[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by flyingn

The statue of Liberty is in NJ not NY

Yes . . . and No:

Liberty Island is one of the islands that are part of the borough of Manhattan in New York. The historical developments which led to this construction created the rare situation of an exclave of one state, New York, being situated in another, New Jersey.

In 1987, US Representative Frank J. Guarini and Gerald McCann, then Mayor of Jersey City, sued New York City, contending that New Jersey should have dominion over Liberty Island because it is on the New Jersey side of the state line. By default—since the court chose not to hear the case—the existing legal status was unchanged. Portions of the island that are above water are part of New York, while riparian rights to all of the submerged land surrounding the statue belong to New Jersey.

A 1997 United States Supreme Court decision involved such riparian rights around nearby Ellis Island. Being mostly constructed of artificial infill, New Jersey argued and the court agreed that the 1834 compact covered only the natural parts of the island, and not the portions added by infill. Thus it was agreed that the parts of the island made of filled land belonged to New Jersey while the original natural part belonged to New York. This proved impractical to administer and New Jersey and New York subsequently agreed to share jurisdiction of the entire island.