LIBERTY NOW
Tourist attacked 2 yrs. ago back to visit statue
HE FINALLY made it to see Lady Liberty — this time, unscathed.
An Arkansas tourist brutally attacked by a rogue vendor selling Statue of Liberty tickets said the nightmare wasn’t enough to sour him on New York — and two years later, he returned to the city with his family and got the statue tour he had dreamed of.
“Last time we went, it was a tragic experience for us. It was a complex and long recovery, but I’m doing well now, and it’s time to come back to kind of close the book on the pain and the fear,” Jeff White, 35, told the Daily News.
When White and his family last visited in February 2016, an ex-con illegally selling statue tickets punched him after he turned down a fellow vendor’s sales pitch — knocking White unconscious and fracturing his skull.
After the assault, White spent two weeks at Bellevue Hospital and then underwent months of physical therapy back home in Arkansas. Ten weeks passed before he could return to work.
The Texarkana, Ark., man eventually decided to come back to New York with his wife, Shellye, and their three daughters.
On Sunday, the couple and their girls, ages 13, 11, and 4, headed downtown to take the cruise to Liberty Island that never happened. “Our daughters’ only picture of New York now is as the place that took nearly their dad’s life, and we want to show it differently,” he said.
Statue Cruises, the only legitimate vendor allowed to sell boat trips that disembark on the island, gave free tickets to the family, along with a tourist package to see other attractions.
This time around, they got an escort from the NYPD and rode in the pilothouse with the captain.
Shellye White took photos of Lady Liberty from the window as the boat approached, and then the family got a grand tour of the statue from a National Park Service ranger.
They took an elevator to the observation deck at the base of the statue’s pedestal, and climbed the 188 steps to reach its crown.
They were given a foot-high replica of the statue by Cherie Butler, an Arkansas native and deputy superintendent for the National Park Service who helped welcome them back.
“I’m just blown away by everything,” Jeff White said. “They are giving us the red-carpet treatment. We didn’t expect it.”
In 2016, the couple had been celebrating Valentine’s Day with what was supposed to be a threeday trip before White was attacked. “I’d surprised him,” said Shellye White, 34. “New York was a place Jeff had always wanted to go.”
On Sunday, after returning from the statue, they stopped to take in the scene of the crime outside the entrance to the Staten Island Ferry terminal.
Robert Andersen, who was arrested in the attack, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to six months in jail.
White says he has now made a full recovery. “I had headaches, trouble with my memory, trouble with walking. With a head injury, every day it’s up and down. It’s a daily unknown. But thankfully I had a great recovery,” he said.
“I’m back to 100%, despite the predictions to the contrary. God has blessed me.”
White said after the attack, he never thought he’d come back to New York — but soon changed his mind.“We don’t hate New York City,” he said.
“In fact, after the attack we had nothing but praise for the NYPD and everyone else who helped us. There are idiots everywhere in the world. We held nothing against New York City.”