Will the Statue of Liberty be going dark?

NEW YORK − The Statue of Liberty may go dark during the federal government shutdown, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned on Oct. 1.

With Lady Liberty as a backdrop, the New York Democrat stood alongside state elected officials and union representatives to call out Republicans in Washington, D.C., for the partial shutdown’s effects on entitlement programs, as well as closures to services and parks.

This may include Liberty Island and nearby Ellis Island, the historic entryway to the United States for millions of people who became Americans. Lady Liberty, dedicated nearly 140 years ago in New York Harbor, has symbolized the country’s embrace of immigrants.

Hochul said New York wouldn’t pay to keep the Statue of Liberty open during Washington’s budget fight as the state had done before.

“Today, the torch she holds — as a beacon to others, a symbol — could literally go dark,” Hochul said on the shutdown’s first day. “Not because of an act of God or a horrific storm, flood or hurricane. But literally because Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington forced a government shutdown.”

The Department of Interior said in a statement that both Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty will remain open.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-New York, blamed Democrats for the shutdown by not voting to keep the government open. Democrats say they are fighting to protect health care, while GOP lawmakers claim that Democrats want to pay for free services to undocumented people, but there is no proposal to provide free health care to them.

On social media, Malliotakis said Democrats “continue to play games impacting our military and government services that Americans rely on.”

During previous government shutdowns, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, used state funds to keep the Statue of Liberty open. The federal shutdown in 2018-19 cost about $1.5 million to keep the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island open, Gothamist reported.

Cuomo, now an independent candidate for New York City mayor, said the federal government’s dysfunction should never dim the Statue of Liberty’s lights or shutter its doors.

“I was proud to have New York step in to keep the Statue of Liberty open,” he said in a statement shared to USA TODAY. “I felt it was the right thing to do then and that’s also how I feel today.”

Regardless, Manny Pastreich, president of the 32BJ SEIU union representing security officers and cleaners at the Statue of Liberty, said unionized workers earn less than direct federal employees and are also ineligible to receive backpay.

“A government shutdown would turn their lives upside down, forcing many to risk eviction, have their utilities turned off and leave them unable to feed themselves and their families,” Pastreich said in a statement.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Federal shutdown: Will the Statue of Liberty be going dark?