"Sept. 11 is a day that profoundly changed New York and the nation," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement. "The Memorial Museum will bring New Yorkers together in the same spirit of unity we showed after this senseless act of terror."
The opening of the National September 11 Memorial Museum has been repeatedly delayed by funding disputes, construction problems and damage from 2012's Superstorm Sandy. It will be preceded by a five-day period dedication period from May 15 to 20.
During the dedication period, only 9/11 victim families, survivors, rescue and recovery workers and active-duty first responders from the agencies which lost people in the attacks will be allowed in.
They will not pay a fee to visit the museum, but other visitors will be charged $24 for admission, said 9/11 Memorial spokesman Anthony Guido.
The museum will honor the victims and delve into the September 11th hijackings through artifacts retrieved from the wreckage, video testimonials and other historical items.
In the attacks, members of al Qaeda hijacked four airliners and crashed three of them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Passengers on the fourth plane overpowered the hijackers before they could crash it into their target, and the aircraft went down in a Pennsylvania field.
The museum is part of the wider National 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York's Financial District. The building's design evokes that of the twin towers brought down in the attacks. The memorial includes two pools set within the original footprints of the towers and bearing the names of those killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard the aircraft.
The memorial complex is also dedicated to the six people killed in the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. — Reuters
source: gmanetwork.com
