eg The Godfather Part II), but that's not the reason in this case. In the first fifteen years of the 20th century, my great-grandfather regularly travelled to the USA for short work stints. I found out about all this when my grandfather died. My grandmother gave me her father-in-laws passport, with New York entry stamps. In the last few years, the Ellis Island records have been published on-line, and I was able to confirm my great-grandfathers visits. So it was kinda cool to visit the island for that reason.
The site was abandoned in the late 50s, and left to rot. At the same time as the Statue of Liberty received her makeover in the mid 80s, Ellis Island was restored to how it looked around 1920. The exhibits provide considerable detail about the island's history, covering the medical examinations, court procedures, living standards for detainees, and even provides samples of the clothing and belongings that some immigrants brought with them.
Definitely consider a trip to Liberty and Ellis islands.
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