NEW YORK—At dawn’s early light, the morning after Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New York City, the Statue of Liberty’s silhouette outlined the harbor skyline, a survivor of 90 mph winds and a storm surge that had 75 percent of Liberty Island underwater.
Nearly three months after the storm slammed New York City, Lady Liberty still stands tall—but she is lonely. Liberty Island, the 12-acre island that is her home, remains closed due to storm damage. The docks, utilities, backup generator, and wastewater system were destroyed, and the brick pathway suffered severe damage.
“We are frozen in time. It is like it was 10 weeks ago,” said Mike Burke, COO of Statue Cruises, the authorized ferry service for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, where immigrants were processed in America’s early days.
With the city’s tourism hitting a record high of 52 million visitors in 2012, and a $30 million renovation to the Statue’s crown, which opened the day before Sandy hit, an additional 26,000 visitors were expected to see the American icon this year. The closure could not have come at a worse time for businesses that rely on the statue for their livelihood. As Congress debates the Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act, the Statue of Liberty is becoming the face of those left out in the cold without aid.
