New Jersey v. New York New Jersey v. New York New Jersey v. New York, 523 U.S. 767 (1998), was a United States Supreme Court case in which it was determined that roughly 90% of Ellis Island was part of New Jersey rather than New York. An interstate compact had been signed between New York and New Jersey in 1834, prior to Ellis Island becoming a major immigration center. This compact granted New York the rights to all islands in the water channel separating the two states including both Ellis Island and Liberty Island, but granting New Jersey the rights to half of the water
Liberty Island outmoded and obsolete, disused and its substantial stone walls were then used as the distinctive base for the Statue of Liberty given by the Third French Republic for the American 1876 centenary celebrations. It had become a part of the base for the Statue of Liberty after the island was first seen by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the statue's sculptor. The National Park Service (which had been created in 1916) took over operations of the island in two stages: in 1933, and the remainder in 1937. The military installation was completely removed by 1944. The statue, entitled "Liberty Enlightening the World",