The crown of liberty has been closed for almost eight long years.

Since the dark day of Sept. 11, 2001, the observation deck in the crown atop the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor has been off-limits to visitors. Fears of a terrorist attack closed all of Liberty Island, though the pedestal and the area around it reopened in 2004.

All that will change on Independence Day this year. On July 4, the crown will again open.

Now visitors will be able to climb the 168 steps up through the copper-clad beauty sent by France in 1886 as a token of friendship to its fellow democracy.

The view from the crown is one of a kind – high above the waters churning with ferry boats, cargo ships and the occasional cruise liner. But sitting distant from everything else in the harbor, it has sweeping views of the New York skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge and the ever-working harbor.

For those who don’t want to endure the crush of the lines, try a stroll down to Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan in the evening, when the lights come on to illuminate the Statue of Liberty. Or take the inexpensive round-trip ride on the Staten Island Ferry (you don’t even have to get off), which gives the classic harbor view seen by generations of immigrants arriving from the Old World in the New.

The opening of the crown is another step in New York’s rehabilitation, mentally and physically, from the attacks that leveled the World Trade Center.

Work on that site has been slow, and little more than a transit center exists at a site that developers say one day will include the Freedom Tower, soaring to a symbolic 1,776 feet above.

When a visitor can climb to the top of the Statue of Liberty and look out at Lower Manhattan and the illuminated spire of the Freedom Tower, then, perhaps, the comeback of New York City will be complete.

More details

Go to nps.gov/stli or call 212-363-3200.