9/11: At Ground Zero, what remains 25 years after the Twin Towers fell
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Manhattan commemorates the tragedy with artefacts, stories, and reflecting pools, offering a profound visitor experience.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Manhattan commemorates the tragedy with artefacts, stories, and reflecting pools, offering a profound visitor experience.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Manhattan commemorates the tragedy with artefacts, stories, and reflecting pools, offering a profound visitor experience.
Before 2001, airport security checks were mostly a relaxed affair across the globe. Then, on September 11, 2001, everything changed. After al Qaeda hijacked and sent two flights into the North and South towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, killing 2,983 people, airport checks became a rigorous process with multiple restrictions, scans, surveillance and more. Many people also succumbed to illnesses caused by exposure to toxic debris after the attack.
Today, at the site where the tragedy took place, a memorial and museum stand telling the world the story of both the 2001 World Trade Centre attack and the 1993 bombing (the 1st major attack on the towers).
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum
For those who wish to learn about the 9/11 tragedy, this museum and memorial, located in Lower Manhattan, is a great place to start with. The museum tells its story interactively through artefacts, personal stories, imagery, testimonies, historical records, first responses, and more.
The museum also hosts events and programmes that explore the incident's continuing impact. It also has a store offering apparel, books, keepsakes, and more. This year, the families of the victims will gather for a ceremony to read out their names at the spot. There will also be the presentation of a commemorative public art installation, named 'Tribute to Light.'
The Memorial here is an outdoor space designed like an open air plaza. It also has two massive reflecting pools, and the visit is free. Meanwhile, the indoor museum is a ticketed building that houses the artefacts and memorabilia. Both the memorial and museum are run by the 'National September 11 Memorial and Museum.'
On September 11, the museum and memorial plaza are closed to the general public. However, the memorial opens to the public at 3 pm and doesn't close until midnight.
What visitors should know
The museum is open six days a week, except on Tuesdays, from 9 am to 7 pm. However, it remains open on all days in certain weeks, which will be announced via its website. A visit requires purchasing a ticket in advance. The museum also has audio guides available in nine languages. Meanwhile, the outdoor memorial remains open all days, from 8 am to 8 pm.