"The first visitors allowed into the Statue of Liberty's crown in nearly eight years began the arduous climb today on an Independence Day journey laden with symbolism of freedom and national pride. "I feel like I was just born today," said Andrea Balfour, 38, as she prepared to ascend the 354 steps with her daughter, Mona. Mona won an essay contest to get to go up to crown Saturday -- her 13th birthday. The visit was the Staten Island pair's "biggest dream," Balfour said. The statue was closed to the public after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The base, pedestal and outdoor observation deck were reopened in 2004, but the crown remained off-limits. The National Park Service says the crown remained closed since Sept. 11 because the narrow, double-helix staircases could not be safely evacuated in an emergency and didn't comply with fire and building codes. Tourists often suffered heat exhaustion, shortness of breath, panic attacks, claustrophobia and fear of heights, spokesman Darren Boch said." - RAPatton

"The statue, 305 feet tall to the tip of its raised torch, was designed to mark the 1876 centennial of the Declaration of Independence. It faces the entrance to New York Harbor, welcoming the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free," in the words of Emma Lazarus, engraved on a bronze plaque inside the statue. The torch has been closed since it was damaged by a saboteur's bomb in 1916. Visitors are now screened before boarding ferries and again before they can visit the museum in the base or climb to the top of the pedestal." - RAPatton