Liberty Island

Liberty Island, formerly called Bedloe's Island, is a small uninhabited island in New York Harbor in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. The name Liberty Island has been in use since the early 20th century, although the name was not officially changed until 1956. Before the Statue of Liberty, Bedloe's Island was the home to Fort Wood, an eleven pointed star-shaped fortification made of granite. Because of this, its nickname was "Star Fort".

The island is the property of the federal government and is operated by the National Park Service. It is accessible to the public only by ferry, either from Battery Park in Manhattan or Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is separated from nearby Ellis Island by approximately 1 mi (1.6 km). There is also ferry service btw the two islands. Liberty Island is 2000 feet (600 m) from Liberty State Park in Jersey City. By comparison it is 1-5/8 statute miles (2.6 kilometers) from Battery Park in Manhattan; this makes Liberty Island much closer to Jersey City than to the rest of New York City, of which it is a part. The island has a land area of 59,558 square meters, or 14.717 acres, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Marble Collegiate Church

Marble Collegiate Church, founded in 1628, is the oldest continuous Protestant congregation in North America. It is located at 5th Avenue and 29th Street in New York City, and is part of the Reformed Church in America. The congregation has been a spiritual home to numerous well-known New Yorkers, and welcomes guests from all over the world every Sunday. Its worship services are seen live internationally on the World Wide Web.

It was founded in 1628 as the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church, a Calvinist church in the Netherlands. During its first 150 years, Marble shared its ministers with the other Collegiate congregations as they developed in the city. This pooling of pastoral ministry was abandoned in 1871. The name "Collegiate" remains as part of the heritage of the four such churches in New York City today, and they participate in an administrative unit that oversees physical properties and investments held in common. The other congregations are Middle Collegiate, West End Collegiate, and Fort Washington Collegiate.