The 9/11 Memorial and Museum: What to Expect Before You Go

The two reflecting pools at the World Trade Center site occupy the exact footprints of the Twin Towers. Each is nearly an acre in area, nine metres deep, with water falling from all sides to a central void that drops further. The names of 2,983 people killed in the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing are inscribed in bronze panels around the edges. Names are arranged by shared workplace, flight, and relationship - not alphabetically. Family members were involved in determining the placement of each name.

This is not a comfortable place to visit. It is not designed to be one. Understanding that before you arrive will help you pace yourself appropriately and decide how long you want to be there.

The Memorial

Access to the Memorial Plaza is free, 7:30am to 9pm daily. No tickets, no reservations required. The pools work differently from almost any other memorial: the water is perpetual and the sound of it continuous, and the void at the centre is not symbolic - it is an actual absence in the ground where the buildings stood. The Survivor Tree, a Callery pear recovered from the rubble and nursed back to health in a Bronx nursery, grows in the northeast corner of the plaza. It is an easier place to stand than directly in front of the pools for many visitors.

The Museum

Entry $29 for adults (free for 9/11 families). Open daily 9am-8pm, last entry 6pm. Book online - weekend queues without reservations are significant.

The museum is built into the original foundation walls and incorporates structural elements: slurry wall sections, the last column removed from the site, a staircase that hundreds of people walked down to safety on September 11. Ramps descend gradually 21 metres below street level, using the architecture to create context before you encounter the historical material.

The historical exhibition is thorough, well-constructed, and emotionally demanding to be in for extended periods. Allow two to three hours. There is a separate room at the lower level dedicated to individual victim profiles; visitors choose whether to enter it. The museum shop at the exit sells memorial merchandise and is a recurring controversy; you can form your own view.

The Surrounding Site

One World Observatory at the top of 1WTC (the 102nd floor, $42 admission) gives Manhattan in every direction, the harbour south, the bridges east. Book in advance. The elevator ride up displays an animated history of Manhattan from forest to the present - well done.

The Oculus, Santiago Calatrava’s PATH train station adjacent to the memorial, is an enormous white steel structure intended to evoke a bird in flight and also functions as an upscale shopping mall. The interior scale is worth walking through.

The nearest subway stations are Fulton Street (A/C/J/Z/2/3/4/5), Cortlandt Street (N/R/W), and World Trade Center (E, PATH). Eataly is two blocks north; Brookfield Place has a food hall one block west. Tribeca’s independent restaurants are 10 minutes’ walk north.