Perhaps Lady Liberty should trade her torch for an iPhone.
These days, more tourists are snapping photos of the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue than the Statue of Liberty, according to a Cornell University study.
The store with the glass-cubed entrance is the fifth most photographed city attraction, the study concluded, using data from 35 million pictures on the photo-sharing site Flickr.
Erika Thomas, 46, visiting from Georgia, said her 20-year-old daughter stopped three times at the Apple Store before agreeing to go to the statue.
“Each time my daughter went to take photos [at the Apple Store], but the Statue of Liberty absolutely makes a better picture,” Thomas said. “She is remarkable.”
“The statue is a monument — it’s the representation of liberty, it’s world famous,” Park Ranger Robert Peterson said. “Apple is just a retail outlet.”
Since Flickr is an Internet service, its users may be more tech-savvy and predisposed to visit the Apple Store than other tourists.