Miniature Statue of Liberty Traces Big Sister’s Footsteps to New York Harbor – Entertainment

By Roselle Chen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A smaller-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty that recreated the voyage made by its older sister more than a century ago on Ellis Island was installed in New York Harbor on Thursday.

The 2.8-meter-high replica began its journey from France to the United States in the back of a truck last week.

Also on Thursday, workers gently removed the plastic film used to protect the statue as it crossed the Atlantic.

The work is loaned by the Paris Museum of Arts and Crafts to the United States for 10 years, a gesture intended to strengthen the bilateral friendship.

“It is a symbol of the friendship between the French and American people, but it is also a reminder of the importance of the message of freedom and enlightenment in the world, which is the name of the statue,” said Philippe Etienne, the French ambassador to France. United States, at the opening ceremony.

“It is the fundamental importance of freedom in our democracies, within our societies, as well as in the world.”

The larger version of the Statue of Liberty, 93 meters high including the base, was given by France to the United States as a gift. It was assembled in 1886 and has been on Liberty Island in New York Harbor ever since.

The 450-pound bronze replica was created from an original plaster cast of Frederic Auguste Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty and will be on display on Ellis Island from July 1-6 – so it’ll be in New York during America’s Independence Day celebrations on July 4th.

Then you will go to Washington.