Is the Statue of Liberty in New York or New Jersey?

The Statue of Liberty is in New York on Liberty Island.

Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. The island is an exclave of the New York City borough of Manhattan, surrounded by the waters of Jersey City, New Jersey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Island

The Statue of Liberty is in the state of New York. Physically it is surrounded by New Jersey. But, politically and technically it is part of New York.

Liberty Island is one of the islands that are part of the borough of Manhattan in New York. The historical developments which led to this construction created the rare situation of an exclave of one state, New York, being situated in another, New Jersey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Island#Geography_and_access
and see this map: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.690069,-74.0448937,18z

In 1987, US Representative Frank J. Guarini and Gerald McCann, then Mayor of Jersey City, sued New York City, contending that New Jersey should have dominion over Liberty Island because it is on the New Jersey side of the state line. By default—since the court chose not to hear the case—the existing legal status was unchanged. Portions of the island that are above water are part of New York, while riparian rights to all of the submerged land surrounding the statue belong to New Jersey.

A 1997 United States Supreme Court decision involved such riparian rights around nearby Ellis Island. Being mostly constructed of artificial infill, New Jersey argued and the court agreed that the 1834 compact covered only the natural parts of the island, and not the portions added by infill. Thus it was agreed that the parts of the island made of filled land belonged to New Jersey while the original natural part belonged to New York. This proved impractical to administer and New Jersey and New York subsequently agreed to share jurisdiction of the entire island.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Island

NY runs ferries to Liberty island from Battery Park in downtown Manhattan. The fee is $12 for adults.

http://gonyc.about.com/cs/attractions/p/statueofliberty.htm

NJ runs ferries from Liberty State Park in Jersey City. The fee is $10 for adults.

http://www.getnj.com/lsp/lspferry.shtml

In my opinion, the best view of the Statue is from the Staten Island Ferry, which is free for everyone, and runs 24 hours a day, so you can see her in the bright light of day, or with her torch lit at night.

http://www.siferry.com/

http://www.mrfs.net/trips/2001/New_York_City/Lower_Manhattan/Lower_Manhattan.html

The statue faces New York, but it is closer to Jersey City (where we get a great view of her back.) Disclosure: I was born and raised in NYC, have lived in Jersey City for over two decades.