New handrails have since been installed to help with the climb, and only 30 people per hour are allowed up the dark, narrow staircase. They are guided by park rangers along the way.
The first 30 huffed and sweated as they made their way, twisting and using the handrails to pull themselves up stairs sometimes too small to fit an entire foot. Most later said the climb wasn't as bad as they had anticipated.
Weisinger was drenched in sweat as he reached the top, but not just because of the workout. He had planned for months to propose in a place full of personal significance — his grandparents, immigrants from Eastern Europe, arrived at nearby Ellis Island. A generation later, his fiancee's parents also arrived in New York as immigrants from Eastern Europe.
"I was nervous on the way up, but I blamed it on the hike," Weisinger said later. He and Breder, who have been together for three years, both cried after his proposal.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., pushed for years for the crown to be reopened, once calling the decision to close it off "a partial victory for terrorists."
The reopening "represents some personal vindication," he said Saturday.
"It's nice to pat Lady Liberty's toes. It's nice to stand and breathe the air on Liberty Island, but you really haven't lived the experience until you've gone up to the crown," he said. "A lot of Americans are able to see that now."
Some of the crown's 25 windows offer a view of the Manhattan skyline, no longer punctuated by the 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center.
So far, about 14,500 tickets to the crown have been sold, most of them for visits through the end of August. Tickets currently on sale are for visits in the fall and beyond. Tickets for the July Fourth weekend sold out within hours.
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