Post date: Oct 13, 2013 3:56:38 PM
The Statue of Liberty reopens to visitors with New York state footing the $61,600 per day bill.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA (OCTOBER 13, 2013) (NBC) - The Statue of Liberty reopened on Sunday (October 13) after New York state reached deal with the National Park Service despite an ongoing government shutdown.
Another major U.S. National Park - the Grand Canyon, reopened Saturday (October 12) and Mount Rushmore was scheduled to reopen on Monday (October 14).
The emblematic parks are among 401 National Park Service attractions across theUnited States that shut their gates to fee-paying visitors on October 1 after the U.S. Congress and the White House failed to reach agreement on raising the nation's debt limit.
The national parks attract some 280 million visitors a year. More than 7 million Americans were kept out of the parks over the first 10 days of the shutdown and $750 million in visitor spending was lost, according to estimates by the Coalition ofNational Park Service Retirees.
As the crisis dragged on, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said his state had agreed to fund the National Park Service to reopen Liberty Island National Park this weekend and to keep it open during the shutdown at a cost of $61,600 per day.
"The Statue of Liberty is one of this country's most recognizable landmarks, attracting millions of visitors to the state every year, and its closure these last 11 days has had a terrible impact on the local economy and tourism industry," Cuomo said in a statement.