The Interior Department announced Wednesday that the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island will remain accessible to the public during the ongoing partial government shutdown, despite New York Governor Kathy Hochul declining to allocate state funds for their operation.
A representative from the Department of the Interior stated, “Thanks to President Donald J. Trump’s decisive leadership, both Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are available for Americans to enjoy.”
Prior to the shutdown, Governor Hochul chose not to commit state resources to keep the Statue of Liberty operational.
Governor Hochul remarked, “If Lady Liberty’s torch dims, it will be due to the Republicans in Washington who have failed to exercise common sense and have forgotten the people they were elected to serve,” in a statement directed at The Post just hours before federal funding ceased for the first time since the lengthy shutdown in December 2018 and January 2019.
During that previous shutdown, former Governor Andrew Cuomo mobilized state resources to keep the landmark, overseen by the National Parks Service, open. “As in the past, when Washington’s ineptitude has shut down operations, New York will take action to ensure that the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island remain open as symbols of strength and hope during these challenging times,” Cuomo, a Democrat, stated then.
Last year, more than 3.7 million visitors explored the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as reported by the National Park Service, which has a staff comprised of 88 full-time and 28 seasonal employees, along with 80 personnel from the U.S. Park Police.
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The Department of the Interior’s contingency plans for the shutdown, which were shared on Tuesday, indicate that 9,296 out of the 14,500 National Park Service employees will be furloughed. Nevertheless, certain parks will remain operational, utilizing “available retained recreation fees balances” to deliver “basic services” to visitors.
An extended shutdown could lead to about 750,000 federal employees being furloughed, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.
