Bush to Lady Liberty: Starve

[Michael Pollak <mpollak@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://nydailynews.com/front/story/140371p-124478c.html

   November 26, 2003
   New York Daily News

   Give her liberty!

   City passing the hat to help statue reopen

   By MICHAEL SAUL
   DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU

   Lady Liberty to America: Can you spare a dime?

   Mayor Bloomberg helped launch a nationwide fund-raising campaign
   yesterday to raise $5 million to reopen the Statue of Liberty.

   The landmark has been closed because of security concerns since the
   Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, although Liberty Island remains
   open.

   And while the federal government doles out millions of dollars in
   homeland security funds to out-of-harm's way states such as Wyoming
   and North Dakota, it hasn't forked over enough dough to reopen the
   nation's most enduring symbol of freedom.

   "It's great that people want to help open Lady Liberty again, but the
   city shouldn't have to go around with a tin cup to keep our national
   monuments open," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the task
   force on homeland security for the House Democratic caucus.

   "This is just another example of the federal government shortchanging
   New York on homeland security funds," Maloney (D-Manhattan) said.

   The money being raised in the fund-raising campaign will go for a
   variety of physical improvements that will boost security, such as
   upgrading fire suppression and emergency notification systems and
   creating additional exits from the statue's base.

   Most of the money already has been pledged: American Express has
   agreed to donate a minimum of $3 million, and Folgers Coffee has
   pledged $1 million. That leaves only $1 million left to be collected.

   "It would have been great if the federal government would pay for it,
   but the reality is they aren't," said Ed Skyler, Bloomberg's press
   secretary.

   The Bloomberg administration had requested that federal security funds
   be allocated to Statue of Liberty improvements, but it suddenly
   withdrew the request last week after American Express pledged its
   donation.

   "Since we learned of the commitment from Amex, it essentially let the
   federal government off the hook," Skyler said.

   Cynthia Garrett, superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National
   Monument and Ellis Island for the National Park Service, said there is
   a tradition of relying on private-sector money.

   In the early 1980s, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation was
   established after then-President Ronald Reagan asked Lee Iacocca, then
   chairman of Chrysler Corp., to spearhead a private-sector effort to
   raise funds for the restoration and preservation of the statue and
   Ellis Island.

   The foundation has raised $500 million for numerous projects, most
   notably the statue's restoration, which was completed in 1986 in time
   for Lady Liberty's centennial.

   The federal government did increase the operating budget for Liberty
   and Ellis islands to $11 million from $10 million following the Sept.
   11 terrorist attacks. The parks also received $2 million to boost
   security, including the introduction of metal detectors.

   Officials declined to say when the statue would reopen but said they
   were hopeful it would be sometime next year.

   They also said it was unlikely that visitors would be allowed to climb
   to the statue's crown. When the statue reopens, visitors likely will
   be stopped at the statue's base.
   Originally published on November 26, 2003

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