February 10, 2003
NewYorkology Basics: Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
(Updated April 2008)
The Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty tours are ideal starting places to understand all the hopes and dreams and fears about New York City. It will take you most of the day -- and there are some tricks and pre-planning involved -- but it's worth it.
 The Statue of Liberty reopened to the public in August 2004, following its closure on Sept. 11, 2001. However, access to the top is no longer allowed.
If you visit, know there's a ticketing trick. You need a (free) special timed-entry pass to get inside the statue, its museum and the observation decks, otherwise you're limited to the grounds of the island. The tickets are extremely limited and best reserved in advance online so you can print your verification. You can also try to get one of the walk-up passes, which are available every day when the ticket booth opens, but the whole day's allotment can run out in as little as five minutes.
The best way to do it is to get a timed-tour pass and a spot on the first ferry of the day. Securing a pass for late in the day means you'll need to visit Ellis first and double-back to Liberty Island, (unless you start from New Jersey,) adding time you'll waste waiting for the ferries.
At Ellis Island they have done a tremendous job restoring the main building and the exhibits, which sometimes include first-person audio narration. You get a glimpse of what it must have felt like arriving as an immigrant with all your worldly possessions in a suitcase. The abandoned south side of the island is still closed to the public, but the first of the restored building opened in April 2007. See Save Ellis Island for pictures of the renovation work or to make donations to help speed it up.
You'll also read up on the airport-like security rules. There are no lockers for you to store anything before you board the ferry and go through the first security checkpoint. (But there are small lockers on Liberty Island.)
One ticket covers the ferry trip to both islands. From the lower tip of Manhattan, the ferry heads to Liberty Island, then Ellis. Another boat leaves from New Jersey, which travels to Ellis first, Liberty second.
If you have little interest in touring the insides of Ellis or the Statue of Liberty, you can save the ferry fare by instead taking the Staten Island Ferry, which is free and passes fairly close to the islands.
Related:
Statue Cruises settling in to new Statue of Liberty route
Inside Ellis Island's restoration; next up: laundry
Statue of Liberty: long lines, mondo security, big payoff
Lowtide surprise: the sunken Ellis Island ferry
February 10, 2003 05:15 PM in Basic NYC Guide
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