Fabio

We could have 1 week family trip from Europe to NYC from 06-12 sep next month. I really would like to be at Ground Zero on 09/11/11 for the 10th anniversary. Unfortunately I have realized that for visiting the Memorial and Museum which opens on 12sep all visitor passes are already no longer available. First option would be sep 14 but it is too late for us. So I am wondering whtether to postpone the trip to next year, not necessarely on 09/11 but after having done the visitor pass reservation well in advance, or if maybe it is still worth to be at Ground Zero next month on 09/11 even though it is not possible to visit the Memorial and Museum the next day 12sep. Is there a kind of public and official event and remembering on 09/11 ? If yes we would probably go anyway and visiting the M and M the next time......... thanks for yous suggestions.

ekscrunchy

There has been an official event at the site on that date every year since the tragedy.
Survivors read the names of those who perished. It is very moving. I imagine this will be done again this year but I am not certain.

Fabio

thanks, I can imagine..... !! I think I will try to be there !!! We were also very touched by this tragedy and cried despite being more than 4000 miles away.

"EVERY YEAR ON THIS DAY, WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS"
(Barack Obama)

nytraveler

Visiting on 9/11 is not a realistic option. there are large public ceremonies with extremely strict security. Both President Obama and Bush will be there as well as more than 90,000 members of the families of the fallen. You don;'t have a chance of getting near there on this or any other 9/11 - and frankly don;t belong there on that day. This year it is so crowded that even first responders (fire, police, medical et al) are taking part in a separate ceremony.

Certainly visit the World Trade Center site (saying Ground Zero is VERY offensive to many New Yorkers) on another day if you wish to pay your respects - but not on 9/11.

SueNYC

Wait a year until the visitor center is open and please don't come on Sept 11th. Yes the term Ground Zero is VERY offensive to many New Yorkers.

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...n-on-wire.html

bigbomoho

you can pay your respects any day, why make it 9/11--ive gone back to my hometown the last 3 years and its always very emotional for me--i worked at 222 Broadway,and went thru the WTC every day for 5 years.I agree Ground Zero is very offensive to most real NYers--its still the World Trade Center

Aduchamp1

There were a long discussion about this on the Lounge. There, were was only NY'er there who was not offended by the term Ground Zero.

And I understand Fabio went well when he wrote:

"EVERY YEAR ON THIS DAY, WE ARE ALL NEW YORKERS"
(Barack Obama)

But just the way Joplin, Missouri and Tuscaloosa, Alabama have to deal with their disasters long after the cameras leave, NY'ers have to live with the threat of terroism and the consequences of the attack on the Trade Center.

The crux of the matter is that Ground Zero is a generic and fabricated name used by the nmedia, including the NY Times, and The Trade Center was the name of the buildings that were attacked.

nyer

Fabio.
Please do come to pay your respects, whatever you or others call the area.
Visiting on September 11th will be impossible. The area and many blocks nearby will be blocked off for official events. There will be ceremonies that you can watch on TV that day where they read the names of all the people who died (it takes several hours to read them all) There are 4 moments of silence for when each tower was hit and then when each one fell.

Try to visit The World Trade Center site near the beginning of your trip, see other sights in the following days, and then by the September 11th anniversary you will have a better feeling for the city and its people.

nytraveler

Ground Zero implies that the World Trade Center was a military target. That is correct only from the point of view of the terrorists. I don't want to hear what they thought of it - nor do any of the other people I know who lost family, friends or neighbors.

This is like racist comments. The people who make them don;t get to decide if they're racist - only the people they refer to get to decide. So only New Yorkers get to decide what to call it - and it isn't Ground Zero - unless you want to offend a lot of people.

travelbuff

On 9/11 there will be memorial services all over the City, so if you can't be at the World Trade Center, then you can be a part of one of the other programs that will be taking place.

St. John the Divine, St. Patricks, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and MANY more venues will have something going on that night in the way of music / dance / and more.

Google memorial events in NYC and you will have a large list.

I think if you feel you would like to be here, then come and stand with us all.

I will be singing that evening, at one of the performances and can post the details here, if you would like.

NewbE

I think it's incredibly insensitive to say "you don't belong there on 9/11". People around the world were traumatized by this event. Acknowledging that fact does not in any way minimize the unique suffering of New Yorkers. Practical issues aside, anyone who wants to pay their respects belongs there.

Ryan

The area around the World Trade Center is likely going to be a frozen zone. As it is a Sunday that is easier to accomplish with the nearby office buildings closed. I would expect cars will not be allowed below Canal street and subway service to be restricted direct to the WTC. (PATH trains from NJ, as well)

It would not be unusual for the area to become a frozen zone starting Saturday where access is restricted to those who live in the area and those with passes.

