Lady Liberty Finally Re-Opening

Since that infamous day September 11, 2001 the Statue of Liberty has been partially shut down to visitors. Going on eight years, our biggest symbol of freedom has been empty of curious children who's anticipation to make it to the top drives quickly up the stairs, and with the parents trying hard to keep up.

I never understood why it has remained closed for the past seven plus years. It made little sense. There would be plenty of other sites that I could have seen being shut down, but Lady Liberty, come on! My son was born in 1998, I can now finally take him up to the very top in the crown so he could see what I saw as a child.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Statue of Liberty's crown, with its exhilarating view of New York's skyscrapers, bridges and seaport, is reopening on Independence Day for the first time since terrorists leveled the World Trade Center just across the harbor.

Safety and security issues have been addressed and 50,000 people, 10 at a time, will get to visit the 265-foot-high crown in the next two years before it is closed again for renovation, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday.

"On July 4, we are giving America a special gift," Salazar said at a news conference on nearby Ellis Island. "For the first time in nearly eight years we will once again be able to have one of the most awesome experiences in the world."

Interior Department officials said they had not yet determined how to choose who climbs to the top. Spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said a lottery is one possibility. Salazar "wants the tickets to be distributed not based on your connections but in a fair and equitable way," she said.

The statue was closed to the public because of security concerns after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The base, pedestal and outdoor observation deck were reopened in 2004 but the crown remained off-limits.

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