Will Statue of Liberty Cross-Dress for Halloween?

No permits have been granted but publicist tells media it's for real.

Rendering of the Statue of Liberty wearing a bow tie. Photo: Nick Graham.

For the first time in her 128-year existence, the Statue of Liberty will be dressing up for Halloween. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi‘s work will be getting a make-over with two massive 60-foot-by-30-foot bow ties as part of an ad campaign from Joe Boxer founder Nick Graham for his new eponymous menswear line.

“I was just thinking of something that would be fun to do, dressing up something very large,” Graham told ABC News. “Mount Rushmore is too far from here, so the next best thing is the Statue of Liberty.”

Of course, dressing the 151-foot Lady Liberty is no easy task. Two helicopters will hover in front of the statue, letting the 35-pound bow ties hang in front of the monument for a couple of hours. If all goes according to plan, this will create the illusion that the statue has accessorized her Grecian garb with the bow ties—one black, one orange, and both with white polka dots.

As unbelievable as it may seem, this apparently is a real thing. The “dressing” is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. on October 31.”Yes, it’s actually happening,” Nick Graham publicist Kate Jacobsen confirmed to media.

Rendering of the Statue of Liberty wearing a bow tie. Photo: Nick Graham.

Rendering of the Statue of Liberty wearing a bow tie. Photo: Nick Graham.

As for the necessary permits for the high-profile event, it’s not clear whether or not Graham actually has them. The FAA claims it had not “received any applications for waivers to carry giant bowties via helicopters in front of the Statue of Liberty,” as per Gothamist. National Parks of New York Harbor spokesperson Mindi Rambo told USA Today that “the Park Service is aware that this is something that Nick Graham is planning on doing. We were told it would be taking place 1,000 feet from Liberty Island, which would make it not on our property.” She told ABC News that the Park Service had not been asked for a permit, and if it had been would not have permitted it.

So is any of this real? We will have to wait and see.


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