Lady Liberty is Back in Business!

 

 

                  As we all know, the government recently shutdown. Due to this shutdown, all national parks, federally owned museums, and landmarks such as The Statue of Liberty in New York were also closed. Because of all of these places being temporarily closed, thousands of people have been losing their jobs. Although the last time we had a government shutdown in the United States in 1995 it only lasted for twenty one days, the people who are currently out of work will not be receive compensation for the time the government is shutdown. From this, we can tell that the percentage of unemployment in the United States will rise changing a few things in our nation.

                However, it is not the end of the world! Some places are opening back up, allowing the workers to return to their jobs and customers to do what they do best! On Saturday, October 12^th, The Statue of Liberty reopened! Whooo! Many tourists traveling to New York were disappointed when they discovered that they would not be able to visit the famous landmark, but after it was reopened, happiness fled the air. One tourist even stated that “It’s more than just a creator of economics and a creator of jobs. It is probably the most profound symbol for freedom and democracy, certainly in this country, but possibly around the world.”

Nearly 4 million people visited The Statue of Liberty in 2011, generating around $174 million dollars in economic activity. From these statistics, we can conclude that is completely illogical to have it shut down for even just a short period of time. Lady Liberty is a vital and necessary part of keeping our economy where it needs to be.

With the reopening of The Statue of Liberty, many other landmarks, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado have also been reopened. All it takes is one domino to start a chain reaction, and New York- as always- was definitely a trendsetter in this fabulous occasion!

Coumo announced on Friday the state will pay about $61,600 a day to keep the Statue of Liberty opened, which is A LOT of money, but when you think about how much money they will profit from the people who will travel from all parts of the world to see it, it is obviously worth it!