Liberty Fete Boosts N.Y. Image, Coffers

Sailors wandered through the Battery Monday looking for their ships, tourists stood in 100-degree heat waiting to see the Statue of Liberty and New Yorkers breathed a sigh of relief on the morning after Liberty Weekend.

“I have not met a single person who did not have kudos for the city,” Mayor Edward I. Koch said. “I am very proud of this city.”

Liberty Weekend brought in as much as $500 million for the city’s tourism industry and helped shine the Big Apple’s image as a tourist destination, the head of the Convention and Visitors Bureau said.

Disappointing Ticket Sales

Producers of the four-day extravaganza expressed disappointment over ticket sales but said they expected revenue to run close to a break-even figure of $30 million to $32 million.

The Statue of Liberty centennial festival cost city government about $10 million, Koch said. That figure is almost certain to be exceeded by the weekend’s sales tax revenues.

“It was a sensational weekend as far as we were concerned,” said Charles Gillett, president of the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We think all the publicity, which was nationwide for four days, will help convince people to come and visit the Statue of Liberty. . . . We think this helped the image of New York.”

Albert O’Leary, spokesman for the Sanitation Department, said the celebrants left a pile of litter adding up to more than 100 tons of garbage.

About 6 million to 7 million people attended the four-day event, Gillett said.

First Deputy Police Commissioner Richard Condon said 53 felonies and 15 misdemeanors were reported in the Battery Park area during the four days, considered low under the circumstances. Fourteen people were arrested for felonies and 12 for misdemeanors.

Visitors leaving the city caused traffic snarls on the roadways leading to La Guardia Airport, where there were delays of up to 1 1/2 hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Tall Ships Departed

Most of the tall ships from Operation Sail headed out of New York for home ports, but two--the Norwegian Sorlandet and Denmark’s Danmark--remained in New York Harbor.

Warships were still moored in several areas in the harbor and bleary-eyed sailors--still reeling from a last night of leave--were spotted in the Battery trying to find launches to get them back to their ships.

On Liberty Island, people waited 2 1/2 to 3 hours to get from the base to the crown of Lady Liberty, reopened to the public on Saturday.