Crowning Achievement

There's a lot of excitement in having the Fourth of July fall on a Saturday, but this year's good news doesn't stop with a weekend recovery day. After nearly eight years, the Statue of Liberty will re-open its crown to visitors on Independence Day. The crown became off-limits after 9/11, and when Lady Liberty reopened in late 2004, only the lower sections were made accessible. Most people thought the crown would not be made accessible again, but with tourism down and budgets hurting, that day has come. The Fourth of July reopening, announced last Friday by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, is largely the work of Queens' congressman Anthony Weiner, who's led the charge for years. In the years since its last closing, the crown's been redesigned to allow for easier evacuations in the case of an emergency. (Planet of the Apes anyone?). This also limits the number of people allowed in the crown at any one time, so only so many tickets are sold for each day. In fact, tickets for the first few days (including July 4) are already sold out. Adult admission prices run $15, which includes a ferry ride from NYC's Battery Park or Jersey's Liberty State Park. For those who want to visit, you should always buy tickets in advance.

Photo by William Warby and courtesy of Wikipedia.