August 14, 2008
$150K report to study opening Statue of Liberty's crown
Pressured into commissioning another study to determine if there’s a safe way to reopen the upper levels of the Statue of Liberty to tourists, the federal government will spend $150,000 on a new report due in February, according to the Daily News.
It could be a step in the right direction unless “it’s just another bureaucratic barrier, then it’s not worth the paper it’s written on,” U.S. Rep. and probable mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner told the paper.
In 2006, Weiner pushed the House of Representatives to approve $1 million to reopen the Statue of Liberty’s crown. The vote garnered a lot of headlines worldwide, but a National Park Service official called the statue a “firetrap” and told NewYorkology that “regardless of what happens, a fire or post-9/11 action, we still find it does not meet the standards for egress and fire safety.”
Sept. 10, 2001 was the last day Lady Liberty’s crown was open to the public. But oddly enough, prior to that the National Park Service was already under pressure (most publicly via a New Jersey newspaper investigation) to improve the safety issues for visitors at the Statue of Liberty.
Since August 3, 2004, visitors with special monument passes have been able to get inside the statue’s pedestal and look up into the statue — from about the height of her toes. (Access to the torch has been off-limits since 1916 following a massive railyard explosion nearby at Black Tom’s, which was widely believed to have been caused by German saboteurs.)
Just days ago, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called for all federal, state and international buildings to lose their exemption from New York City fire codes. That would mean new rules for the United Nations, Grand Central Terminal and many other tourist hot spots.
Earlier: NewYorkology Basics: Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
Fire safety keeping Statue of Liberty’s top closed
August 14, 2008 12:44 PM in Sightsology
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