A vast number of federal sectors were effected by the partial federal government shutdown. But, what most people weren’t aware of prior to the shutdown was that it would cause a ripple effect that would merge into other areas. The Statue of Liberty was one entity that suffered the consequences.

Liberty Island National Park is one of the 33 sites under New York’s National Park Jurisdiction to be effected by the shut down. The sites have been closed since Oct. 1, as a result of the shutdown.

A message was posted on the official Twitter time-line for the Statue of Liberty to announce the park’s closure due to the shutdown.

Because of the federal gov’t shutdown this National Park Service Twitter feed is inactive. We’ll start tweeting again when we get back.

— Statue of Liberty NM (@StatueEllisNPS) October 1, 2013

The Statue of Liberty is closed. pic.twitter.com/iE23bGEwTA #shutdown

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) October 1, 2013

However, on Saturday, a decision was made to reopen the park. But, the executive decision to reopen didn’t come as a government call. In a brief statement released on Friday, Gov. Andew Cuomo announced that the state of New York would initially foot the bill. According to USA Today, the statement entailed that the state of New York would pay approximately $61,600 a day to reopen through Oct. 18. The daily expenditures will be used to operate the park and the ferry which transports visitors to the monument site on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.

An official announcement of the re-opening was also placed on the official Statue of Liberty Facebook page. The statement said:

The Statue of Liberty and Liberty Island will be open October 13th through October 18th due to an agreement with the State of New York. Liberty Island is open to all ticket holders. The Pedestal and Crown will be open to those who have made reservations in advance. Reservations should made with at Statue Cruises www.statuecruises.com. Ellis Island remains closed at this time. 

Liberty Island National Park. Liberty Island, located on the New York Harbor, brings in approximately 4 million visitors per year, which equates to an estimate of $174 million in economic activity. Today, Cuomo stressed how imperative it is to reopen the tourist attraction in the best interest of the state and its visitors. “When you close down the Statue of Liberty, you close down a good portion of the tourism that comes to New York City, and that is untold millions of dollars of damage,” Cuomo said.

The Statue of Liberty landmark park was one of 10 national parks and monuments to reopen this weekend under similar state government stipulations.
Image via Wikimedia Commons