The Return of the Stone Pilgrim

I've been following public sculpture stories for over a decade now and have reported on them in previous blogs ("Tales of a Stone Pilgrim" at blogs.salon.com/0003346, now sadly defunct, and "More Stone Pilgrim" at morestonepilgrim.blogspot.com) in spurts.
It's now time to bring the world up to date on tales of our man-made companions around the world, how they affect us, and how we affect them. Because, after all, public sculpture is all about relationships, and relationships evolve.
Some of the posts will be updates on previous stories.
Some will be completely new. I welcome comments and suggestions as I go on.
Some will be ruminations on the "stories behind the stories" and others will be snapshots of what's happening in the world around us.
There will even be times when a post may just be a link or a picture with my brief comment or question attached.
I welcome guest posts from other bloggers who are as involved/fascinated with the work of public sculpture as I am.

And now to today's news.

View from the Torch cam from earthcam.com's website

I just learned from PRweb.com that the 5 cameras from Earthcam's Statue of Liberty cams are online and functioning again for the first time since Hurricane Sandy. The cameras, which are called the Torch cam, the Crown Cam, the Harbor Cam, and the Lady Liberty cam allow anyone to experience unique views of the harbor and Liberty Island 24/7.
The torch itself has been closed to the public for almost 100 years- ever since  German agents sabotaged a munitions depot, setting off an explosion that killed around 50 people. Ensuing shrapnel damaged the statue's torch and skirt in 1916 in the event, known as the Black Tom explosions. Accessing the cams online is the only way to enjoy that view now.
You can visit the cams at  http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/statueofliberty/?cam=liberty_crown.
This isn't just a one off for earthcam, who runs the cameras. They've been around for almost 20 years and host sites in the Washington Monument, Petra in Jordan, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and the Eiffel Tower, according to their press release.