If looking to participate in some way that day I might suggest one possible way is to pay respects at some of the numerous firehouses that lost multiple memebers. The firehouse on Great Jones street lost 9 of 14 who responded, the house at 66th and Amsterdam lost 12 of 13, the house on 8th and 48th lost 15 men. Those are three of many north of Houston that had multiple members killed.


If in town on 9/25 the annual Tunnel to Towers run may also be worth seeing as it is a major event for the FDNY. It is a 5K run that starts outside the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and ends at the WTC site. It was the route taken on 9/11 by Stephen Siller who ran that route with his gear that morning.

Fabio

thanks to all of you.

It was not my intetion to offend anybody with the terms Ground Zero and I apologize for that, I simply did not know it, but now I know it thanks to you.

I will come to pay my respects at WTC site on another day and I can understand that many others belong there more than me on that day. However my feelings are sincere and very very deep for that event. I am not just a curious tourist, going to take pictures only...

NewbE you are right, I am still very traumatized by this event and whenever I see pictures of myself and my wife on top of on the towers taken back in October 1993 I still cry.

My feeling is that NY does not belong only to New Yorkers but somehow to the entire World. Through thousands of movies (books, magazines and whatever else) made in NY almost everybody feels very familiar with every corner of this fantastic city. Of course the tragedy hit and touched first those who died, relatives and friends, but believe me, a lot of people around the world are emotionally involved.

I came to WTC site in December 2008 and was very touched. I will come again when it will be also possible for me to visit the Memorial and Museum, unfortunately not this time !

nyer

I don't think the issue is who belongs there--the problem is access will be extremely limited in the area and security will be very tight. Most people will probably be turned back several blocks away by police and barricades.

Fabio has decided to come another time since he does want to visit the museum. That makes sense for him

I am a native New Yorker who was also here in 2001, and I would not think of going to that part of town on that day.

sf7307

Very very well said, Fabio.

Aduchamp1

I was three blocks from The Trade Center on 9/11 and for all the months that followed and I too will not be there next month. I have no memory clearer than the orange and black explosion against the perfect blue sky when the second plane hit. I do not need politicians to tell me what to feel and think.

As I stated above, of course, Fabio means well and is earnest but it is the difference between attending a funeral as a family member and one who wants pay their sincerest respect. There ares simply different degrees of emotion and responsibility.

nytraveler

Well - you can't put practical issues aside - there isn;t even room for first responders - who risked their lives on the day and in the weeks afterward.

For people with no connection to try to attend is completely inappropriate. Agree that this is similar to a funeral - which isn't a public event. If people want to go at other times and pay their respects they are more than welcome - but to turn up uninvited would be similar to turning up uninvited at the funeral of a stranger.

sf7307

B.S. I'm not discounting the fact that as New Yorkers you were there (some closer than others) and we weren't. But this event will certainly be broadcast on television, so there are plenty of people (me included) who believe it is perfectly appropriate for anyone who feels the pull to be there to go (practical aspects aside, and there will be plenty of practical reasons not to even try). If this were only for the people who died and the responders and their families, it would be held in private. This is a public event.

panecott

Fabio, there is no need to apologize for using the term "Ground Zero" to describe the WTC site. If you meant no offense, as I'm sure you didn't, none should be taken by anyone, including New Yorkers.

I am a native NY'er and I witnessed the events of 9/11 first hand from the street, and I was traumatized and grief stricken like the rest of the city, and country, for a long, long time afterwards.

But I see no reason to take offense at the use, by non NY'ers, of a term that was universally used by the media in the aftermath of the attacks, and is still used by many, including (regrettably) the NY Times -- even if most NY'ers, including me, don't like it and don't use it.

As I said on the other thread, the term "Ground Zero" is not appropriate or accurate, as the site is being rebuilt and should properly be referred to as the WTC site, which it was and will be again, but most people who don't live here are, understandably, not attuned to that.

I understand that people mean no harm by referring to it as "Ground Zero" and the use of the term is based on lack of awareness, not lack of sensitivity.

I'm getting tired of hearing my fellow NY/Fodorites talk about how "offensive" the term is. Frankly, I don't know anyone except people on Fodor's who find the term "offensive". Most people I know simply call it the WTC site and don't take umbrage at what other people call it.

panecott

As for attending the memorial event at the WTC site on 9/11/11, I think everyone who wants to go has a right to attend, however, as has been said, it will be a practical impossibility and not a good idea.

But no one has the right to tell other people that it is "inappropriate" for them to attend, or to want to attend.

I work near St. Patrick's Cathedral and I went, uninvited, down to line the streets at every single policeman and fireman's funeral in the months following the attacks. I went, along with thousands of other people, to pay my respects, and I doubt that the families and friends of the deceased were offended by our presence. Quite the contrary.

I agree with sf7307. The memorial service is definitely a public event.