unanimously passed a resolution last week<\/a> calling out the NPS\u2019s US Park Police, along with Statue City Cruises, for commandeering the small patch of waterfront.<\/p>\nThe two parties erected the fencing \u201cwithout consultation\u201d with the city Parks Department, which has jurisdiction over the parkland, the board alleged.<\/p>\n
But Statue City Cruises and US Park Police said the blockade was re-erected to replace one that had been standing long before the area went under construction.<\/p>\n
The sprawling fence sits between two sections of ongoing work, meaning the only patch of visible waterfront views is blocked.<\/p>\n
The only way to see unobstructed views of Ellis Island under the current conditions is to cough up the $26 fee to board the cruise, the residents complained.<\/p>\n
The fence is a provides \u201ca critical security element protecting the monument and the millions who visit it each year,\u201d according to the National Parks Service. William Farrington for the New York Post<\/p>\n
The fence was erected as a \u201cpay-for-play\u201d scheme for the cruise line, Tammy Meltzer, the chair for Community Board 1 said. William Farrington for the New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201c[They] basically privatized on a pay-to-play basis to be able to see the Statue of Liberty,\u201d fumed Meltzer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s beyond sad. It\u2019s actually truly unfair that you\u2019re turning a public park meant to serve everyone into \u2018If you want to take a picture without a fence, you\u2019ve got to pay for it.’\u201d<\/p>\n
The blockage was disappointing for Zach Deedler of Michigan, who slotted a bike ride visit to Battery Park so that he and son, Xavier, 13, could catch \u201cat least a view\u201d of Lady Liberty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe rode up and down that area and couldn\u2019t find anything where there wasn\u2019t a fence, or we could see it \u2026 I tried to take a picture through the fence and that wasn\u2019t working out!\u201d said Deedler.<\/p>\n
Zach Deedler and his son Xavier were shocked that there were no unobstructed views of the waterfront. William Farrington for the New York Post<\/p>\n
The cruise line and US Park Police claim the fence is needed to conduct security screenings for sightseeing ferries, a mission the CB1 supports, but says has gone too far.<\/p>\n
CB1 and Battery Conservancy are asking that the fence be reduced to in size and to remove the fencing when operations end for the day, the latter of which the US Park Police claims it had already been doing.<\/p>\n
The stakeholders, along with the city Parks Department, attempted to meet with US Park Police and Statue City Cruises to address the issue, but both refused to show up.<\/p>\n
\u201cReopening as much as possible of the waterfront at The Battery is essential to ensuring that New Yorkers and visitors can access and enjoy one of the city\u2019s most iconic public spaces,\u201d city Parks said.<\/p>\n
The fence had been in place since 2004, but was taken down due to construction. William Farrington<\/p>\n
For its part, Statue City Cruises passed the blame onto the NPS, saying the blockade had nothing to do with money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe planning and placement of fencing related to security screening activities in Battery Park is solely under the purview of the NPS and the US Park Police. Statue Cruises does not determine the security procedures at the Battery,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n
The US Park Police reiterated that the fence provides \u201ca critical security element protecting the monument and the millions who visit it each year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has occupied the same footprint at Battery Park since 2004. We\u2019re happy to report zero security breaches since,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lady Liberty is behind bars. An ugly, black fence sprawled across Battery Park\u2019s only strip of open waterfront…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[50379,16004,75,57,9,24,55,197,54,56,23589,13942,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-182536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-battery-park","9":"tag-cruises","10":"tag-manhattan","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-city-life","16":"tag-new-york-city-news","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-statue-of-liberty","19":"tag-tourists","20":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}