Lady Liberty to once again be awesome.

It was announced today that the Statue of Liberty's crown will be re-opened on July 4th. Long since shut down following the attacks of September 11th, visitors to Lady Liberty were restricted to the base of her pedestal. Queens Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner was the driving force behind the controversial push to reverse the Bush administration's decision to close the crown, but this victory is for everyone; American citizens, immigrants, the city of New York, tourists. I remember my (4th grade?) class trip to the landmark. Packed like 65 crayons made for a box of 64, the hot and sweaty innards are nothing pretty. The spiral staircase up to the top was better suited for the shorter, skinnier population of the 1880's. Twelve stories of a butt-in-face conga line. Once up top I had 3.4 seconds to peer through the dozen or so (scratched to oblivion with "JR loves SG" like comments) windows overlooking the Hudson Bay. Of what I can remember, it was beautiful. I felt on top of the city and the world, something every 4th grader should experience for themselves.

Security will be grotesquely tight, allowing only 30 lottery winners per hour to experience the crown. But that's 30 visitors an hour more than yesterday. It's about time.

I took advantage of the ceased rainfall and headed downtown to Battery Park to get a glimpse of Lady Liberty in the bay. Like always, click the image to enlarge.