July 10, 2009
Inside Statue of Liberty's crown looking out on NYC
Wth great fanfare, the Statue of Liberty’s crown on July 4th re-opened to the public for the first time since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And while that news made for some great soundbytes, there are plenty of details you need to know if you actually plan to make the trip yourself.
The quick info:
A $3 special crown ticket is required in addition to the regular ferry ticket to reach the crown and must be purchased before you get to Liberty Island. Currently they’re sold out until Oct. 5, but sometimes earlier dates pop up due to cancellations.
When buying tickets, you must list the names of everyone in your group (up to four,) and you must show corresponding identification for everyone in order to get the wristband before entering the statue. Other measures may still be added to discourage scalpers.
Since 2004, Liberty Island has had an additional airport-style security point with puffer machines to check anyone entering the museum in the pedestal. But restrictions are far more stringent for crown access. During the first weekend, visitors were told they could take only their ticket and one camera. Everything else — including wallets, cash, credit cards, small purses, water — had to go into lockers. By Wednesday, at least one visitor was told some medications are allowed up.
There are 354 narrow, sometimes dark stairs up the tightly-wound double-helix staircase. If you’re not in good shape or get claustrophobia, this might not be your deal.
The plan is to keep the crown open for two years only and then close it again for more extensive safety repairs. However, funds for that project will require a Congressional appropriation, Darren Boch, a spokesman for the National Park Service, told NewYorkology.
Buying tickets to the Statue of Liberty’s crown
Tickets must be purchased in advance, often far in advance. Only 30 people per hour will be allowed up to the crown. (By comparison, 20,000 visited Liberty Island this past Saturday and Sunday, a Statue Cruises spokesperson told NewYorkology.)
You can buy crown tickets online or via the phone when buying a ferry tickets. They’re sold only through Statue Cruises, which is the only way to get to the Liberty and Ellis islands. (Circle Line lost the ferry contract in 2007.)
You want crown tickets, which will also get you admission to the museum, pedestal and its outdoor observation decks. If you can’t get crown tickets, the next best thing is the monument pass, which gets you into the museum, pedestal and observation decks. The free monument passes are also limited, and ideally should be reserved in advance when you buy your ferry ticket. However a small number of timed-entry monument passes are available every morning at the ticket booths, but sometimes the entire day’s allotment is gone within five minutes.
Taking the ferry
Since Statue Cruises took over ferry operations in 2008, timed-entry tickets have been available, making the lines far more manageable. However, the best way to avoid the lines is to get on the first boat of the day (which varies during the year.)
There is a ferry departure point in New Jersey, but the main one is at Castle Clinton at the southern tip of Manhattan. The exterior of the fort is literally locked (with a “Wizard of Oz”-style mini cut-out door for employees) until 8 a.m. Even if you’ve printed out your tickets at home, you need to head to a will-call window inside the castle courtyard to pick up your crown pass. On Sunday morning, all windows were open, one employee operated an additional station through the side door, and at least two other employees were working the lines making sure people were in the right places.
From there, visitors proceed toward the water and queue for the security tent. Passengers with 9 a.m. tickets were told to wait as all the 8 a.m. ticket folders were allowed in first. In the morning, the lines are very short but it is airport-style security that requires no belts, watches and the like as you pass through metal detector. Large bags are not allowed and there are no lockers here.
By 8:15 a large group of people were already in the second tent, waiting to board the first ferry of the day at 8:30 a.m.
The ferry boats have indoor and outdoor seating, restrooms and food and drink for sale.
The boat from Manhattan first goes to Liberty Island (before proceeding to Ellis Island and making the same loop all day.)
 Once off the boat, if you have a crown ticket head for the information building on your left to pick up your red wristband. A park ranger will ask for identification from everyone in your group and make sure it matches up with her list.
Don’t bother mucking up this line if you don’t already have a ferry ticket that says “crown access.” On Sunday morning, more than half of the people in this line (which stretched out the door,) did not have tickets but had a lot of questions about why they couldn’t get them.
Boch told NewYorkology there are no plans to offer on-site last-minute tickets to the crown.
At the information center a ranger will make sure the names on your tickets match the name on the National Park Service list for the current time slot. You’ll get a red wrist band and proceed toward the white tent near the base of the Statue of Liberty.
