Stan O'Connor's STATUE OF LIBERTY and ELLIS ISLAND Walking Tour
Take a short trip by ferry to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Immigration Museum. From November 2011 until November 2012, there is no access to the Crown, Pedestal or Museum. Decide now whether you want to ascend into Miss Liberty’s pedestal, or simply tour the island and have photos taken with the statue. If you want to go up, please leave backpacks, packages, strollers and drinks at your hotel. Also, the National Park Service allows no weapons of any kind, not even pocket knives or scissors. Please leave them in your room. Get picked up at your hotel, followed by your choice of a subway or taxi ride down to historic Battery Park. We’ll pick up our tickets, pass through Security, and board the ferry for a 15-minute cruise across New York Harbor to Liberty Island. 
On the island, you will see all of Manhattan, from the George Washington Bridge, down to the rebuilt World Trade Center. Have your photo taken with the statue, and then with Manhattan! I’ll take you to the gift shop, and there’s a chance we’ll meet a re-enactor who plays the part of Auguste Bartholdi, the Statue’s sculptor. We will see a copper-ore boulder from the mine in Norway from which Miss Liberty’s copper cladding comes. 
After spending time on the island, another short ferry hop brings us to Ellis Island National Historic Site, where over 12 million people were processed into America between 1892 and 1924. You’ll be escorted through the island’s museum, have your photo taken in front of the main building, hear stories of immigrants, and optionally stop in at the gift shop or café. 
About four-five hours. $150 for up to 10 people, plus $12 individual ferry fare. Additional people? $5 each, plus $12 ferry fare.