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Statue of Liberty crown tickets sold out until Labor Day
While the Statue of Liberty is on track to reopen her crown to the public on the Fourth of July, tickets to climb up her steps are already all-but sold out through the Labor Day weekend.
Tickets first went on sale June 13 and demand was so high that the website and telephone lines were difficult to access. (The website has been slow again this morning.)
 Only 30 people per hour will be allowed to take the stairs to the crown under escort from a National Park Service ranger.
It’s important to note that currently the plan is to keep the crown open for two years only. After that, it will close again for a project to make the interior safer to visitors and hopefully allow more people to visit each day.
The crown has been closed since Sept. 11, 2001, mainly for fire safety reasons, the National Park Service has long said. The torch has been closed to the public since 1916, when Liberty’s arm was damaged by a massive rail yard explosion in nearby New Jersey. There are no plans to ever reopen the torch to the public.
You can also follow the the Statue of Liberty on Twitter (it’s an official NPS account;) or flickr; or take an eTour.
What you need to know to get tickets to the Statue of Liberty’s crown:
Crown tickets can be reserved up to a year in advance through Statue Cruises, the only company licensed to ferry the public to Liberty and Ellis islands. The $3 crown fee will be on top of the regular ferry ticket, currently priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 877- LADY-TIX (877-523-9849) between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern time.
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July 2, 2009 9:49 AM Comments (0)
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Statue of Liberty crown tickets sold out through Aug. 11
 Ticketing lines have remained fairly jammed since Statue of Liberty crown tickets went on sale Saturday, with the first month’s worth of access already sold out.
The call center has been taking around 1,500 calls per day, a spokesperson for Statue Cruises told NewYorkology. And that’s in addition to orders placed through the online ticketing site.
On July 4, the crown will reopen to the public for the first time since Sept. 10, 2001. Due to fire safety issues (which were debated even before the terror attacks,) only 30 people an hour will be allowed up the narrow double-helix stairwell to the statue’s crown.
Tickets for the crown are already sold out through August 11.
If you go, an early-morning trip is the best way to avoid the lines and reduce the risk the statue will be closed for excessive heat (when the outside temperature reaches 90.)
Crown tickets can be reserved up to a year in advance through Statue Cruises, the only company licensed to ferry the public to Liberty and Ellis islands. The $3 crown fee will be on top of the regular ferry ticket, currently priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for children. The Statue of Liberty ticketing call center (877-523-9849) is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Eastern time.
Picture credit: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology
June 17, 2009 9:22 AM Comments (0)
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Statue of Liberty crown tickets now on sale
See updated story: Statue of Liberty crown tickets sold out until Labor Day
Tickets for the Statue of Liberty’s crown went on sale at 10 a.m. this morning, but most callers were greeted by busy signals an an occasional “All circuits are busy now. Please try your call later.”
The ticketing website for Statue Cruises has also been unavailable for much of the morning.
The crown will officially open July 4, with about 30 people an hour allowed to climb the stairs up.
Crown tickets can be reserved up to a year in advance through Statue Cruises, the only company licensed to ferry the public to Liberty and Ellis islands. The $3 crown fee will be on top of the regular ferry ticket, currently priced at $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 877- LADY-TIX (877-523-9849.)
Updates: Two of NewYorkology’s Twitter contacts said they’ve secured crown tickets, both through the website. Two more said they got tickets, one by phone, the other online.
Update: Once you reach the website, it provides an excellent explanation of your options. Note that the ticketing process requires you to list the names of every person you’re buying tickets for. Also be aware that the statue’s interior will close during extreme heat, so your best bet in summer months is to reserve a ticket as early in the morning as possible.
Here are screenshots of the Statue Cruises ticketing pages from this morning:
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June 13, 2009 9:53 AM Comments (2)
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VIP auctions: Broadway backstage to Agassi's US Open
 VIP New York is yours for the taking — from a private U.S. Open tête-à-tête with Andre Agassi to a table for eight at Rao’s — merely for a contribution to a worthy charity.
A number of auction sites can get you into Fashion Week, backstage on Broadway, ono the set of “30 Rock,” or even high up a crane in the Brooklyn container port.
Current auctions at CharityBuzz include:
Watch the US Open with Andre Agassi from a Luxury Suite - Current bid: $8,000.