Enter the tent and find the lockers, which are operated by smartelocke. The price is $1 (only $1 bills are accepted) for two hours. You enter your money at the pay station, and will be asked for a fingerprint as a lock (which was broken in our case) or be asked to choose a code. At that point a locker lights up, allowing you to put everything inside. If you forget something, it will cost an extra $1 to open. (Employees working near the lockers said they will not automatically pop open after two hours, but you will be asked to pay extra if you return late.)
A giant sticker inside the lockers state: “LIABILITY: Not over $25.00 for loss or damage. No liability will be assumed for cash, jewels, perishable goods, or items of extraordinary value. After park closes, contents may be removed and held for 7 days.”
As mentioned earlier, everything goes in here except for your ticket and a camera. You can take your cell phone if it has a camera and it’s the only camera you’re taking. On Sunday, crown visitors were told no exceptions, not even to keep identification and credit cards in a zippered pocket.
In an interview today, Boch confirmed that rangers are making exceptions for medications you might reasonably require during the climb, such as an asthma inhaler. But that’s it.
The main reason for this has to do with clearing the security tent, Boch said.
Before July 4, the security tent on Liberty Island was set up to screen 240 people per hour with the puffer machines. Now, 30 extra visitors per hour are added to the same tent where space and resources were already stretched, Boch said.
Down the line, the security operations could get modified, but that’s the way it is now.
After your goods are in the locker, show a ranger your red wristband so you can go to the short crown line instead of the longer monument pass line for security.
Climbing to the statue’s crown
Once you’ve cleared security, head into the base of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and have a look at the original torch, which is on display in the lobby. Find the ranger who will check your name off another list and break your group of 30 into groups of 10. The first group of 10 will climb up the steps, the first of many.
There are several sets of stairs in the pedestal, an elevator for emergencies (which does not go up to the top,) as well as well-placed emergency equipment. Frequently there are signs stating the number of steps in each sequence.
You may want to delicately jockey for position here as there is zero space to pass someone on the steps, unless they volunteer to step out to take a breather at the platforms along the way. Take pictures on your way down rather than up, when time’s at a premium.
As you arrive into the statue’s head, you may be surprised how small the space is. Eight to 10 people can fit - including the ranger stationed at the top. And once people start taking pictures of each other, the space feels even tighter. Faster than you might think, you’ll hear the next group of 10 huffing up the stairs and the ranger will gently coach your group back down the stairs.
The view from the Statue of Liberty’s crown
There may not be a superlative strong enough to capture that first, literally breathless, view out the windows as the Statue of Liberty’s crown points to Lower Manhattan, neatly framed by the Hudson and East Rivers and bridges, bridges, bridges as far as the eye can see. The windows are small yet serially panoramic: Times Square, the new Bank of America skyscraper, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler, World Financial Center, the rebuilt World Trade Center 7, the Woolworth Building, the AIG Building, the Staten Island ferry the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges, Castle Williams and picnic areas on Governors Island, the Williamsburgh Bank and container ports in Brooklyn, the horizon line beyond the Verrazano Bridge, and finally, just under Liberty’s arm, Staten Island.
At the windows on the far right, you can see her arm as well as the bottom of the torch. (The torch has been closed since 1916 when it was damaged and destabilized by a massive rail yard explosion in New Jersey.)
Another good reason to catch the first ferry of the day is because the interior of the statue can climb 20- to 25-degrees hotter than the outside temperatures. When it gets too hot, the statue will close for the day. (This policy was in place prior to 2001.)
 Once you’re down the stairs, a ranger will remove your red wrist band. This may also the ideal time to ask for directions to the museum, which is located in the pedestal — or you can make your way down the exterior of the pedestal observation decks and head back to the museum before your cross the wooden exit bridge. But don’t go through the exit turnstiles before seeing the museum; the only way to see it is if you have a monument or crown pass.
The well-curated, family friendly museum includes exact replica’s of statue body parts, model forms, pictures of it it pieces in France and New York City, and tells of the the drama surrounding its construction and slow fund-raising effort. This is also where you’ll see the original bronze plaque of Emma Lazarus’ sonnet “The New Colossus.”
The observation decks are not to be missed (unless you have neither a crown nor monument pass, in which case you’ll be limited only to the grounds - and gift shops.)
Picture credits: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
July 10, 2009 4:47 PM in Sightsology
Comments (0)
®Copyright 2004 - 2009, All Rights Reserved
|
