Thanks to a yearlong renovation and some serious post-Sandy damage, it's been a while since Lady Liberty's had visitors. But Sandy or no Sandy, Chuck Schumer's angling to get tourists back to Liberty Island, and he's urging that the Interior Department set a date to reopen the Statue.
Liberty Island got walloped by the storm, and while the Statue itself didn't suffer too much damage, officials have closed her off to the public indefinitely. Neighboring Ellis Island was also devastated by Sandy, losing all its utility systems, administration offices, and the recently-renovated Ferry Building to flooding—officials say it will be closed for at least another year. But Schumer says the Statue of Liberty shouldn't be off-limits for nearly that long: "The Statue of Liberty is still shuttered more than three months after Sandy... New Yorkers need to know that the end is in sight," he said yesterday. "Lady Liberty cannot be allowed to languish any longer."
The Interior Department still doesn't have a timetable for the Statue's recovery, and Schumer says about 400 employees were laid off because of the tourist attraction's closure. On the (literal) bright side, though, Lady Liberty's torch and crown lights are still going strong after dark, thanks to generators donated by private companies post-storm.
