Is the Statue of Liberty in New Jersey?

Factual Questions
1

Years ago, I watched a quiz show (now defunct and I cannot remember the name) that asked contestants as the final question “What state is the Statue of Liberty located in?”. Everyone answered “New York” of course but the host claimed that they were all wrong. The correct answer was claimed to be New Jersey. This question has been in the back of my mind since then. Is the Statue of Liberty, pride of our nation and gateway to opportunity, really in New Jersey?

2

No. The Statue of Liberty and its island, Bedloes Island (now called Liberty Island) are in New York. You are probably thinking of Ellis Island, which is partially in New Jersey.
Ellis Island was originally part of New Jersey, but given to New York a while back. When the immigration center was built there, the island was made much larger with fill. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the contract giving Ellis Island to NY only covered the original island, not the land that was added to it. So now most of the island, including many of the historic buildings, belong to NJ.

Sorry, but I don’t have time to search for links right now. Maybe someone else can supply them. I would be interested in seeing some, as I might have gotten some facts wrong (working from memory here).

3

I believe that the Statue of Liberty is in fact in New York. Although the island on which it stands (“Liberty Island” or “Bedlow’s Island”) is on the New Jersey side of the line, New York has jurisdiction over the island.

Here is the history as I understand it:

As with many neighboring states, there have been disputes between New York and New Jersey over their mutual border. Ultimately, an agreement was made setting the dividing line as the median point of the Hudson river. New York also retained Ellis Island and Liberty Island, even though those two islands are on the Jersey side of the line.

The federal government expanded Ellis Island by adding fill around it, and ultimately, in the late 1990s, the Supreme Court decided that the filled in areas were part of New Jersey. But, I don’t think anyone has contested that Liberty Island is part of New York.

The Supreme Court decision, New Jersey v. New York contains a much better history than I just explained.

Here is a link:

http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/120ORIG.ZO.html

Search for the words “bedlow,” “bedloe,” and “liberty.”

4

Oops - looks like someone beat me to the punch.