You can purchase tickets at the visitor center or ...

You can purchase tickets at the visitor center or purchase ahead of time online. If you want to visit the pedestal and crown you need to purchase ahead of time. During busier times of the year (spring and summer), those tickets sel out months in advance. You can get the special Statue of Liberty ferry (different than the free Staten Island ferry at Whitehall Ferry Terminal) at Battery Park on lower Manhattan or New Jersey. Statue of Liberty has a new museum. There s a gift shop and food court available. Then take the next ferry to Ellis Island or back to Battery Park. Ellis Island is an amazing building with multiple exhibits.