New York City’s 9/11 Memorial is worth visiting, despite the lines and overzealous security.
Since I lived 9/11 and its aftermath in real life, I’ve purposely avoided all movies, specials, centers related to the event. On the anniversary, I avoid TV and the internet. Anyone who sends me politically motivated “we will never forget” emails with horrible pictures – or posts them on Facebook – gets a response they probably didn’t expect.
I’m not sure what prompted me to book a ticket to see the new memorial on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but I’m glad I went. The memorial is beautiful, and in my opinion, best visited at dusk, just after or in the rain. In fact, it was apt that it rained the day I went.
Your ticket will have a specific entry time, and you can spend as much time inside as you wish. Apparently, there are a lot of no-shows, so lately more tickets have been offered. It was easy for me to book one for a weekday; the weekends seem to be harder to get.
Although it is crowded, the area is spacious enough that you have room to walk around in solitude and reflect.
A corral style line greets you. Once your ticket is checked, you walk around the construction zone of 1 World Trade Center to the security room with metal detectors. This is followed by another lengthy walk around more of the construction site, until you approach the real entrance. Once the WTC construction is finished, I hope the entry is more straightforward, like any other park in NYC. There are ticket checkpoints along the way, so keep your ticket out.
To get more information or to reserve tickets, click here.
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Originally posted December 11, 2011.