Statue of Liberty - A question
 

This is not exactly a travel question but I am hoping someone out their has an answer. With
the reopening of the Stature of Liberty I thought about the first time I visited the Statue sometime first the late 30?s. I remember going up to the Crown and also seem to think I went to the top of the Torch. Could you climb to the top of the torch at that time or am I suffering from a senior moment?

I believe from what I read when they renovated the S of L that the torch was open to visitors when the statue was first erected.

The torch was later closed because the "arm" had structural defects that made it unsafe for visitors.

I can't document any of that. Just seems I remember reading about it. So, let's give you the benefit of the doubt -- you were in the torch!

My mother has told me that when she visited there around 1960, she was able to go into the torch.

Yes, in the past people were able to go to the crown and also to the torch. The statue was hit by a small plane maybe back in the '70's (?) and received damage that made the route to the torch unsafe. Aparently now that it's re-opened the interior of the statue has been modified to enable visitors to look up to the crown, but it's no longer possible to climb the steps to the top. Don't know why, although maybe the worry is that it would take too long to evacuate if it became necessary to do so.

No senior moment Rob...your memories are correct. :)

Sorry Rob read below from the New York Times, 8/3/2004:

But when the base of the statue reopens to the public today for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, people will have to be content with only their memories, or imaginings, of making the long, claustrophobic climb to the top. Like the torch, which was closed in 1916 after being damaged by a saboteur's bomb, the crown is now off limits.

Hey, Rob, I tried to back you on this one, but Frank insists on letting the damn facts get in the way.

Statue of liberty/Ellis Island. Reserve ferry ticket ahead. Can also book a tour inside. Both at 1-866-STATUE4(1-866-782-8834). Saves a lot time standing in line! Although some tour tickets are held until day of, they are gome pretty early. They Avg 10,000 visitors a day, but only 3,000 tour tickets are avilable. http://www.nps.gov/stli/

My daughter and I climbed to and through the crown on our visit around 1996, and it is one of the most vivid memories of the trip. It took about 2 hours as I recall (though I may not be remembering right), but by the time I got to the crown I was so freaked out by the slow, snaking practically CRAWL to get there that I couldn't pause at all to look out, just boogied on by and down as fast as I could. I thought at the time it would be a great setting for some kind of disaster book or movie because of the incredibly tight quarters, from which there seemed to be no way out. Literally hundreds of people climbing on what amounted to little more than a ladder by the end, straight up--if somebody had fainted or had some kind of medical emergency, I couldn't really see how they could have been evacuated or assisted, and many other people could have been panicked and injured. And I don't think I am particularly claustrophobic!