Posted on 06/17/2005 9:57:17 AM PDT by areafiftyone
The hundredes of visitors who flock daily to Ground Zero soon will be able to get guided tours of the tragic site. Come November, trained volunteers, drawn from the community of 9/11 survivors, recovery workers and victims' families, will lead visitors around Ground Zero and answer their questions.
Gov. Pataki detailed plans yesterday for the Tribute Center, an interim memorial until the World Trade Center Memorial opens in 2009, and for a separate oral-history project at Ground Zero, noting that the site is often studded with souvenir hawkers.
"We don't want that," he said. "We want people to come here and be told the right story by the right people, not so they can make some money off it, but so that we can pay tribute to the sacrifices of New Yorkers on Sept. 11."
Tours will not enter the pit of Ground Zero, but will run along the perimeter of the site at street level.
Manny, a vendor of photo books at Ground Zero who asked that his last name not be used, said yesterday that tourists who view the site from Church St. often ask him if he was at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
He recalled working as a dishwasher in a concourse-level coffee bar when the planes hit.
"I'm just trying to make some money like before," he added. "I don't want to make any trouble."
The 6,000-square-foot Tribute Center, sponsored by the September 11th Widows and Victims' Families Association and funded by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., is due to take shape in a now-empty storefront at 120 Liberty St.
It won't open for exhibits until March. Its new Web site is www.tributenyc.org.
The oral-history project, run by the nonprofit StoryCorps and set to launch July 12, will include a booth at the World Trade Center PATH Station in which visitors can record their own 40-minute accounts of 9/11.
No thanks! The tragedy is still too fresh. Besides, I'd have to fly to New York City and that I won't do. Been there once and never want to go back.
I was just there for the first time over the weekend. There isn't much left to see, now. A guided tour might be of some value - but a raised viewing platform, allowing people to see the whole the site, would be be even more beneficial.
I don't need a #$%^^##! tour. I worked there and met my wife there years ago. I remember that Tuesday morning when the jihadists openly declared war on us all. I still don't understand why their cities are not smoldering ruins, glowing in the dark...
Imagine a busload of Asian tourists following the leader with the flag snapping photos. And no, this is not a stereotype, but a common sight in NYC.
Too weird.
Jeeze can't they wait until the memorial is built? Bad enough they are taking so darn long with this.
I know what you mean. I see enough tour groups every mornig when I go to work. Why don't they hurry up and build the memorial if they want tourists there.
I know what you mean. I see enough tour groups every mornig when I go to work. Why don't they hurry up and build the memorial if they want tourists there.
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