High winds close Statue of Liberty, downtown streets
Extremely high winds and tides have caused the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to close for the day, according to the National Park Service.
“A combination of high winds and tides makes it unsafe for visitors to board and disembark the ferries to and from the islands. The park plans to re-open Tuesday, January 26,” states an advisory from the NPS. In 2009, extreme weather closed the Statue of Liberty only three times, twice for snow and once for heat.
Notify NYC, an official alert system operated by NYC government, also issued a wind advisory around 10 a.m.: “There are multiple street closures near City Hall Park in Manhattan. Debris is falling because of the high winds. The area between Gold Street, Ann Street and Park Row is closed to cars and pedestrians.”
Area airports are also operating with delays, according to the recent alerts issued by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.
Statue of Liberty crown six-month visitor total: 32,609
In the first six months since the Statue of Liberty’s crown was reopened to the public with new strict security, 32,609 people bought tickets to climb the 354 steps to the top in 2009, according to Statue Cruises, the only ferry company authorized to take visitors to the island.
Closed since Sept. 11, 2001, the crown reopend July 4, 2009 with new procedures that allow only 30 people per hour to climb up the narrow double-helix staircase, which was criticized as a firetrap even before the 2001 terror attacks.
For the full 12 months of 2009, Liberty and Ellis islands racked up a total visitation number of 3,829,710, Statue Cruises spokesperson Tegan Firth told NewYorkology by e-mail today.
Severe weather interruped service on three days. It was snow on March 2 and Dec. 20; extreme heat closed the crown Aug. 17.
Of all the tickets sold, a mere 10 percent were online, Firth said. The bulk, 78 percent were walk-ups while 12 percent were sold through the call center.
Time-specific crown tickets must be purchased in advance. In the summer, they sold out months in advance but currently January tickets are still there for the taking.
The $12 Statue Cruises ticket covers the ferry ride to both Ellis and Liberty islands. Both are operated by the National Park Service and have no admission fee per se, except there is a $3 charge for crown access (which can only be purchased as part of the ferry ticket package.)
The Statue Cruises boats made 6,267 New York departures in 2009, and 3,835 trips from New Jersey.
Here’s how it looked July 5, 2009:
Picture and video credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Empire State Building January 2010 lighting schedule
If you’re using the Empire State Building as your measurement stick, the holidays aren’t over yet. The top three tiers of the city’s tallest sky scraper will remain lit red and green through Wednesday night.
(They’re not alone in the extended festivities, as Wednesday’s also the Three Kings Day Parade.)
The top tiers are currently scheduled for all-white lights most of the month, except for two special events.
The top of the tower will go all blue Jan. 7 for the 10th anniversary of NASDAQ at Times Square. Remember 10 years ago? NASDAQ sure does, as the tech bubble hadn’t yet burst. Good times.
The only other lighting event scheduled thus far for January is the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The top tiers will light up red black and green from Jan. 15 through Jan. 18 to honor the civil rights leader.
Update: The schedule has changed. It’s now green and white from Jan. 15 through 17 for the “New York Jets, Divisional Playoff Game Against the San Diego Chargers. ” MLK Jr. gets Jan. 18.
Picture credit: File photo from Edelman Public Relations.
As the ball dropped in Times Square, photographer Jook Leung of Panoramas.dk was once again center stage, capturing the moment with his magical 360-degree camera.
The New Year’s Eve panorama gives you not just J-Lo in her coat and catsuit, but all the confetti and none of the cold. The site also offers the scene from past years, as well as a perch from the ball itself. Gliding your cursor veritcally quickly may induce Times Square stomach shuffle.
NYC museums, restaurants, zoos open New Year's Day
Although Jan. 1 is a holiday, many museums, restaurants, ice rinks, zoos clubs and other venues remain open on New Year’s Day in New York City. Here’s the list:
Not quite a blizzard, but NYC gets pre-winter snow day
It wasn’t the hoped-for “snowpocalypse” in New York City, but six to 12 inches fell throughout the five boroughs overnight.
“What seemed to happen is the storm went pretty much to the east, so the further east you were in New York City — Staten Island, parts of Brooklyn, Queens, the Rockaways — that’s where you got the larger snowfall,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a Sunday morning news conference.
Preliminary snow measurements were 10.9 inches in both Central Park and at JFK Airport; and 6.9 inches at LaGuardia, NY1 meteorologist John Davitt reported. Update: Although the snow has stopped, the totals are still being updated. As of noon: 14.2 inches at Kennedy Airport; 9.5 inches in the Bronx; 10.9 inches for Central Park; and 8.8 inches for Queens. Update as of 4 p.m.: 8.8 inches at LaGuardia; 10.9 inches at Central Park; and 14.2 at JFK.
There are 1,500 snow plows and 365 salt spreaders on the streets, Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty said during the news conference. All 6,000 miles of city steets should be plowed by the end of the day, the mayor said.
“Monday morning will be slushy and cold and slippery — be careful — but everything we think will be passable,” Bloomberg said.
It’s a snow day in some city parks — with free hot choclate and sleds from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. — at Riverside Park (near 103rd Street;) Prospect Park (near the Tennis House;) Crotona Park (near Fulton and 172nd Street;) Juniper Valley Park (near 78th and Juniper Valley North;) and Clove Lakes Park (near Martling.)
Tours of abandoned Ellis Island on sale for holidays
Save Ellis Island, the non-profit that’s helping the National Park Service preserve and restore the still-empty buildings at the historic immigration center, will offer a limited number of tours of the abandoned hospital as part of a holiday gift membership special.
“With a donation of $100 or more, the recipient will receive a very special gift, one that cannot be purchased at the Mall - a tour of the unrestored portion of Ellis Island for two,” Save Ellis Island announced in its membership e-mail on Tuesday.
The memberships must be purchased in December. The hard-hat tours will be scheduled in the spring and summer of 2010.
The abandoned portions of the island have been open to tours on a very limited basis since the 2005 OpenHouse NY event. (Pictures.) Tours will begin the Ferry Building, (which was the first abandoned building restored and opened to the public in 2007) and proceed to the still-shuttered hospital side of the island.
Picture credits: Ellis Island hospital tour in 2006, including a hallway, surgery room and broken window. Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
High Line to close early for winter hours as of Dec. 14
The High Line, now in its first year as a park rather than an abandoned rail line, will adapt to the seasons by shortening its operating hours for winter.
Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center lit up until Jan. 7
NewYorkology contributor Sam Meyer commits journalism by night, edits Cocktailians and explores NYC by day. He’s especially interested in the infrastructure, transit, architectural wonders, drinking establishments, and hidden corners of the greatest city in the world.
New York’s holiday season officially began Wednesday with the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. NewYorkology was there, watching the festivities from an elegant loft space atop the British Empire Building on Fifth Avenue, at a party thrown by the Canadian Tourist Board to promote the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Canada as a tourist destination.
Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Jose Feliciano, the Roots and other artists performed at the tree-lighting ceremony. “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams said that over 100,000 people jammed into the streets surrounding Rockefeller Center to witness Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Tishman Speyer CEO Jerry Speyer illuminating the 75-foot Norway Spruce at 8:55pm.
If you’d like to see the tree without the crowds, it will be be illuminated every day from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. until Jan. 7, with special hours for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
