The iconic Statue of Liberty reopened to the public, on Sunday, two days after the state of New York agreed to shoulder the costs of running the site during the crippling federal government shutdown.
Ferry trips to Liberty Island National Park from Manhattan's Battery Park resumed at 9 am and many visitors lined up to visit the popular tourist site. The site was closed on October 1.
"We're glad to be up and running to Liberty Island," said Statue Cruises marketing director Rafael Abreu. He said they had a 60 per cent reduction in business since the government shutdown that shuttered federal-run national parks. The company ferries about 7,000 to 10,000 passengers a day.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that the state would pay about USD 61,600 a day to reopen Liberty Island through October 17. If the slimdown is not resolved by then, officials said, they will renegotiate to keep it open.
New York has 33 sites under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, and they have been shut since October 1 during the federal government shutdown. The sites include the statue and nearby Ellis Island, which remains closed for repairs since Superstorm Sandy last year.
Some four million people visited Lady Liberty in 2011, generating USD 174 million in economic activity, the park service said.
Meanwhile, Governors in several other US states have asked for authority to reopen parks within their borders, citing economic losses from closures.
Figures compiled by a coalition of retired park service workers indicate that, in total, some 700,000 people a day would have been visiting the parks and that the surrounding areas are losing USD 76 million in visitor spending per day.
Arizona reopened the famous Grand Canyon yesterday. Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado also reopened along with several parks in Utah, according to the parks service website.
The shutdown began when Congress missed a October 1 deadline to pass a budget. The Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate held direct talks for the first time in weeks yesterday, but there is little sign of any breakthrough. 14-10-2013
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