Lunch and Tarot Card reading with Cyndi Lauper - Current bid: $1,100.
Meet Alec Baldwin on the set of “30 Rock” - Current bid: $2,300.
Rao’s dinner reservation for eight on June 25. “Please note that food and wine are not included.”: Current bid: $3,750.
Yankees vs. Red Sox, four Legends Suite tickets - Current bid: $1,700.
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June 5, 2009 2:12 PM Comments (0)
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Chuck Bass birthday tour of NYC set for June 26
 Bad boy Chuck Bass is getting his own Manhattan tour for his birthday, courtesy of On Location Tours.
The June 26 tour will be dedicated to “all things Chuck.” The usual Gossip Girl tour of New York City will be amped up with birthday cupcakes, Chuck Bass trivia, and a contest for best dressed “Gossip Girl” character.
Tickets are $40 and must be purchased in advance.
Related: New, free podcast: “Made in NY: Walking Tours of Film and Television Locations in New York City” from the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting.
Image source: WBShop’s Gossip Girl I (Cracked Heart) Chuck Bass T-Shirt
Earlier: On Location adds ‘Gossip Girl’ tour of Manhattan
June 5, 2009 12:18 PM Comments (1)
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Governors Island adds free ferry service to Brooklyn
The Lost City blog is the first with the news that the free ferry to Governors Island will add Brooklyn service starting this Saturday.
The ferry will dock in Brooklyn at the Fulton Ferry Landing, near the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.
 “Ferry schedule for Brooklyn service will vary throughout the summer,” according to the official ferry schedule page maintained by the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp., which operates the island with the National Park Service.
So while the island is open this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Brooklyn gets the ferry Saturday only. Service is offered all three days to Lower Manhattan at the Battery Maritime Terminal.
This Saturday only (as times may change through the season,) the ferry will depart Brooklyn at 11:20 and 11:40 a.m., 12:20 p.m., 1, 1:20, 1:40, 2, 2:20, 2:40, 3, 3:20, 3:40, 4, 4:40 and 5 p.m. (NOTE: Those times are different than the ones originally posted as GIPEC on Friday afternoon added extra service. Those times, like the ones for Manhattan service, can change weekly.)
Update: The Brooklyn service will be only on Saturdays, and even then, only on the Saturdays that have scheduled programming on Governors Island, Elizabeth Rapuano, the director of marketing and communications for GIPEC told NewYorkology. Manhattan will continue to be serviced by the Lt. Samuel S. Coursen ferry, while Brooklyn will get a supplemental boat hired by GIPEC. (And no, it’s not the ferry sold on eBay this past winter.) The Brooklyn ferry will not stop in Manhattan, Rapuano said.
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June 4, 2009 1:18 PM Comments (0)
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Governors Island's old jail with Lady Liberty views
A New York Times column today about the up-in-the-air fate of Guantanamo detainees toys with the notion of moving them to Governors Island in the middle of New York Harbor.
 What the story neglects to mention is that the island is already home to a well-used jail: Castle Williams.
Built from 1807 to 1811, no shot was ever fired in anger from the fortification, however it later housed Civil War prisoners who were no doubt angry - as well as sick, due to the unsanitary conditions there.
“It was not a very pretty place,” a National Park Service ranger said during a Governors Island tour on Friday. Thirty to 60 prisoners — only enlisted men were housed in Castle Williams — were kept in each cell, with no sanitation, no running water.
Castle Williams was a military prison up until 1963, just before the U.S. Army left Governors Island. When the Coast Guard moved in, it was used as youth community center and later a landscape shop.
During the NPS tours — which are free on Wednesdays and Thursdays — you can look into one of the cells, but you can’t yet go inside. The recent batch of stimulus funds in the U.S. Economic Recovery Plan includes about $5 million to stabilize the building, Mindi Rambo, an NPS assistant public affairs officer, told NewYorkology.
Eventually the cells will open to the public and exhibits will be placed inside, if all goes as planned. That is, unless the Guantanamo detainees become the inhabitants of the round, red fortification.
More pictures after the jump.
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June 2, 2009 11:09 AM Comments (0)
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Governors Island opens for 2009 with polo, free bikes
Governors Island today opens for the 2009 season, with a family festival, bike rentals, a new picnic area facing the Statue of Liberty and a polo match featuring Prince Harry of England.
