Today is the day. People have been waiting for years to re-open the crown to the Statue of Liberty and that time has come. The Star Ledger had this great shot of visitors back in the crown today:
Cut ribbon too reopen crown to Statute of Liberty with Sec. Salazar. Happy 4th of July! Thanks 2 our servicemen and women who keep us free.
Secretary Salazaar announced the re-opening of the crown on May 8, responding to efforts by our elected officials. They believe about 30 people will get to the crown per hour, going in groups of 10. You probably have an amazing view of the fireworks from that crown. How will you be celebrating Independence Day and will you plan to see the statue along with the crown at some point?
"Today we're announcing that on the Fourth of July we will open up the crown of the Statue of Liberty to the entire people of America," Salazar told NBC's Matt Lauer. More information will come during a 9 a.m. press conference.
The secretary said his mandated review of the logistics and safety concerns has concluded and that "improvements are going to happen" before the crown reopens in early July.
The plan, as Salazar described it, is to first allow 30 people into the crown per hour.
"We'll follow that up with more rehab and ultimately increase the number who can come up here," Salazar said.
Here's video of the NBC opening segment with some amazing shots and the interview where the Secretary makes the announcement:Salazar also addressed potential security concerns:
"We are worried about it and know that we have to take precautions before people can come up here." He said there will be two layers of security screening before visitors get to the top, but acknowledged his decision is "not going to be totally risk-free."
During Salazar's confirmation hearing, Senator Menendez got a commitment to examine re-opening the crown. A week after securing the commitment, Menendez and Salazar toured the Statue of Liberty to discuss the possibility of re-opening. The Park Service originally closed the Statue of Liberty and nearby Ellis Island to the public following the attacks on 9/11 as a security concern, but the statue's pedestal was reopened to the public in August of 2004. But come the 4th this year, that closure will be no more for the crown.
One week after U.S. Senator Robert Menendez got a commitment from the new United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to tour the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, they will do so today to examine the possibility of re-opening Lady Liberty's crown and the closed portion of Ellis Island. Senator Menendez raised the issue during Secretary Salazar's confirmation hearing.
Well that didn't take long. I wonder if he'll comment or be asked about the last minute Bush off shore drilling regulation changes while he's here too? That would seem to be an issue that our Senator's might have an interest in as well.
"So nobody really thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face," Obama said in Springfield. "So what they're going to try to do is make you scared of me. You know, he's not patriotic enough. He's got a funny name. You know, he doesn't look like all those other Presidents on those dollar bills, you know. He's risky. That's essentially the argument they're making."
Today Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, sent out a message saying, "Barack Obama has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck. It's divisive, negative, shameful and wrong."
Shameful? Divisive? Wrong? Racist? Too bad that blogger dhmlt 66 remembered that the McCain campaign did make fun of how Obama would look on money. (See OpenLeft too.) Now I'll confess I didn't pick up that the ad was racist, but if McCain's campaign manager says it is, who am I to doubt him? Here's the screen capture from the webab as seen on youtube:
