When Dennis Moore graduated from college in 1988, he was headed
for a career in advertising. Nine months later, after a
demoralizing, underpaid stint in a small agency, he decided he
could do a lot better in the family business?Little Jimmy?s Italian
Ices in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Today, Moore, 40, supervises the
Little Jimmy?s factory and a subsidiary business, the concession
stand at New Jersey?s Liberty State Park, where visitors embark for
Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Here you can buy bronze
scale models of the statue, Statue of Liberty crown-and-gown sets,
drinks, and, of course, Italian ices.
After the World Trade Center attack, Liberty State Park became a
staging area for aid efforts by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, and a clearinghouse for information on the missing. ?FEMA
sat right down on the premises of our business, and the ferries
stopped running,? says Moore. ?It was surreal.? The aid efforts
were vital, of course, but Moore?s livelihood took a major hit?and
with post-9/11 jitters and the closing of the interior of the
Statue of Liberty, attendance at Ellis Island in 2002 was still
only about half what it was prior to the attack.
Still, the one-time adman is fighting back by maintaining a
lively concession-stand Web site (www.statueofliberty.net) that not
only displays souvenirs, but explains the history and lore of the
statue. He?s hoping to inspire more people to visit. Lady Liberty,
waiting on the day when the crowds return to look out on the great
city?and country?through her eyes. U
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