"New York City" a New York City Travel Page by traveloturc

In 1854 and 1856 Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Said Pasha, the viceroy of Egypt nominated by the Ottoman Sultan, to create a company to construct a maritime canal open to ships of all nations, De Lesseps had used his friendly relationship with Said, which he had developed while he was a French diplomat during the 1830s. The Suez Canal Company (Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez) came into being on December 15, 1858.The excavation took nearly 11 years, The British recognized the canal as an important trade route and perceived the French project as a direct menace to their geopolitical and financial interests and they try to interfere the project heavily.According to the agreement between Said Pasha and Lesseps one statue has to be build in the entrance of the Port Said. Auguste Bartholdi ( the sculptor of statue of liberty) was invited to Egypt by Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, who later became a lifelong friend of his. He envisioned a giant lighthouse standing at the entrance to Suez Canal and drew plans for it. It would be patterned after the Roman goddess Libertas, modified to resemble a robed Egyptian peasant, a fallaha, with light beaming out from both a headband and a torch thrust dramatically upward into the skies ( the light of Asia comes from Egypt ). Bartholdi presented his plans to the Ottoman Khediev, Isma'il Pasha after the death of Said Pasha in 1863 in 1867 and, with revisions, again in 1869, According to the Ottoman rules the all the local projects has to be approved by the Ottoman Sultan .In 1866 Sultan Abdulaziz paid all the necessary amount for the investment included the statue of Bertholdi.The statue was build for the opening of the Suez canal and it was ready to shipped from Marseille.Ismail Pasha the (new hidiv after Said Pasha) thinks that such a colossal statue will cause some problems with the local people and Lesseps was not able to change his decision.The opening was realized in November 17,1869 without the statue .And French Government keep the Statue which was already payed by Ottoman empire .Edouard Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye was the president of French-American association and try to convince the French Government to make a gesture to Americans for the celebration of their 100 th anniversary.The statue was already and almost ready to ship. The biggest and most embarrassing problem was the construction of the pedestal, which had to be paid for by the Americans themselves. The statue's torch was displayed in Madison Square park for six years in an attempt to spark interest and attract funds. But it was only after publisher Joseph Pulitzer (hungarian immigrant to USA) published the names of those who donated money for the project that the funds started flowing in. Eventually, the statue was erected 10 years late, in 1886.After some small modifications which Bertholdi makes like The statue's face was modeled after his mother's instead of Libertas. The steel framework was made by Gustave Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel Tower in Paris. sent to the USA in 214 pieces.( instead of 350 pieces originally). The Statue of Liberty is 46,5 meter (151ft) high and together with the pedestal it reaches 93 meter (305ft). It used to be possible to take the staircase inside the statue and walk all the way up the 354 steps to the head from where you have a nice view on New York City.
For the many immigrants that flocked from Europe to New York, the Statue of Liberty was the first image they saw of the USA.
This is the story of a statue paid from Ottoman Sultan and erected in Newyork instead of port Said.Made by Auguste Bertholdi with the collaboration of Gustave Eiffel...

I think that Frank Sinatra describe very well the city

New york, new york
I want to wake up in a city, that never sleeps
And find Im a number one top of the list, king of the hill
A number one

These little town blues, are melting away
Im gonna make a brand new start of it - in old new york
And if I can make it there, Im gonna make it anywhere

It's up to you
New york New york