Last year, 4.2 million people visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, making 2014 the third most popular year for tourism to the landmarks.
There were more visitors to the statue and Ellis Island in 1999 and 2000, but after September 11, 2001, visitors declined as the National Park Service imposed airport-style security procedures. In 2000, 4.4 million people visited the island, but 2003 saw only about 2.1 million.
Michael Burke, the chief operating officer of Statue Cruises, credits the increased attendance in large part to a more streamlined security process.
"We have brought the wait times down from two hours to 20 minutes on a busy day," he said. "A normal good year for us would have been 3.8 or 3.9 million visitors. This was an extraordinary year."
Superstorm Sandy also hurt the number visitors to the islands: The October 2012 storm caused damage that took a year and a half to repair before re-opening.
Construction on the statue began in 1875 in France; it was dedicated in New York on Oct. 28, 1886.
The statue is a big draw for tourists, though only a small fraction of the approximately 55 million annual visitors to New York City make the trip across the harbor.