Alec Baldwin falls victim to notorious Statue of Liberty tour scam as he takes family out to see monument over the weekend
Alec Baldwin recently fell victim to a scam as he took his family for a trip to see the Statue of Liberty over the weekend. The 61-year-old purchased what he thought were Statue of Liberty tour tickets for his family before they arrived in Battery Park in downtown Manhattan, Page Six reports.
However, he soon found the $40 tickets were actually for a three-hour shuttle bus trip to New Jersey.
"I kid you not. We paid. Then we read the tickets. NO [ONE] EVER MENTIONED NEW F***ING JERSEY!!!" the actor wrote on Instagram, adding, "This is a scam. Take the SI Ferry. It’s the best ride in NY."
The '30 Rock' star has lived in the Big Apple for the longest time, and wasn't expected to fall for such a cliche tourist con job.
Out-of-town visitors have been tricked by Manhattan Battery Park hustlers for decades. According to the New York Post, the city's Department of Transportation warned that the "one hour tour" tickets bought by Baldwin would have included a three-hour coach ride through the Holland Tunnel to Liberty State Park in Jersey City. Then, they would board a boat that is not allowed to let tourists off at the Statue of Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
In fact, Battery Park already has several large signs warning tourists of unofficial vendors who are not authorized to sell tickets to the Statue of Liberty.
Furthermore, the actual price of the ticket, for which Baldwin paid $40 a pop, is just $18.50 and charged by Statue Cruises -- a company that has a contract with the National Park Service to ferry people to Liberty Island.
Nonetheless, Baldwin made the best of a bad situation by jumping on the Staten Island ferry, which is free for all. Alec's wife Hilaria Baldwin later posted a photo of the family catching the boat, which offers the best view of the historical 305-foot statue.
