On Independence Day, Liberty's Crown Reopens

Couple marks occasion by getting engaged

By SUZANNE MA

Updated 12:39 PM EST, Sat, Jul 4, 2009

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If you don't have a ticket, we hear Craigslist is a good place to look.

Associated Press

The first visitors to Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years have made the arduous climb -- and one couple marked the occasion by getting engaged.

Twenty-six-year-old Aaron Weisinger surprised his 25-year-old girlfriend, Erica Breder, by getting down on one knee Saturday as they and eight others admired the sweeping views of New York Harbor. Breder said yes and describes the proposal as "perfect.''

     Both live in Walnut Creek, Calif.

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

The National Park Service says the crown remained closed since Sept. 11 because the narrow, double-helix staircases could not be safely evacuated in an emergency and didn't comply with fire and building codes. Tourists often suffered heat exhaustion, shortness of breath, panic attacks, claustrophobia and fear of heights, spokesman Darren Boch said.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., pushed for years for the crown to be reopened, once calling the decision to close it off "a partial victory for terrorists.'' He said it was embarrassing that it was off-limits for so long.

The reopening "represents some personal vindication,'' he said Saturday. "It's nice to pat Lady Liberty's toes. It's nice to stand and breathe the air on Liberty Island, but you really haven't lived the experience until you've gone up to the crown. A lot of Americans are able to see that now.''

So far, about 14,500 tickets to the crown have been sold, most of them for visits through the end of August. Tickets currently on sale are for visits in the fall and beyond. Tickets for the July Fourth weekend sold out within hours.

Enter the scalpers. Tickets are so hot that some people are trying to earn big bucks off of peddling them, according to The New York Post. A Nassau County Craigslist user was selling two children's and two adult tickets for $200 for today's commencement, the paper reporter – and other posters on the site are putting out feelers to see if they can purchase any tickets online.

"My soon-to-be wife and I are coming to NYC for the beginning of our honeymoon," one ad read, according to the Post. "It's her first time to the city and we'd love to go up in the crown. July 5 or July 6, if anyone can help."

But today's the first day anyone can go inside. Marking the historic date, seven members of the U.S. armed forces were sworn in as citizens Saturday at the statue's base.

"It's the very diversity of this country that has made us strong,'' Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said.

Thirty people an hour will be allowed into the crown. They will be brought up in groups of 10, guided by park rangers along the way.

Some of the crown's 25 windows offer a view of the Manhattan skyline, no longer punctuated by the 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center.

New handrails have been installed to help with the climb. Bags are not allowed; only cameras and cell phones are acceptable.

The statue, 305 feet tall to the tip of its raised torch, was designed to mark the 1876 centennial of the Declaration of Independence. It faces the entrance to New York Harbor, welcoming the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free,'' in the words of Emma Lazarus, engraved on a bronze plaque inside the statue.

The torch has been closed since it was damaged by a saboteur's bomb in 1916.

Visitors are now screened before boarding ferries and again before they can visit the museum in the base or climb to the top of the pedestal.

Jennifer Stewart won a Statue of Liberty lookalike contest to join the first group of visitors headed to the crown. The Brooklyn Heights resident, who has imitated the statue for 23 years, arrived in full costume and green makeup.

"Being able to perceive the world through her eyes, from Liberty's crown -- I just feel it's so important to maintain the opportunity to literally be a part of liberty,'' she said.