Comedian Jay Leno said on NBC’s The Tonight Show in September 1990:
 
“That crime problem in New York is getting really serious. The other day the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.”
 
Comedian David Letterman used an identical joke line on CBS’s The Late Show in 2006:
 
“Well, I have to tell you some bad news: crime in New York City is out of control right now. Crime is out of control. To give you an idea how bad it is, earlier today, the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.”
 
     
Wikipedia: Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, was built by Gustave Eiffel and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.
 
Wikipedia: Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir “Jay” Leno (/ˈlɛnoʊ/; born April 28, 1950) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, voice actor, and television host. He was the host of NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET, also on NBC.
 
After The Jay Leno Show was canceled in January 2010 amid a host controversy, Leno returned to host The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 1, 2010. He hosted his last episode of The Tonight Show on February 6, 2014.
 
26 September 1990, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), “People,” pg. 2B:
That crime problem in New York is getting really serious. The other day the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.
—Comedian Jay Leno
 
30 September 1990, Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette, pg. 11A, col. 2:
That crime problem in New York is getting really serious. The other day the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.
—Comedian Jay Leno
 
Google Books
A Treasury of Humor:
Thousands of humorous stories, jokes, anecdotes and one-liners, up-to-date and categorized for ease of use
By Lowell D. Streiker
Peabody, MA: Hendrickson
2000
Pg. 287:
In New York crime is getting worse. I was there the other day. The Statue of Liberty had both hands up. —Jay Leno
     
Google Groups: news.admin.net-abuse.sightings
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2/25/04
(...)
The crime problem in New York is getting really serious. The other day the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.
 
New York (NY) Times
July 2, 2006
LAUGH LINES
Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien
(...)
David Letterman
Well, I have to tell you some bad news: crime in New York City is out of control right now. Crime is out of control. To give you an idea how bad it is, earlier today, the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.
 
Twitter
Zero
‏@Zero_Calael
“The crime problem in New York is getting really serious. The other day the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.”—Jay Leno
10:06 AM - 29 Mar 2009
   
Google Books
The Little Red Book of New York Wisdom
By Former Mayor Ed Koch, with Gregg Stebben and Jason Katzman
New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing
2011
Pg. 7:
The crime problem in New York is getting really serious. The other day the Statue of Liberty had both hands up.
JAY LENO