Ellis Island: A Public Private Partnership in Action

June 12, 2007, Ellis Island, New York
Contact: New York Foreign Press Center
Telephone: 212-317-8325; Email: nyfpc@state.gov

Twenty-eight journalists from 21 different countries participated in the tour which focused on the history of Ellis Island and the public-private partnership designed to restore the remaining 30 buildings on the island.  Judy McAlpin, President and CEO of Save Ellis Island, and Cyntia Garrett, Superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, addressed the journalists and guided them on an exclusive tour of buildings on the south side of the island that are just beginning renovation.  Equipped with hardhats, journalists were able to explore the historic hospital buildings not yet open to the public and capture spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty and New York City, just as immigrants did in 1892.  Throughout the guided tour journalists had the opportunity to ask questions and obtain one-on-one interviews with McAlpin and Garrett.