Reserve your tickets online well in advance (up to six months ahead) to access Lady Liberty’s crown, from where the city and harbor are breathtaking. If you miss out on crown tickets, you may have better luck with tickets to the pedestal, which also offers commanding views. If you don't score either, don't fret: all ferry tickets to Liberty Island offer basic access to the grounds, including guided ranger tours or self-guided audio tours. Book all tickets online (www.statuecruises.com) to avoid the long queues.
Conceived as early as 1865 by French intellectual Edouard Laboulaye as a monument to the republican principals shared by France and the USA, the Statue of Liberty is still generally recognized as a symbol for at least the ideals of opportunity and freedom to many. French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi traveled to New York in 1871 to select the site, then spent more than 10 years in Paris designing and making the 151ft-tall figure Liberty Enlightening the World. It was then shipped to New York, erected on a small island in the harbor and unveiled in 1886. Structurally, it consists of an iron skeleton (designed by Gustave Eiffel) with a copper skin attached to it by stiff but flexible metal bars.
Liberty Island is usually visited in conjunction with nearby Ellis Island. Ferries leave from Battery Park, with South Ferry and Bowling Green the closest subway stations. Ferry tickets include admission to both sights.
