d to New York, and reassembled at its present location. U.S. president Grover Cleveland formally dedicated it on Oct. 28, 1886. The Statue of Liberty soon became an international symbol of freedom. It greeted thousands of immigrants and visitors as they entered New York Bay and arrived in the United States. In 1903 the sonnet "The New Colossus" by American poet Emma Lazarus was inscribed in bronze at the base of the statue. It reads:Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land:Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame."Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"To prepare for the statue’s centennial year in 1986, a French-American rehabilitation project repaired and cleaned the statue, replacing its glass-and-metal torch with one covered in gold leaf.Ferries from Battery Park in New York City take visitors to Liberty Island. Visitors ride an elevator or climb 192 steps to an observation area at the top of the pedestal. A museum inside the pedestal details the history of the monument and features the original torch and flame. The full climb of 354 steps (the equivalent of a 22-floor building) takes the most ambitious visitors from the pedestal to the crown, which offers outstanding views of New York Harbor and New York City....
