On July 30 , 1916 , during World War I , German saboteurs set off a disastrous explosion on the Black Tom peninsula in Jersey City , New Jersey , in what is now part of Liberty State Park , close to Bedloe 's Island . Carloads of dynamite and other explosives that were being sent to Britain and France for their war efforts were detonated , and seven people were killed . The statue sustained minor damage , mostly to the torch-bearing right arm , and was closed for ten days . The cost to repair the statue and buildings on the island was about . The narrow ascent to the torch was closed for public-safety reasons , and it has remained closed ever since
a disastrous explosion
Black Tom explosion
Statue of Liberty