Despite a technical hiccup that temporarily prevented some people from reserving tickets to the 9/11 Memorial when it opens to the public, 5,000 passes were distributed within the first hour after the ticket system opened at 9 this morning. Within several hours, 11,000 passes had been reserved.
“Basically, it was just a volume issue,” said Michael Frazier, a spokesman for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. “But that was quickly addressed.”
By early afternoon, all the passes for Sept. 12 and Sept. 13 were taken, and only a handful of times were available for Sept. 14. Tickets for the following weekend, Sept. 17 and 18, were also gone. Mr. Frazier said the memorial encouraged people to reserve passes online for the memorial, which will open on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with a ceremony for the families of victims. It will open to the public the next day.
The tickets, which are free, are available on the memorial’s Web site. Groups of 10 or more can reserve tickets by telephone, (212) 266-5200. Each ticket is marked with a half-hour block of time during which the visitor can pass through the security checkpoint, but once visitors are inside they can spend as much time as they wish on the memorial plaza, which can hold 1,500 people.
The memorial lists 2,983 names of victims inscribed in bronze on the walls of two pools that stand where the World Trade Center towers once did. Visitors with passes will enter the memorial at 1 Albany Street. A space for the families of victims, who will use a separate reservation system, will be open at 90 West Street.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/demand-strong-to-visit-911-memorial/
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