The Ongoing Battle Between New York and New Jersey Over Who Rightfully Owns the Statue of Liberty

In a long-awaited video, the very insightful CGP Grey provides an animated explanation about the ongoing battle between neighboring states New York and New Jersey regarding ownership of the Statue of Liberty and the island upon which she stands.

In his usual thorough manner, Grey takes a look at the history of this oddly defined border, which was determined rather nebulously by the British in the 1600’s. As the area grew more populated, the determination into which waters Lady Liberty belonged grew in exponential importance. In fact, there are still may be an argument or two to be had.

The court ruled everything above the water was New York and everything below the water was New Jersey. But if below became above, New New Jersey it would be And thus this island belongs to New Jersey with just this little original part being New York. Which is a sublime and ridiculous border that opens the door to one squabble remaining. Liberty Island was originally yay but now it’s *yay*. Which, means, this part should be New Jersey, not New York. Though it hasn’t been fought over yet, (possibly because neither state has noticed).

Ultimately, Grey boils down to what’s really important about declaring geographical ownership.

…you know what would be on the New Jersey side? The Gift Shop. And the only thing more important than who owns the monument…is who owns the gift shop for the monument. We will see. But as it is, within the waters of New Jersey, there’s an island of New York …that’s federal land…atop which the national monument of the Statue of Liberty stands.