http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/03/24/2009-03-24_statue_of_liberty_will_open_for_the_publ.html

The Statue of Liberty, which has been closed to visitors sine the 9/11 attacks in 2001, will be open to the public again starting July 4th.
WASHINGTON - Lady Liberty may be welcoming visitors back into her crown for the 4th of July holiday,Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday. Salazar said "we will endeavor to do everything we can" to have the Statue of Liberty and its thrilling spiral staircase climb to her crown open to the public by America's 233rd birthday - the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks. "We may have it opened up to a smaller group of people," he told Reuters. Salazar said his department, which controls the landmark, is considering implementing a ticketing or lottery system to allow small groups of people to enter the crown at specific times, similar to crowd control and safety procedures at theWashington Monument on the National Mall. "I can't think of a better birthday present for our nation. Reopening the crown of Lady Liberty will restore a quintessential New York and American experience," saidRep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens). Salazar's announcement followed a drumbeat of 23 Daily News editorials over six years urging the crown be re-opened to the public. But before the plan can go forward, Lady Liberty has to clear one final safety check - a hurdle Salazar anticipates the monument will clear. He is awaiting an April 15 security assessment, which will lay out options on how to proceed. "Those are the kinds of things we're looking at with our aspiration being that we do have the Statue of Liberty opened up," Salazar said. The National Park Service, the Interior agency that cares for Liberty Island, shut down the Statue after the Sept. 11 attacks, citing security concerns. Liberty's base, pedestal, and observation deck were re-opened in August 2004, but the crown remained closed - the only site in the National Park system off-limits to the public since 9/11. Salazar said there were still safety concerns about having crowds on the spiral staircase in case of an emergency, but suggested that risk could be minimized by having only small groups in the crown at any one moment. Weiner and other New York City officials have pushed to have the Statue re-opened, but were blocked by the Bush administration's safety concerns. While the number of visitors to Lady Liberty, which the U.S. received as a gift from France in 1886, fell in the aftermath of 9/11, attendance has climbed in recent years - to 3.2 million in 2007.
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