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Heights' Lady
Liberty Shines
The Lady Liberty, however, stands about 5 feet 6 inches tall, is in her early 40s and returns home every night to Brooklyn Heights. Her effort, however, is no less monumental. Her answering machine pick up, "Hello, this is Jennifer Stewart, also known as the Statue of Liberty ..." For more than 15 years Stewart has made impersonating Lady Liberty her livelihood, performing at private parties, social events and on the street at tourist destinations. More recently, however, after witnessing the truly poor and huddled masses in need, she set up her performance in Manhattan's Union Square Park, which has become a focal point for grieving and expressions since Sept. 11. Stewart has not only lent the symbolic presence of the Statue of Liberty, but she's also dedicated her earnings. She put out a sign in front of her pedestal requesting donations for the Red Cross. On her first day she raised more than $1,000 and by the end of her first week she'd raised nearly $7,000. Lady Liberty has since set a $10,000 goal for herself. Jennifer Stewart began impersonating the Statue of Liberty while teaching arts at a psychiatric facility in her home state of Iowa. It was, ironically, a diagnosed schizophrenic who gave Stewart the idea of assuming her alter ego, when he said she looked like the statue. The man's comment gave her the idea of entering a national Statue of Liberty look-alike contest, in which she beat more than a thousand other competitors to take home the grand prize. Stewart moved to New York City to attend graduate school in 1986. She made her first home in Cobble Hill and moved to Brooklyn Heights is 1995. On Sept. 11, Stewart was asleep in her Clark Street apartment when the planes struck. "It shook my bed and woke me up," Stewart said. Stewart then ran to her roof, and like so many Heights residents had an all-too-clear view of the towers collapsing. A friend encouraged her to get involved in the relief effort, saying, "Jen, you have a service to perform that a lot of people could use right now." So what does Lady Liberty see among the American populace? Stewart said there is more fraternity present in the city. "I have seen people this week that I have not seen in years," she said. "And it's taken on a completely different significance to run into people -- one, the fact that they're safe." "People want
to be part of this solution," Stewart said. "I'm
grateful I can serve as a vehicle for that." |
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