highland_lass

is the Statue of Liberty now open to the public?

I will be visiting NYC in October from Scotland and going to Ellis Island. If the Statue is open again to the public is it worth a visit ?

Thanks

mclaurie

Yes it's open but you can only go to the observation tower and must have a ticket to go inside.

http://gonyc.about.com/od/attraction...tatue_tips.htm

NeoPatrick

If that wasn't totally clear, the observation tower is below the actual statue.

nytraveler

The Statue itself is closed for safety (structural safety, not security) reasons. You can go to Liberty Island and get a tour/presentation inside the base of the Statue.

Frankly, I think the Ellis Island Immigration Museum - which is brilliant - is a much better use of time. And the same ferry goes to both islands.

Be sure to get ferry tickets in advance - or the lines to buy them can be awful. You then have a security line to get on the ferry - and another waiting line on Liberty Island if you do the Statue.

Either way - it takes a good part of the day.

doug_stallings

I am in complete agreement with nytraveler. It's definitely worthwhile to go to Ellis Island, but the Statue ... stay on the ferry and enjoy the view. And if your only interest is seeing the statue and don't want to go to Ellis Island, then just take the Staten Island Ferry, which is free.

missypie

If you take the first ferry in the morning, you can get some great pictures of the statue, without loads of people. If you look at most recent photographs, you see scores of people in the security line....I noticed that in ours, no people!

Note: You go through Security to get on the ferry, then I'm told you go through Security again at the Statue. (you don't at Ellis Island.)

Austin

Having just visited the S of L, I agree, stay on the ferry and see it from the water. SOrry, but it was waaaaay too much time waiting in security line (almost one hour) (though I understand the need) to spend a few minutes near the base. All that does is afford you another view of NYC. Stay on the boat and go to Ellis Island.

Pat_in_Mich

We were there a few weeks ago. We took the 9:00 ferry and did get off at the statue. We had not bought tickets to go inside but it was pleasant to walk around and get pictures. The free ranger talk was excellent.

missypie

I don't understand your comments about not buying tickets to go inside the SoL. When we bought our tickets to the ferry for Ellis Island, we were given timed passes to the SoL. Did they not give you passes?

NeoPatrick

I think there are options for just going to Ellis as well as options that include going inside SOL. We opted only to go to Ellis so no, we didn't get passes to the SOL.

missypie

I thought I remembered that entrance to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island is free-you just buy one ferry ticket for both. That is currently true-see this:
"Round trip fare on the ferry, which includes admission to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, is $8 for adults, $6 for senior citizens, $3 for children 3-17 years old, and free to children 3 and under."

However, this is the more important info I found on the Circle Line web site:
"Effective October 1, 2007, our National Park Service contract to provide ferry service will terminate. As a result, we have been instructed to no longer reserve ferry tickets beyond that date. For visits to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum after October 1, 2007, please call the National Park Service at 212.363.3206 for more information."

So, if anyone is visiting the SoL or Ellis Island after Sept. 30th, they should not rely on any of the info we've been giving and rather, should figure out how it's going to work under the new system.

Pat_in_Mich

Sorry, what I meant was that we had not requested a timed pass to enter the statue when we purchased our ferry tickets. There is no extra charge to enter the statue but you must have the timed pass. If you don't want to enter the statue you only need to go through security before boarding the boat at Battery Park. You can get off at Liberty Island and walk around and then reboard the boat for Ellis Island without going through any additional security.

dan_woodlief

I just made my first visit to the statue with my family. In the past, we had stayed on the boat and gone on to Ellis Island. With a very short visit to NYC, I still believe that is the best approach. We were going for a week and had already been to Ellis Island so opted for the statue this time. I purchased timed passes the week before our visit, and mornings were already down to less than 20 available. The visit to the statue does require waiting in another long line, but it varies. On the day we went, there were a lot more people in the afternoon than in the morning, although even then there was about a 40 minute wait in the security line to get into the base. The exhibit inside is actually nicely done and can be quite moving. The ranger tours are good. I felt it was worth it, but again it depends on how much time you have.