The day started out early with the first stop @ Statue of Liberty. There was intense security checking systems and finally we got on board the ferry that would take us onto the Liberty Island.
Date(s): December 31, 2004. Album by Karthik Nagaraj. Photos by Priya Karthik. 1 - 31 of 31 Total. 1430 Visits.
enlarge 170KB, 800x600 1 Clinton Castle - the place where they issue the tickets for the ferry.
enlarge 131KB, 800x600 2 Look at the crowd at around 8:00 in the morning. Lucky we had bought the tickets online, I had to just stand in line for a couple of minutes and redeem the online confirmation for the actual tickets. Because we had booked online, it gave us a oppurtunity to get the tickets to the Promenade and Observatory which was a time-ticket pass for both Liberty Island and Ellis Island.
enlarge 103KB, 800x600 3 On route to the Liberty Island.
enlarge 86KB, 800x600 5 Backdrop - Statue of Liberty, we were almost nearing the island.
enlarge 63KB, 800x600 6 There she stands, welcoming all to the land of oppurtunity and freedom.
enlarge 65KB, 800x600 7 NYC skyline with the lady in front focus.
enlarge 144KB, 600x800 8 The original torch that was punctured by various brainheads to install ligthing systems so that the Statue can act as a lighthouse. They all failed and all that is left is this patched version of the original torch. The NPS have preserved it by bringing it down and installing a pseudo torch that is golden in color and lit from the outside by the light reflecting off its surface.
enlarge 120KB, 600x800 9 The face mask - the metal is an alloy of copper and when copper is allowed to rust it turns green, thats what has happened to the Liberty lady. She was allowed to rust for about 35 years before presented to the US and hence that color.
enlarge 87KB, 600x800 10 Various designs were thought for the Liberty lady, after all the inspiration for the builder, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi was his mother. In this picture you can see some of those very designs that were planned - like having chains in her hand to show that the broken chains meant Liberty. But only one design was chosen - the current one in which the Lady holds a tablet in her left hand and has chards of brokens chains at her face. The tablet is not exactly a square tablet but it has its top edges a little notched. On the tablet is inscribed July 4 1776 in Roman.
enlarge 95KB, 600x800 11 Length of nose = 4' 6" (l.48m)
enlarge 108KB, 800x600 12 Length of sandal: 25'0" US Women's Shoe Size based on standard fomula: 879
enlarge 129KB, 800x600 13 The vertebrae that was used to hold the Liberty Lady in place.
enlarge 66KB, 800x600 14 The statue was hollow inside and hence needed these kinds of iron and steel vertebrae to hold her firmly but not so firmly that would snap her when she tries to sway in the wind.
enlarge 93KB, 800x600 15 Drawings showing how Eiffel designed the vertical drawbridge internal structure for the Lady Liberty. His design was the winning design as it allowed the Lady to stand firmly and not fall off when the wind blows by and also it allowed the lady to sway in the direction of the wind and come back to her original firm position. This way she wouln't snap off her pedestal in case of a wind. Eiffel was given this project immediately after he finished constructing the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
enlarge 100KB, 600x800 16 Look at that internal structure. Eiffel was a master of bridges and that's how he designed the internal structure of the statue.
enlarge 107KB, 800x600 17 Ideas for the Pedestal...
enlarge 116KB, 800x600 18 It was Pulitzer with his marketing strategies that mustered the required money for constructing the pedestal. No state in the US was willing to pay for the pedestal for the gift from France. France warned America that it would take the statue back if America cannot collect money for the pedestal. What a shame for a country like the US then ? The millionaires were given a slap on the face when Pulitzer announced that he would be willing to take donations from anyone as small as a penny and in return he would publish the names of those people in the front page of his newspaper. Only catch was that he wouldn't tell which day the names would be printed. This way he increased circulation of his paper and also mustered the entire money in less than a year. America's embarassing moment passed away when all people unitedly donated money for the Pedestal seeing how small children donated their pennies. Thats the story of how the pedestal was born to host the statue. Until the money for ...
enlarge 116KB, 800x600 19 We were almost at the end of the museum...
enlarge 161KB, 800x600 20 In the Promenade section. Looking up to see the vertebrae and the stairway taking you all the way up. Amazing design for that time.
enlarge 142KB, 800x600 21 On the Promanade overlooking the ground below.
enlarge 104KB, 800x600 22 Priya stands in focus with the backdrop as the entrance to the Liberty Island.
enlarge 112KB, 600x800 23 Lady Liberty in various angles and shots...
enlarge 125KB, 600x800 24 Her cloth is like the linen of the Greeks. Why did Bartholdi choose Greek clothing - to signify Democracy and that Greece was the first democratic nation.
enlarge 92KB, 600x800 25 A bottom side profile view of the lady.
enlarge 103KB, 800x600 26 Look at the size of the foot.
enlarge 141KB, 600x800 27 We came one level down to the Observatory. The weather was quite windy and cold.
enlarge 106KB, 600x800 28
enlarge 61KB, 600x800 29 Now that's us.
enlarge 73KB, 600x800 30 The Statue of Liberty - never ceases to amaze me how the French constructed it right under Napolean's (the III) nose.
enlarge 78KB, 600x800 31 Thats about the Liberty Island and the lady herself - Leaving the island...
