Lady Liberty's crown opens again; first visitors climb the narrow stairs for the Fourth

For eight years, the narrow staircase inside Lady Liberty's crown sat empty. The National Park Service had closed it after September 11, 2001, judging the cramped space unsafe for emergency evacuation. On July 4, 2009, the statue reopened to the public following a multi-year renovation, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar had earlier announced it as what he called a "special gift" to America, with only about 425 people a day permitted to make the combined ferry, pedestal, and crown climb…