"Hours before Americans celebrated their nation's birthday by reveling in fireworks, one of its most iconic symbols -- Lady Liberty -- reopened to the huddled masses eager to see it up close."

"The Statue of Liberty's reopening was a sign of recovery from Superstorm Sandy's devastation last fall and a big bright spot generally on an Independence Day dampened by soaking rains in a large swath of the country and limited by the across-the-board federal budget cuts known as the sequester, which left numerous military bases without annual fireworks displays.

'It is hard to imagine a more appropriate or powerful way to commemorate our nation's founding than to reopen the Statue of Liberty, which is a symbol throughout the world of the freedom America cherishes,' Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Liberty Island, which was hard hit by Superstorm Sandy in October."
 
Josh Levs reports for CNN July 5, 2013. [2]