Statue of Liberty Usa

The fundraising campaign that paid for the Statue of Liberty nearly failed on both sides of the Atlantic. The French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi had the statue designed and partially built, but the American half (the pedestal) had raised almost no money by 1885. Joseph Pulitzer used his newspaper, The World, to shame wealthy New Yorkers by printing donor names and amounts and publishing pointed editorials about the embarrassment of the world’s most famous monument having no base to stand on. Within five months, more than 120,000 Americans had donated, most in amounts of less than a dollar. The engineering of the internal structure was by Gustave Eiffel, the same man who built the Eiffel Tower; his solution to allowing a copper skin to flex through seasons without cracking was the same armature system he applied in Paris.

Tickets

Book online before you go. Statue Cruises runs the only official ferry service from Battery Park in Manhattan and Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Tickets are tiered: the basic ferry ticket (around USD 24) covers the island grounds and exterior; Pedestal Reserve access adds the museum and the observation deck at the pedestal top, where you can see the original 1886 torch (a replica is outside; the original is inside). Crown tickets are limited to 240 people per day, require months of advance booking, and involve 354 stairs with no lift access above the pedestal.

Buy at minimum the Pedestal access. The museum covering the statue’s history is genuinely good, including the fundraising story and the engineering details.

Ellis Island

The ferry ticket includes Ellis Island, the immigration processing station where about 12 million immigrants entered the United States between 1892 and 1954. The Immigration Museum is one of the better history museums in New York City and is consistently undervisited. The Great Hall, where arrivals waited for medical and document inspection, has been restored. Allow at least 90 minutes; most visitors spend 20 and regret it.

Getting There Without the Ferry

The Staten Island Ferry from Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan is free, runs 24 hours, and passes close enough to the statue for good photographs from the water. The portrait of the statue with Lower Manhattan behind works best from the New Jersey side of Liberty Island.

Practical Notes

Lines at Battery Park ticket booths reach 90 minutes by 10am in peak summer. The first ferry departure (around 9am) is significantly less crowded. Tuesday through Thursday mornings in shoulder season are the best days to visit.