A firefighter stands on the 9/11 Memorial on Sept. 11, 2024. The FDNY misplaced 343 members within the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist assaults on the World Commerce Heart.
Picture by Dean Moses
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum rests upon one of the vital hallowed grounds of this metropolis and nation, and serves not solely to honor the legacy of these killed on that day of infamy 24 years in the past this Thursday, however to coach future generations on the date’s significance.
This memorial and museum is apolitical, and has been from its inception. It displays the sense of nationwide unity, satisfaction, and resolve that developed within the hours and days after terrorists struck down the World Commerce Heart and attacked the Pentagon with 4 hijacked plane.
And whereas the 9/11 Memorial and Museum shows numerous artifacts and relics, it’s also a resting place for the stays of greater than 1,000 individuals who died within the assaults, nonetheless unidentified practically a quarter-century after their homicide. Right here, victims’ households who by no means acquired the closure of a correct funeral for his or her family members have a spot to recollect and grieve.
The generosity of New Yorkers and philanthropists like billionaire and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the museum’s board chair, has ensured that the 9/11 Memorial and Museum thrives and continues its vital mission. In accordance with the museum’s CEO, Beth Hillman, greater than $750 million has been raised in recent times, and the museum has welcomed greater than 90 million guests and counting since its opening.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum at all times wants monetary help from New Yorkers, but it surely doesn’t want federal intervention.
With stories that the Trump administration is contemplating imposing federal management over the 9/11 Memorial and Museum — citing alleged issues over government compensation and admission prices — each the establishment and Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed again.
A federal takeover would put the 9/11 Memorial and Museum on the mercy of federal forms, authorities crimson tape, and the whims of presidents and Congress members who might swing the funds ax at any time, for any variety of causes, virtually at all times political.
All one must do is take into account what number of instances New York’s first responders have needed to struggle Congress tooth and nail over 24 years to persuade Washington to fund the World Commerce Heart Well being Program.
These are women and men who at the moment are critically or terminally ailing from their months of labor at Floor Zero, and repeatedly, Washington has continually wavered in its dedication to totally fund their care; earlier this yr, Trump himself lower funding for this system.
New York can not take the same likelihood relating to preserving the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It should stay impartial to serve its mission of preserving one of the vital sacred locations in America, telling the vital tales of Sept. 11, 2001.
The state, which has ample oversight buildings, can deal with any issues in regards to the museum’s operations or government compensation.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is simply too vital and too cherished a spot in these United States to ever be put beneath the thumbs of Washington politicians.
