Tour guides in NY chafe at new limits on Liberty, Ellis islands

The Statue of Liberty, one of New York's most visited attractions, has put restrictions on commercial guided tours to Liberty Island to prevent overcrowding, as it opened a new museum last week.

Under the new rules, the tours will be banned inside the statue's sixth-floor pedestal observation, the new Statue of Liberty Museum and the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, which is part of the national monument overseen by the National Park Service.

"Commercial guided tours add to the congestion in these identified areas... prevent the free flow of visitor movement and impact public programs and the visitor experience," Jerry Willis, spokesman for the park service, said in a statement. "The restrictions were put in place as a necessary response to the 600 percent increase in commercial tours over the last 10 years.