Does Liberty Island belong to New Jersey or New York?
The island and nearby Ellis Island constitute Statue of Liberty National Monument. Although the monument is within New Jersey waters, Liberty Island and a portion of Ellis Island are within the territorial jurisdiction of New York state.
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Part of the State of New York, the island is an exclave of the New York City borough of Manhattan, surrounded by the waters of Jersey City, New Jersey.
Instead, the two states negotiated a compact in 1833, ratified by the US Congress in 1834. Among other agreements, the compact established that New York owned Ellis Island, but New Jersey owned the submerged lands around Ellis Island.
However, the two states came to an agreement that the border between the two states would be the midpoint of the waters between them. However, the islands on the New Jersey side would be retained by New York. This means that Liberty Island is part of New York, but completely surrounded by New Jersey.
The last residents of Liberty Island, superintendent David Luchsinger and his wife, Debbie, left the island in 2013. The Statue of Liberty Museum now occupies the side of the island where the residences used to be.
I generally recommend not driving in Manhattan unless you have to, so if you're only visiting the Statue of Liberty for the day from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or another state south of New York, I recommend coming from Liberty State Park (the New Jersey side.)
Visitors arrive and depart Liberty Island and Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor, via ferries operated by Statue City Cruises. These ferries leave from two locations: The Battery, at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City, and Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The statue's crown has been off-limits since March 16 of 2020, when the National Park Service halted all public operations at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island because of the pandemic.
It is not. The Statue is located on Liberty Island, a short ferry ride from America's most famous immigration center, Ellis Island. Ellis Island is now home to the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. Park Rangers provided brief tours at each museum.
Visitors arrive and depart Liberty Island and Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor, via ferries operated by Statue City Cruises. These ferries leave from two locations: The Battery, at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City, and Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey.