I am sitting here having my morning coffee, still adjusting to the turning forward of the clocks. I have refraining from updating on the Liberty/Ellis island situations for the past few weeks because the situation appeared fluid and the news contradictory. Now, it seems that Liberty will be opening this summer and Ellis in 2014. The structural damage was especially severe in Elli’s main building, particularly to the electricity and other infrastructure. This is taking considerable time to repair. The Ellis artifacts are now safely housed in Maryland and will be held and preserved there in the meantime. If you have ever been to Ellis Island you know how special these treasures are. Here is a look at the preservation process, complete with photographs and audio. It is worth ten minutes of your Sunday.

It was a necessary evil but one of the blights in Battery Park over the past decade has been the complex of white security tents through which visitors were required to pass on the way to Liberty and Ellis islands. The structures went up immediately after 9/11 and were originally supposed to be temporary. Nonetheless, in the manner that these things sometimes play out, they were still in use up until Hurricane Sandy in late 2012. In fairness security at the islands is extraordinarily complicated. Millions crowd onto ferries every year to visit the national monuments. There are overlapping local, state, and federal police jurisdictions. What’s more, the waters fall under the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard. People ferry from New Jersey as well, which adds another layer of complexity. It is all very professional. Most visitors took it in stride, but in the dog days of summer, especially, people were not always in the best of moods when finally reaching Liberty and Ellis. None other than Anthony Weiner–yes, the congressman who couldn’t keep it in his pants before hitting Send to his Twitter page–tried to have them removed a few years ago. His idea was a good one, but the plan he promoted was not feasible. Well, the Park Service announced the other day that the tents will be coming down for good when the islands re-open to the public. The bugs haven’t been entirely worked out yet, but a more steam-lined procedure will be carried out on the islands. Taking down these tents is good news for New Yorkers and for the people from around the world who visit every year.

We are now in mid-January and the post-Sandy progress continues at Ellis  and Liberty Islands. As I said a few months back the Park Service hopes to have the national monuments open again in early April. Between now and then I will be posting information more or less without comment to keep people up-to-date. The Jewish Daily Forward has this to say about Ellis. According to the Forward they are saying summer now. The Daily News has a smaller piece about the permanent departure of the superintendent from Liberty Island. It may surprise you to know that the Liberty/Ellis superintendent lived on the island. Sadly this tradition ended with Sandy, meaning that for the first time since 1811 no one is actually living on Bedloe’s Island. It feels strange to type it.

I am no longer a volunteer at Ellis Island National Monument and so don’t have the inside bead on the extent of the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy I once might have. All I’ve had to go on has been a phone call from a friend saying that he has been laid off for an indefinite period and what I can glean from the news. Last week it was announced that the Liberty and Ellis Islands would remain closed through the end of the year. Today the news is that 400 have been laid off, perhaps though April 2013. That would be a full six months closed to the public. I cannot tell you how sad this makes me. What hurts the most is that the it is now the holiday season–the busiest time of the year at Ellis. I know that by the end of the year is unrealistic but I hope they can manage to get at least partial visitation up-and-running in early 2013. For one thing this touches a great deal of the New York economy, as anyone who as ever been to the Battery knows. We shall see.

(image/Kadelarr)

William Zinsser always says that what cannot be said in 300 words or less is not worth saying. To prove it he once wrote 300 words about Ellis Island that proved as eloquent a synopsis of the immigration station that I’ve read. The New York Landmarks Conservancy just posted this video that captures Islands 2 & 3 in just under 3 1/2 minutes. It seems like so long ago now that I volunteered there. Good times. I know things move on but a part of me will miss the old ruins of the southern island when they are fully renovated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1ETOyEFq2M