Tag Archives: national parks conservation

Statue of Liberty Security Procedures Could be Changing

Current safety protocols at the Statue of Liberty are under review

Since the September 11th attacks, visiting the Statue of Liberty has been quite the hassle, thanks to security concerns. Visitors are screened at Battery Park and are forced to toil and wait in long, slow lines. If tourists and visitors want a “two-fer” and plan to visit both Ellis Island and Liberty Island, they were forced to go through a second security screening process at Liberty Island in order to enter the statue’s pedestal or crown. The headache is enough to make visitors and out-of-towners want to find something else to do while in Manhattan.

The talks to create a new, streamlined security process have been resurrected after various state, local and federal agencies had reached a standstill. They have yet to come up with a new plan. It’ll come down to the amount of checkpoints necessary and required for the safety of all visitors.

“The U.S. Park Police, New York City Police Department, the mayor’s office and Interior Secretary (Ken) Salazar’s office are all sitting down, going through the proposal by detail,” said Oliver Spellman, the Northeast senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. “They’ve reopened the conversation with more agencies involved.” While there was a suggestion to bring the security operation to Ellis Island, Park Police do not want visitors to board ferries to Ellis Island without a security check to begin with.

“They’re trying to see if they can find a way that works out for everyone, even if they could find a location outside of Battery Park,” the NPCA representative said. “They’d rather err on the side of security, and that’s really the question: how many checkpoints do you really need.”