The Statue of Liberty is at the centre of a violent tourism turf war

The Statue of Liberty is at the centre of a violent tourism turf war. Photo / 123RF

The Statue of Liberty may be an icon of freedom but Lady Liberty has found herself at the heart of a vicious tourism turf war.

Each year, approximately four million people visit Liberty Island and Ellis Island, and the competition to ferry these tourists on sightseeing trips from New York has become fierce - literally.

Ultra-aggressive hawkers peddling tickets for tours are behind a spate of violence that has culminated in a shooting, news.com.au reports. And not even the tourists are safe.

Approximately four million people visit the Liberty Island and Ellis Island each year. Photo / 123RF

The tension between scalpers around New York's Battery Park has been boiling for about two years, with multiple reports of beatings, according to The New York Times.

"People get punched in the face every day," one violent hawker told a detective upon his arrest.

During some months, the police have made more than 20 arrests in relation to the ticket turf war.

Jessica Lappin, the president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, a business improvement district, told The New York Times it is even turning into gang-like warfare.

"They [ticket resellers] make a lot of money down there," she said, "and they'll defend it with knives and guns if they need to."

The middlemen peddling these tickets can allegedly pocket about $20 per sale.

But the violence really escalated last month when one scalper attempted to shoot another scalper in Battery Park, ending up in custody charged with attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, ABC7 reported.

The victims of this violence mostly include other ticket sellers but tourists and passers-by have also found themselves in the caught in crosshairs more and more.

While the target of the April shooting was another ticker reseller, the real victim was a 34-year-old woman who was returning from her lunch break and ended up being shot in the left knee. The target was grazed on the torso.

And in February, New York's Daily News reported on an Arkansas tourist who ended up in hospital with a fractured skull because of these gang-like turf wars.

The 33-year-old man was attacked by a ticket-hawking couple when he turned down their aggressive sales pitch.

Only one company is authorised as the official provider of tickets and tours to the Statue of Liberty. Photo / 123RF

But how did the harmless practice of selling tours to tourists turn so violent? New York police and politicians have speculated that it's because so many ex-prisoners turn to scalping for an easy buck.

The man arrested for attacking the Arkansas tourist had 10 previous arrests on his record and the man arrested for the shooting has 24 prior arrests, including a 1997 murder conviction for which he spent 10 years in prison.

"Everybody needs another chance," another longtime ticket vendor with a number of burglary convictions told The New York Times.

But the boat operators aren't innocent either. Police claim that their refusal to regulate third party sellers has allowed these aggressive and deceptive sales practices to escalate.

Deputy Inspector Mark Iocco, commander of the First Precinct in Lower Manhattan, told a community meeting that the boat companies "sell tickets in bulk and wash their hands" of what follows, according to a report in a neighbourhood newspaper, The Tribeca Trib.

The city of New York has attempted to rein in the practice, last year passing a law which requires ticket sellers to obtain a license that can be revoked if they are convicted of a crime while selling tickets. But some tour operators say cracking down is impossible.

"I don't have the luxury to say, 'Don't sell tickets to this guy, this guy, or this guy,'" one tour operator told The New York Times.

Scalpers are battling to sell tickets for boat tours to see Lady Liberty up close. Photo 123RF

But the real kicker is that many of the tickets being peddled by middle men are often shady. Tourists are repeatedly sold tickets for boats that they believe are nearby, but actually require a lengthy wait to ride a bus or van to another pier. While other tourists are duped into thinking they will be able to get off at Liberty Island, when really the boat only loops around the island.

In fact, only one company is licensed to actually take visitors to Liberty Island, while the rest can only cruise past Lady Liberty. That company is called Statue Cruises.

In 2007, the US National Park Service signed a contract with Statue Cruises to be the official ferry boat service to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Memorial Museum in New York.

And on its website, the tour operator has a warning about street sellers.

"Statue Cruises is the ONLY authorised official provider of tickets and tours to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island," the website reads.

"Please be aware that Street Vendors do NOT sell genuine Statue of Liberty tickets. Avoid Street Sellers."

But with a market of more than four million people visiting annually, everyone wants a slice of the lucrative Statue of Liberty pie.