9/11 Memorial Site

How to visit the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site –

World Trade Center, WTC, Ground Zero, 9/11 Tenth Anniversary

World Trade Center, not Ground Zero

The 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center opened to the public the day after the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11, on September 12, 2011. By the end of 2011, more than one million visitors had toured the site.

Anyone can register for FREE passes for a specific date and time. You must have a reservation to enter. You will not be allowed to enter the 9/11 Memorial without a reservation.

Click here to make your reservation to visit the 9/11 Memorial

That is the official 9/11 Memorial website, where you also can also find information about exactly where the name of a particular victim or group is etched into the stone. There also are guides on-site with hand-held computers to help you find a name or a group.

You will receive your reservation confirmation by email, or you can print it out from the online reservation page.

A limited number of passes for same-day visits are also available daily at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vesey St. (at Church Street) beginning at 9:00 a.m., the NYC & Co. kiosk at City Hall and the NY Water Taxi booth at the South Street Seaport. Limited to 4 passes per person on a first-come, first-served basis.

Be prepared for extensive security screening, similar to airport security screening, to enter the memorial, so be sure to get there at least 15 minutes before the time printed on your reservation confirmation.

Although you will be admitted to the 9/11 Memorial at the time printed on your pass, the length of time you stay is not limited. You can stay as long as you like.

The National 9/11 Museum is due to open in 2012, and that will have an admission fee. The 9/11 Memorial is separate from the museum, and free.

The 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vesey Street, across the street from the World Trade Center, is remaining open for those unable to get in to the official museum site and store, where you can buy official NYPD and FDNY memorabilia, books and other items that help support the official 9/11 museum. Even if you can’t get a pass for the new 9/11 Memorial, the preview site is compelling and interesting. It is, in fact, a mini museum, with historical photos and artifacts, plus books on 9/11 and both the original World Trade Center and the new one.

Please purchase your World Trade Center and 9/11 souvenirs at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site, 20 Vesey Street, since proceeds support the museum and memorial. When you purchase from a street vendor, the vendor keeps the money. I have not asked each non-official vendor, but I truly doubt any of them share proceeds with the 9/11 Memorial or 9/11 Museum.

And as I’ve written before, I’m one of many New Yorkers who have never ever called it Ground Zero and never will. It was the World Trade Center before 9/11, and as new skyscrapers are being completed and the 9/11 Memorial is open to the public and the 9/11 Museum opening soon, it is the new World Trade Center, or World Trade Center site.