NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- After huffing and puffing up 354 steps to the newly reopened Lady Liberty crown , Aaron Weisinger figured it was time to pop the question to his girlfriend , Erica Breder . Aaron Weisinger proposes to Erica Breder on July Fourth inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty . `` The Fourth of July has always been a favorite holiday , so that was part of it , `` Weisinger said . The couple flew to New York from San Francisco , California , after managing to be among the first 240 people to snag the tickets to the Statue of Liberty crown for its reopening after September 11 , 2001 . Weisinger got down on one knee inside the narrow , 8-foot-long deck inside the Statue of Liberty 's crown , asked Breder to be his wife and offered her a sizeable diamond ring . `` I believe I was silent for several minutes . I was so excited , '' Breder said . Then she said `` yes . '' Both said their families came to the United States via Ellis Island . `` My great-grandparents immigrated [ from Russia and Hungary ] , '' Weisinger said . His fiance 's relatives arrived from Hungary . `` The thoughts behind the statue and freedom and liberty allowed our parents and great-grandparents before us to have the wonderful lives that we do , '' Weisinger added . Breder said she was thrilled to make the long climb up a steep spiral staircase to stand inside Lady Liberty 's crown . `` It was fantastic , much smaller than we had anticipated . The view 's fantastic , '' the newly engaged Breder said . New safety measures include double handrails , glass stairwell partitions and careful crowd control , according to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar . Now , only three groups of 10 visitors per hour are guided up to the crown by a National Park Service ranger . That means only about 87,000 will be able to visit each year . In the past , it took visitors at least an hour and a half to climb from the base to the crown . Now , it takes only about 15 to 20 minutes . A new engineering study showed that there had to be changes to make it easier to exit the crowded staircase . Crown tickets can now be reserved online up to a year in advance , but the statue will close again in two years for additional renovations .
Aaron Weisinger proposed to Erica Breder on July 4 inside the Statue of Liberty . Couple among first people to see statue 's crown since reopening after 9/11 . `` I believe I was silent for several minutes . I was so excited , '' Breder said . New safety measures include double handrails , stairwell partitions , crowd control .