NEW YORK (AP) — Lady Liberty is getting high-tech gifts for her 125th birthday: webcams on her torch that will let viewers gaze out at New York Harbor and read the tablet in her hands or see visitors on the grounds of the island below in real time.
The five torch cams are to be switched on Friday during a ceremony to commemorate the dedication of the Statue of Liberty on Oct. 28, 1886. The ceremony caps a week of events centered around the historic date, including the debut of a major museum exhibition about poet Emma Lazarus, who helped bring the monument renown as the "Mother of Exiles."
The statue, designed by sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, was given by the French government to the U.S. as a token of friendship between the two countries and dedicated by President Grover Cleveland.
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This undated photo provided by EarthCam, shows the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor from a camera mounted in its torch, in New York. Five torch cams will be switched on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, during a ceremony to commemorate the statue?s dedication. (AP) |
And while today it is known as a symbol of liberty for millions of refugees and exiles, initially the famous sonnet by Lazarus in the voice of the statue asking for "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" did not appear on the statue. It was not until 1903 that "The New Colossus" was placed on the pedestal.
The statue's webcams will offer views from the torch that have been unavailable to the public since 1916, said Stephen A. Briganti, the president of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Inc.
Through the webcams, Internet users around the world will have four views, including a high-quality, 180-degree stitched panorama of the harbor with stunning views of Ellis and Governors islands. They will be able to watch as ships go by Liberty Island and observe as the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center goes up floor-by-floor in lower Manhattan. They can get a fish-eye look at the torch itself as it glows in the night.
The five cameras, which will be on 24 hours, seven days a week, were donated to the National Park Service by Earthcam Inc., a New Jersey-based company that manages webcams around the world.
The cameras put viewers on the balcony of the torch and high above the crown, said Brian Cury, the founder of Earthcam.
"This is not your dad's picture of the Statue of Liberty," he said. "This is not a view from a tourist helicopter. This is unique."
Friday's ceremony also will be marked by a water flotilla, actress Sigourney Weaver reading Lazarus' poem and a naturalization ceremony for 125 candidates for citizenship representing over 40 countries.
The public is invited to attend the ceremony, with ferry service available between Manhattan and Liberty Island. The interior of the statue — from the pedestal down to the museum base — will close after the 125th anniversary celebration for up to a year so that stairwells, elevators and mechanical systems can be upgraded. The park itself will remain open to visitors.
Lazarus is the subject of a new exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan, which has views of Lady Liberty. It's to open Wednesday to coincide with the anniversary of the statue's dedication.
Curator Melissa Martens said Lazarus was born into the fourth generation of a Jewish family in New York prominent since colonial times. "They were some of the early people to articulate the Jewish experience in dialogue with the challenges of freedom and religious liberty," she said.
Featuring over 83 original objects from 27 institutions and individuals, "Poet of Exiles" is the first full-fledged artifact exhibit at a major museum to robustly explore the life of Lazarus, from her work as an advocate for immigrants fleeing the Russian pogroms of the early 1880s to her pioneering support for a Jewish homeland.
Lazarus died in 1887 at age 38 from Hodgkin's disease, never having known her poem would be united with the Statue of Liberty.
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뉴욕 자유의 여신상에 웹캠 설치
뉴욕의 세계적 명물 자유의 여신상이 들고 있는 횃불에 웹 캠이 설치돼 전 세계 사람들이 횃불의 위치에서 바라보는 전경을 볼 수 있게 된다.
뉴욕 리버티섬의 자유의 여신상 건립 125주년일을 맞아 오는 28일 설치될 웹캠은 모두 5개로 여신상이 바라보는 뉴욕 항만의 전경과 리버티섬을 관광하는 지상의 관 광객 등 다양한 광경을 실시간으로 볼 수 있다.
이들 웹캠은 이날 자유의 여신상 125주년 기념식에서 스위치가 켜진 후 1년365일 24시간 내내 작동하며 사람이 횃불 위 테라스에 올라 보는 것과 같은 시각을 제공한다.
자유의 여신상 엘리스 아일랜드재단의 스티븐 브리거티 회장은 일반인들이 횃불 위 테라스에 올라가는 것은 1916년부터 금지돼 그동안 이런 광경을 볼 수 없었다고 말했다.
세계 각국의 인터넷 이용자들은 이제 인터넷에 연결만 하면 이 웹캠이 제공하는 네가지 화면을 볼 수 있다.
이 중에는 화면을 이어붙인 고화질의 180도 파노라마 영상도 들어 있다.
리버티섬을 주변을 오가는 배들이나 맨해튼에 짓고 있는 뉴욕 세계무역센터의 프리덤 타워가 한층 한층 올라가는 보습도 볼 수 있다.
밤이면 횃불이 환하게 빛을 내는 모습도 잡힌다.
이 웹캠을 기증한 어스캠사의 창업자 브라이언 커리는 웹캠이 설치된 횃불이 자유의 여신상 왕관보다도 더 높은 곳이라고 지적하고 관광용 헬리콥터에서 보는 광경과는 또 다른 독특한 시각을 느끼게 될 것이라고 말했다.
