Visiting Ground Zero
 

I would like to visit Ground Zero with my 17 year old daughter. There appear to be "tours" offered. Is this necessary in order to visit the site? Any information will be appreciated.

After visiting Ground Zero, we would like to spend the afternoon in the city. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

On my recent NY trip, I went to the little church ST Paul's Chapel nearby where they have a few displays and found it very moving and interesting. I think it would be a great place to visit with your daughter, very low key, gets the message across without hammering you with it.

sailing:

Ground Zero is now a construction site! No tour is needed.
eigasuki has given you a great way to get the feel for that day!


"After visiting Ground Zero, we would like to spend the afternoon in the city. Any suggestions"

Chinatown for lunch, South Street Seaport, walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, Canal Street for stores, take the ferry to Staten Island (free! and a great view of Statue of Liberty)

John

Thank you for the suggestions. Is the Statue of Liberty fully open to visitors now? If so, what is the best way to get there? Again, appreciate your help!

No, unfortunately the Statue is not fully open to the public anymore. Not since 9/11/01.

You can enter the base, which requires an reserved time.

www.nps.gov/stli/planyourvisit/index.htm

You can also visit the Winter Garden which sits right on the water just below ground zero. Inside, there are some dioramas and a display of what the site will look like when completed.
It's an easy walk to Battery Park to take the tour boat to the statue if you decide to do so.

Visiting the Statue of Liberty takes the nbest part of the day - and you cansee on;y the inside of the base. The rest of the statue if closed for safety (structural) rather than security reasons.

To get there you have to get the ferry at South Ferry (if you get advance timed tickets you can avoid a watiing line of at least an hour), then there's a security line (as in airport security) to get on the ferry, then there's another wait on Liberty Island. (IMHO not worth all the time for the little you can see.) The same ferry goes to Ellis Island which has a brilliant Immigrtation Museum (with no line).

Or you can get a distant view of the SOL from the free Staten Island ferry. It leaves about every 15 minutes and takes 30 minutes to get across the harbor to Staten Island.