Hello everyone. I admit it’s been a while since my last post and I have a few things on my plate.
In addition to taking care of some household chores, I took advantage of my participation in Connect Live NY 2025 to explore a bit of New York, a magnificent city that I had never visited before.
For my birthday my “partner in crime” and Connect Moderator @KarenVChin organized an unforgettable day for me: A Day With Miss Liberty
Our day started at 7am. We had breakfast at the hotel and then took the subway to the ferry at Battery Park.
We bought the ticket with Statue City Cruises Battery Park to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island well in advance. The tour is fantastic and definitely worth it. The security checks at the boarding gate are like those at an airport, so it is best to plan ahead so you can get through them quickly.
It was a beautiful sunny day, so the ride was smooth, despite the ferry being very crowded. It is best to get to the boarding gate a little early, but in any case the ferries leave continuously, one after the other. Here is my review
Along the way the ferry is also in the perfect position to take some great pictures of the Statue of Liberty, including the one I used on the cover of this topic.
And finally here we are, on Liberty Island, ready to explore and learn more about this historic monument.
First we quickly took ourselves to Flagpole Plaza.
“Flagpole Plaza is the ideal center of Liberty Island, from where all the attractions you can visit depart. From here, but not everyone knows it, also the guided tours by a ranger depart. We took advantage of it immediately, because it is the way the Statue of Liberty is not just a statue, it is a monument rich in history, culture and important meanings. The Guided tour is therefore the best way to start. A special note for the guide: very good!” is what I say in my review
While waiting for the tour time, we took the opportunity to take some photos of NY City from the NY City Skyline Vista Point.
As I said in my review "Absolutely breathtaking, with a view that ranges from Ellis Island with Jersey behind it, to Brooklyn, with Manhattan in the center.
From here you can admire the New York skyline in its entirety.
The panoramic point is easily reached by crossing the island. I recommend going there as soon as you get off the boat"
And here is our guide! We learned a lot from her about the history of the Statue of Liberty. I already knew that the statue was a gift from France to the United States for the celebration of the centennial of independence (July 4, 1776). What I didn’t know was that the statue was donated by the French people to the American people, and not by the government. The construction and installation of the colossal statue was in fact financed through fundraisers.
If you are curious, you can read the whole story on Wikipedia.
The protagonists of this story can be met a short distance away, in a small park where the statues of The Five Founders of the Statue of Liberty (Sculpture Garden) are located.
I take advantage of them to tell you the story of Miss Liberty.
The first on the left is the historian Édouard Renè de Laboulaye, the one who had the idea of creating a monument to give to the United States to celebrate the centenary of independence. His proposal was that the statue would be financed by the French people.
Next to him you see the sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who conceived the statue, imagining that colossal monument that we all know now. The statue will be enormous, and it must be able to be supported.
And here comes the engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, third in line, who designs the internal structure of the statue. Without Eiffel the statue would not have stood. The skeleton of the statue is a complex shaped, sturdy and flexible truss, connected to the base with 12 huge bolts fixed on two large beams. The trellis supports the copper plates that form the actual statue.
As we have said, the statue rests on a base. The task of finding the right place and the funds for the installation of the statue itself was taken by an American journalist, Joseph Pulitzer, who we all remember today for a journalism prize that bears his name.
The last statue, perhaps the most unknown, represents Emma Lazarus, the American poet who wrote the sonnet dedicated to the Statue of Liberty. The plaque with the sonnet, after being displayed at the base of the statue for years, has now been moved inside the museum. For more details you can check: The New Colossus - Wikipedia
The statue is installed on a pedestal. This is Fort Wood, an ancient fortification located on an island in front of the city of New York. The funds raised by Pulitzer were used to renovate the structure and make it suitable for fixing the beams to which the Statue of Liberty was to be fixed.
Inside the base there is a small museum that tells us the story of the construction of the Statue of Liberty. After visiting it we finally started to climb. You can do it on foot (there are 198 steps) or, as you can see from my review, by elevator. I chose the first option, Karen instead chose the elevator. In the end we arrived at the top at the same time, not because I am fast, but simply because the queue for the elevator is quite long.
For the bravest there is also the possibility of going up to the head of the statue. It is another 162 steps in a narrow spiral staircase. This part of the visit must be booked well in advance. We gave up, due to knee problems that do not allow me to face very steep climbs, but if you are in good shape I recommend you go.
To exit we passed through the external part of the base, from where we were able to take some close-up photos of the statue.
After visiting the statue, we go back to Flagpole Plaza, to reach the museum that is located on the other side. A visit not to be missed, to fully understand the spirit with which the Statue of Liberty was built. Inside the museum, in addition to very interesting projections, and of course the history of the statue, there is a beautiful interactive digital installation, Becoming Liberty, where each of us can create and share our own concept of freedom. Freedom of speech, of thought, of education, and so on. Our idea of freedom is then projected onto a large screen to form, together with those of others, a representation of the Statue of Liberty. Make sure not to miss it.
And with this our visit to the Statue of Liberty could be considered concluded, but there are still a couple of places not to be missed:
- Statue of Liberty Museum Store. “You can find all the Statue of Liberty merchandise there. A must-see to take home a souvenir of your visit to one of the most iconic monuments in New York City.” Source: my review
- Statue of Liberty Crown Cafe “The complete visit to the Statue of Liberty and the museum requires a lot of time so a stop to eat something is absolutely necessary. The space for the tables, positioned outdoors, is very large and with a beautiful view. It is not a real restaurant, the choice of food is not wide and everything is quite expensive, and obviously the service is limited to the sale of mostly pre-packaged products.
- In addition, there are large bathrooms, absolutely indispensable” Source: my review
Well, it’s time to go, the ship is leaving and the day is still long. Next stop: Ellis Island (but that’s another story)