New York Harbor's Head Case Op-Ed

• Published in: The New York times
• Main Author: John G. Waite, Clay S. Palazzo and Nancy A. Rankin
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, N.Y New York Times Company 02.07.2006
• Edition: Late Edition (East Coast)
• ISSN: 0362-4331

The Statue of Liberty was erected in New York Harbor between 1883 and 1886. The statue was initially also a lighthouse, and the narrow internal stairway within Gustave Eiffel's iron structure was used by maintenance workers who inspected the torch daily. Originally, Lady Liberty was meant to be viewed only from the harbor. The sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi never expected that more than 2.5 million tourists would visit Liberty Island every year. So almost five years later, why should the crown stay closed? While the original staircase used by maintenance workers was removed during the 1986 restoration of the statue, the double-helix staircase that replaced it, rising more than 110 feet from the statue's toes to her crown, is narrow, cramped and unsafe. With just over five feet of head clearance and less than 20 inches of width, the stairs barely fit within the statue's iron structure. When the crown was open, many people complained of claustrophobia, vertigo and heat exhaustion during their ascent; a tiny elevator that was used often to rescue stranded tourists can accommodate only one person, standing, at a time. What's more, once in the crown -- and after waiting about three hours on the stairs in a hot, poorly ventilated space -- visitors have only a limited view of Brooklyn's skyline. There's barely room in the crown, which is about the size of a small office cubicle, to have a friend take your photo. And then, of course, there's the climb back down. Unfortunately, there's no room for a larger or safer stairway from the top of the pedestal to the crown. And building an exterior elevator or staircase would destroy the historic character of the monument and its iconic form, which should be preserved at all cost.