10月28日是美國紐約自由女神像125歲生日，紐約市專門舉辦慶?；顒?，紀念這一特殊的日子。在其慶典儀式上，啟動了5個安裝在火炬上的網絡攝像機，讓全球民眾能隨時欣賞到紐約的港口風光，還能看到自由女神像下方的參觀人潮。但是在慶典結束后，自由女神像將關閉，進行為期一年、耗資2725萬美元的內部整修。整修期間，外部的自由島仍然對外開放。

"Enjoy your view of this great monument as we approach Liberty Island today. This view is similar to the one seen by many thousands of immigrants as they entered the US by steam ship…"

The Statue of Liberty is one of the world's most famous landmarks. Each day thousands of tourists take the ferry to Liberty Island for a closer look.

"I've always wanted to see it since a little kid. It's something that a lot of people want to see and it's a big part of the United States' history."

"Last day in New York, gotta do the statue!"

Once on the island you can climb inside the statue.

"There was a queue for the elevator so I'm taking the stairs up to the top of the pedestal."

At the top of the stairs I meet guide Bill Mara. He explains that this area is about to close for one year as the statue undergoes major renovation work.

"After the renovations how different will this place look?"

"Well, we're probably right in the middle of an elevator that's going to come up here. The elevator's going to come up here to allow handicapped people to take their wheelchairs up and go around the top and all the stairs are going to be enclosed, kind of like an aquarium kind of deal. It'll be sealed up. So, if there are any kind of problems, you still have air and oxygen and it will be safer."

David Luchsinger is in charge of the site and the only person to actually live on Liberty Island. He says the work will increase safety.

"She was never built for people to go in to begin with. So we've been making steady renovations all along and this is final piece of the puzzle."

Liberty Island will remain open during the renovations. But with many headlines already reporting the Statue of Liberty will close, management worry visitors may wrongly assume they can't visit at all. David Luchsinger stresses this is not the case.

"We're going to have more folks outside giving tours, we have audio tours, we have all different kinds of programmes available to folks, the gift and food shops will be open so they're still going to have a wonderful time and the view will be spectacular."

But will people still come if they can't climb the statue?

"Yes because even if the statue is closed, for me it's a big symbol so I'd come."

For those desperate to climb the statue, they'll have to wait 12 months. But, by that time, management say the experience will be better and safer than ever.

For CRI in New York, I'm Dominic Swire.

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