CARRYING A TORCH FOR UPSTATELIBERTY LAUNCHES TOURISM BLITZ.(Business)

Byline: Nancy HassBusiness writer

State officials unveiled Wednesday the first phase of a $15-million media blitz, running through June in seven northeastern states and Canada, to promote upstate tourism."The Statue of Liberty centennial celebration, and the fact that gasoline prices are down so dramatically, should make this a great year for New York state tourism," said state Commerce Commissioner Ronald Moss.The intial stage of the campaign, which maintains the "I Love New York" theme, will include television and radio commercials as well as newspaper and magazine ads, said Commerce Department spokesman Bern Rotman.The ads, which were produced by Wells, Rich & …