Odie 0 Posted August 5, 2004 (edited) From the Buffalo News. Statue of Liberty lifts restriction, reopens doors By VERENA DOBNIK Associated Press 8/4/2004 Associated Press Sean Yun, a member of the SWAT team of the U.S. Park Police, stands guard outside the Statue of Liberty as tourists are allowed to return to the inside. NEW YORK - The Statue of Liberty, long a symbol of freedom, democracy and opportunity, welcomed tourists inside for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks, with hundreds of visitors returning to the monument despite the nation's heightened terrorism warning. Lady Liberty was hailed in song and speech in an hourlong reopening ceremony Tuesday, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg urging "all Americans to come here" and demonstrate that the country would never be "coerced into abandoning any symbol of America." Among the crowd returning to the statue, his message was received loud and clear. Free tickets were quickly snapped up for the first trips back inside, with some disappointed visitors left out in the summer heat. "It's pretty awesome. It's a privilege to be here," said Dennis Wallace of Sheldon, Iowa, who drove 21 hours with his girlfriend and five children to visit the statue. "The announcement of the orange alert will not stop us." Bloomberg was joined by Gov. George E. Pataki, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton and CNN anchor Aaron Brown at the ceremony inviting people back inside the statue. The statue and Liberty Island were closed for two months after Sept. 11; although the island reopened to the public two months later, the statue remained off-limits. Visitors now can go only as high as the statue's feet, where they can gaze up through a glass partition at the steel girders bracing the landmark's hollow interior. That was good enough for two of the first guests allowed in, Eddie Nataska, 12, of Waldorf, Md., and his grandfather, Ralph. "It made me feel more American because I understood why the Statue of Liberty is here," Eddie said after exiting. "She lights the way for America." The reopening of the pedestal to the public went ahead despite new warnings over the weekend of possible terrorist attacks on financial centers in Manhattan, Newark, N.J., and Washington. "I'm not afraid," said Lt. Dario Coleanni, 26, an Italian army officer. In a perfect New York touch, he and a friend said they paid a scalper $20 a pop for tickets to get inside the statue. Coleanni and the other arrivals found tightened security measures at the 117-year-old national monument, including a new anti-bomb detection device that blasts air through clothing and then checks for particles of explosive residue. A museum in the pedestal relates the site's history from its 1886 dedication as a gift from France. The statue, made of hammered copper the thickness of two pennies, was closed in 1937 for a year of renovations and underwent another major refurbishing for its centennial in 1986. On Sept. 11, 2001, the second of two terrorist- hijacked jetliners skimmed low over the statue just seconds before it crashed into the World Trade Center's south tower 11/2 miles away. This best news that I have had heard in long time! Edited August 5, 2004 by Odie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
