The money has been appropriated, but the holdup, said National Park Service spokesperson Linda Friar, is the question of how the big restoration projects are to be addressed. "For example, with electricity, do you repair it back to what it was with greater reinforcement, or do you move it higher up and reengineer it? We want to move as quickly as possible, but we also want to spend money appropriately and sustainably." Another major decision is whether security screening will remain in Battery Park, at the tip of lower Manhattan, or be moved to the island itself.

And the timetable for reopening? "We don't have one," Friar said, though hopes are for some level of visitor access by this summer.

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