ALBANY – ‘I lift my lamp beside the golden door,’ no more!
Gov. Kathy Hochul is refusing to come to the rescue and provide state funding to keep the Statue of Liberty open if it closes due to the partial government shutdown that commenced Wednesday.
Hochul blamed Republicans in Congress for a potential closure to the national monument, even though all but three Senate Democrats sunk a short-term funding bill Tuesday night that would have kept the government funded at current levels until Nov. 21.
“If Lady Liberty’s iconic torch goes dark, it will be thanks to the Washington Republicans who refused common sense and abandoned the people they were elected to represent,” Hochul said in a statement to The Post hours before the shutdown took effect.
“Washington Republicans have already cut billions from health care, public safety and food assistance for New Yorkers – and now their cruel, senseless cuts are sending us spiraling toward a federal shutdown that will harm workers, small businesses and families throughout our state and across the nation,” she continued.
During the last government shutdown in 2018, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo forked over state resources to keep the iconic landmark, which is run by the National Parks Service, open.
“As we’ve done before when Washington’s dysfunction has shut down the government, New York will step up and ensure the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island remain open for the world to look to for strength and hope during this tumultuous time,” Cuomo said at the time.
Over 3.7 million people visited the Statue of Liberty last year, according to the National Park Service.
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