Entry fee for 9/11 memorial upsets families
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 20: Eddie Reyes is comforted while remembering fifteen of his colleagues in the New York Police Department Emergency Service Unit who were killed on September 11, 2001 during a first responders wreath-laying ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial on September 20, 2011 in New York City. The ceremony, which marks the first of seven “first responder days” for members of 9/11 first responder agencies and their families, honored the 441 first responders whose names are now inscribed on the September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – Some families of those killed in 9/11 have expressed outrage over a decision to charge visitors admission to the National September 11 Memorial Museum.
Sally Regenhard, assistant chairwoman of the group 9/11 Parents and Families of Firefighters and WTC Victims, told CNN the fee was a "slap in the face" and "outrageous".
"This feeds the idea of New York City being money-hungry. It is taking advantage of tourists," Regenhard said.
"Making people pay to grieve is going to prevent people from paying their respects and learn about the victims."
A spokesman for the museum, Anthony Guido, said it would be a set fee of between $20 to $25, the New York Daily News reported.
At the moment visitors are asked simply for a donation.
Relatives of the roughly 3,000 people killed on 9/11 said it was wrong to be trying to make money from such a tragedy.
"People are coming to pay their respects and for different reasons," said Janice Testa of Valley Stream, whose firefighter brother Henry Miller Jr. died at the twin towers.
"It shouldn't be a place where you go and see works of art. It should more be like a memorial place like a church that there's no entry fee," AP reported.
Entrance to the memorial itself, which includes the twin reflection pools will continue to be free, although a $2 service fee for online reservations was recently introduced.