Never forget the event that changed everything, Sept. 11, 2011.
The footprint of each of the World Trade Center Twin Towers are now large spaces with huge waterfalls, symbolizing the empty hole in our hearts that will never be filled and the endless tears we shed over the people and the way of life we lost that day.
The waterfalls also are bordered with the names of the 3,000+ victims who perished that day, plus the names of First Responders who have died since from ugly and horrible illnesses that can be traced directly to the toxins they breathed from working “The Pile” for weeks and months to find human remains.
The 9/11 Memorial and Plaza is FREE and open to the public with no tickets needed.
The National September 11 Museum at the World Trade Center has an admission charge that ranges from free for 9/11 families and First Responders to $24 for adults.
Click here for information on how to get tickets to the National September 11 Museum and plan your visit.
Both the 9/11 Memorial and the National September 11 Museum are closed every year on the morning of Sept. 11 for the annual remembrance ceremony which includes reading the names of the innocent victims murdered that day.
There’s also a bell and a moment of silence marking the time a terrorist airplane hit the South Tower, North Tower and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and the crash of a fourth hijacked plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Note that as a born and lifelong New Yorker, I will never ever call this hallowed place Ground Zero.
Never have. Never will. It was, is and will always be the World Trade Center, or the WTC Twin Towers, which ever you prefer.
Never forget.
Annual Tribute in Light from dusk on Sept. 11 to dawn Sept. 12
More 9/11 Memorials in New York City
The 9/11 Memorial and Plaza is not the only place in NYC which honors the victims and the First Responders.
Here are some other memorials you can visit any day, not just on Sept. 11:
St. Paul’s Chapel
Remarkably, this Revolutionary Era church, a few blocks from the Twin Towers, where George Washington attended services, survived the attacks with no damage, including to the historic cemetery, whose graves include that of Alexander Hamilton.
One corner of the chapel contains hundreds of badges and other memorabilia from hundreds of First Responder groups from around the world who came here to help in those dark days after 9/11.
Firefighters Memorial Park
This is across the street from the FDNY firehouse which lost 15 members, the most of any in the city.
The memorial fountain, at Ritz Plaza, 225 W. 48th St., is inscribed with the names of all the names of the Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9 members lost.
Police Memorial Wall
The names of NYPD members who died in the attacks, and those who have died since of 9/11-related illnesses, are engraved on a granite wall in a corner of the Battery Park City Esplanade.
FDNY Memorial Wall at Engine 10 Ladder 10
This 56-foot long memorial, at 124 Liberty St., in the shadow of the WTC, is dedicated to the 300+ firefighters who died responding to the attacks.
Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance
These three granite walls are engraved with images of human and K-9 First Responders who died in the attacks.
American Veterans Memorial Pier
This bronze sculpture is dedicated to the Brooklyn residents who were killed in the attack.
The statue is shaped like a speaking trumpet, which fire engines used to use to warn people in the days before before electronic horns. Bay Ridge Avenue at Shore Road, Brooklyn.
9/11 Tribute Park
A gazrebo with a stained glass dome honors the 70 residents of Rockaway who died in the attacks. The small park, at Beach Channel Drive and Beach 116th St. also contains a piece of WTC steel.
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This article was posted originally on Sept. 11, 2013, and is updated annually.
Evelyn Kanter is a native New Yorker who has written for the NY Times, NY Daily News, NY Post, New York Magazine, and is a former on-air reporter for WCBS Newsradio 88 and WABC-TV Eyewitness News.
NYCOTC Editor Evelyn Kanter also is the author of several NYC and Hudson Valley guidebooks, including my latest, 100 Things to Do in NYC Before You Die.
Purchase autographed copies by emailing evelyn@nyconthecheap.com
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