Article Author:
New York — Impact The New York City Museum, which told the story of the 9/11 attacks from the perspective of those who suffered, has closed its building and ended walking tours. After closing the museum's doors on Wednesday night, volunteers worked Thursday morning on the World Trade Center's steel beams heading for storage, as well as the gear and parts of the first responders of two planes that struck the building. .
Attendance fell to a record low of 26,000 in 2021 from nearly 300,000 per year before the six-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 said Jennifer Adams-Webb. She was co-founder of the museum and was CEO of the 9/11 Family Association, a nonprofit that helped launch the museum.
"Visitors didn't come back," she said, adding that government support was the only way the museum could stay open. She said she was unable to secure it despite months of discussions with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and other offices. The agency did not immediately respond.
The main difference between the Memorial Museum and her 9/11 Memorial&Museum on the nearby Ground Her Zero is that her programs tell the first-hand stories of those directly affected. The focus is on, she said Adams.
Volunteer Tour Among her leaders was Peter Biwinski, an employee of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
On September 11, 2001, Bitwinski said he was at his desk at his trade center in the world when the hijackers crashed a plane into his twin towers. The September 11 attacks shot down planes at the Pentagon outside Washington and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing about 3,000 people.
Bitwinski said it took him over an hour to evacuate himself and others, help his wheelchair-bound colleague, and descend some 70 steps. said.
When they finally left and cleared the area, Bitwinski said he saw smoke, debris, and "people jumping from the top of the tower."
9/11 Tribute He said the museum not only helps people understand what happened on that day and honors the victims and first responders, but also says, "I am an individual." It really helped me continue to recover," Bitwinski said. "I've had psychological counseling, and every time I share and talk about it, it's a healing experience for me, too."
The museum plans to continue providing online educational resources and community support, but the Walking with his tour has been discontinued.
More than half a million people have taken tours since the museum opened in 2006, Adams-Webb said. The artifact will be moved to the New York State Museum in Albany. (Reporting by Randi Love of her in New York. Editing by Donna Bryson and Rosalba O'Brien)