The short ferry ride to the island from Lower Manhattan remain free this year.
This summer’s special events include Dorothy Parker Society’s 11th annual Parkerfest and Roaring Twenties Jazz Age Lawn Party and the FIGMENT Festival and the Folks on the Island music festival. Free Bike Fridays also returns this year, with twice as many bikes. The Governors Island Water Taxi Beach is scheduled to open in time for the 4th of July weekend.
The Water Taxi Beach will be built on the north side of Governors Island, facing Lower Manhattan. Currently a parking lot, it’s located next to the main ferry landing in spot that last year hosted one of Olafur Eliasson’s waterfalls. (Like at the Brooklyn Bridge, trees here were damaged by the salty waterfall, but are expected to recover, an NPS official said.)
On Friday, NewYorkology got a preview tour of the island with rangers from the National Park Service, which operates the historic portion of the island.
Starting today, Governors Island is open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, the rangers lead free tours on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but on those days you’re not allowed to roam the island, except as part of the 1.5-mile ranger tour.
Fridays through Sundays, when the full island is open, rangers will be at some locations to explain the history of the old fortifications. You can also pick up a free do-it-yourself walking tour brochure at the ferry terminal in Manhattan.
Castle Williams, the round, red fortification easily seen from the Staten Island Ferry, was built from 1807 to 1811 and is considered the first purely American-designed fort, as most earlier ones on U.S. soil used a starred-French design. Its soft, red sandstone came from Newark.
Castle Williams is also a new recipient of about $5 million of stimulus funds in the U.S. Economic Recovery Plan, Mindi Rambo, an NPS assistant public affairs officer, told NewYorkology.
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May 30, 2009 6:59 AM Comments (0)
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Tugs & dry docks: Hidden Harbor Tours set '09 dates
 The not-for-profit Working Harbor Committee has released the 2009 dates for its popular summer cruises that take in not just the sites of sparkling Americana but also the rusted industrial past and what’s left of the working waterfronts of New York and New Jersey.
The narrated Hidden Harbor Tours are set for June 15, July 14, August 18 and September 15.
(Update: The July date was originally scheduled for July 21.)
Billed as an insider’s tour, guests will include staff from the Port Authority of NY/NJ, the major shipping terminal operators in the harbor, and the New York City Empire Development Corporation’s Maritime Division. They’ll tell you all about the sights — from the giant container ships and tugboat yards to the graving docks and oil terminals on the harbor.
The tour boat — Circle Line’s Zephyr — will travel from Manhattan’s Pier 16 at the South Street Seaport to Brooklyn Piers, Buttermilk Channel, Erie Basin, Upper New York Harbor, Kill Van Kull, Port Newark, Port Elizabeth, Military Ocean Terminal and Global Marine Terminal, Statue of Liberty and the tip of Manhattan.
See NewYorkology’s Hidden Harbor Tour pictures from 2007.
Tickets (which include one free drink) are $29 for adults; $21 for seniors; and $17 for children under 12.
Picture credits: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Earlier: Tugs rev up for annual Hudson River race on Sunday
Industrial Brooklyn waterfront on most endangered list
Down in Brooklyn’s Dry Dock No. 1 with Mary Whalen
May 28, 2009 3:09 PM Comments (0)
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Transit tours: abandoned stations, vintage trains, food
If you fancy a visit to one of the city’s abandoned subway stations or a ride in a vintage train, check out the spring and summer schedule of the New York Transit Museum tours.
Saturday, May 30 - Noon to 1 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m.
Members-only tour of the century-old, abandoned Old City Hall subway station
Adults $20; Children $10. (Museum membership is $40.)
Friday, June 5 - 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Queensboro Bridge Centennial tour, including former Strecker Memorial Lab, now an MTA substation
$5, Museum members $3
Wednesday, June 10 - 5:30 to 8 p.m.
Rerouting Rails in Western Queens, from from Sunnyside Yard to ironbound Woodside
$20, Museum members $15, Children $10
Thursdays, June 11 and July 30 - 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
LIRR’s Hillside Maintenance Complex, the largest facility for commuter trains in North America
$20, Museum members $15, Children $10
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May 22, 2009 3:26 PM Comments (0)
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