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As a life-long Manhattanite I'm extremely offended at what's going on at Ground Zero

EeneyMinnieMoe

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Feb 11, 2007
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On a whim, because it was such a beautiful day outside, I took my bicycle out of storage and rode down the Hudson River parkway to Ground Zero. Which is a little bit more than a block of where I live.

I've been there numerous times over the years but hadn't been down there for a long while so I was shocked at all the souvenir peddlers and charity panhandlers down there. On every damn corner, there's someone selling 9/11 kitsch. You couldn't shake a dead cat without hitting three or four. Sickening.

Even worse is the constant influx of wide-eyed tourists. Tour groups, Boy Scouts, summer camps, I could vomit. I understand the curiosity of out-of-towners and the novelty and coolness it seems to them but to a native New Yorker, that's a little like someone walking in all ooh and ahh into your family cementary and breathlessly asking "OMG, tell me all about what it was like to have your sister die! Listen, what was it like?!".

It's a tourist attraction, just like Pearl Harbor. So disrespectful, so insulting and so disgusting.

I'd normally never, ever say this but I think the whole place should have been closed off to the public in a way that didn't attract any pligrims or toursits or curiosity-seekers. They should have built a huge wall around the whole place, banned tour groups of any kind, banned cameras and passed laws against junk-peddling and put the subway station somewhere else.
 
OOps did I step on your merchandise?

I don't recall what the peddlers license requirements are for NYC. maybe you can find out if licensing is required and report them. back in 2001 I was working at an architectural office on Broadway and on occasion i would go out to purchase computer hardware or printer supplies or cable. I LOVED working in Manhattan. One time as I exited a staples some scenery or signage caught my eye and i was looking up. and I accidentally trampled all over some guys collection of pirate music CDs he had spread all over the damn sidewalk on a towel.. Crunch Crunch Crunch!
 
It is a national monument at this point. Tourists will be going there for decades.

Peddlers were selling 9/11 stuff before the frist tower fell. These are the same guys who sell umbrellas when it starts to rain. :eye-poppi
 
EeneyMinnieMoe said:
It's a tourist attraction, just like Pearl Harbor. So disrespectful, so insulting and so disgusting.
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I'm a New Yorker too and I've been to Pearl Harbor and I must say there is no comparison. The Arizonia Memorial is run by the National Park Service and there are no disgusting souviner sellers selling mini Arizonia models in the parking lot. I found the sentiment respectful and somber.

I agree with you that the situation down there is quite disrespectful and that's why I've always said that ground zero should be designated a national memorial and never be built upon again. Would anyone suggest selling off Ford Island to build condos on?
 
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I am a canadian. Let me give you my perspective:

In 1996 We travelled via car, down the east coast. We went all the way from Maine, to DC, and then back up through Pennsylvania.

While in DC we visited the Vietnam War Memorial. Now around that area, the larger area where all the memorials are, there are some peddlers, and alot of tourists. What struck me, however, was as we approached the black wall of the memorial, was the silence...the reverence. You could hear a pin drop as you neared that place, and was like that the entire time we read the names on the wall.

GZ SHOULD be like that, as far as I am concerned.

TAM:)
 
firecoins said:
It is a national monument at this point. Tourists will be going there for decades.

Peddlers were selling 9/11 stuff before the frist tower fell. These are the same guys who sell umbrellas when it starts to rain. :eye-poppi
Click to expand...

Please do not compare the cheap umbrella men with these "people" The cheap umbrella men has saved every New Yorker from getting wet at least once.
 
EeneyMinnieMoe said:
They should have built a huge wall around the whole place, banned tour groups of any kind, banned cameras and passed laws against junk-peddling and put the subway station somewhere else.
Click to expand...
In disagree. That would only give the terrorists the satisfaction that they got what they wanted - a vacant lot where the WTC stood. A new WTC is a stick in their eye IMHO.
 
From a tourist perspective there is little to see at ground zero, a big hole with a fence around it. But for those lost someone they loved, it's a cemetary. There have been reports in the local media here over the last week that even more remains have been found nearby. Sure, people debate and maybe sell souviners at Dealy Plaza, but they don't do it at Arlington.
 
WildCat said:
In disagree. That would only give the terrorists the satisfaction that they got what they wanted - a vacant lot where the WTC stood. A new WTC is a stick in their eye IMHO.
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My ex had a similar idea. She said they should rebuild the original WTC exactly as the old ones, down to the bolt. My reply was, who cares about the WTC, it was just a couple of buildings. It's those who died that deserve a respectful memorial. [rule 8] what the terrorists think.
 
I've been to Pearl Harbor, too, on a family vacation some years back. I found it to be a little disrespectful. No place where people have died should have a gift shop, to start with.

Whether it's disrespectful or not though, it's still a tourist attraction. It's not a pilgrimage destination or a place of personal journey, like the concentration camps or Mecca or Ellis Island are, it's a place people go in Hawaiian shirts and sandals with their kids. It's got a feeling of an amusement park, you know?

You're right, though, Pearl Harbor is much more dignified than Ground Zero.
 
The gift shop at Pearl Harbor at least has proceeds going to maintaining the part itself, not private individuals making money off it.
 
I think, in time, the place will settle down. The memorial park isn't finished (hell, it's barely even been started). When the park opens, the tone will be different. Once you enter the park, it will be respectful - tourist-filled but respectful.
 
I appreciate your indignation, Eeney. FYI, it is illegal to sell anything at Ground Zero, on Port Authority property. It's also illegal to sell anything on the streets of NYC without a permit, as you see people across the street doing. But anywhere tourists congregate you're going to see illegal vendors. The cops don't have the resources to do much except occasional sweeps. The Port Authority has the budget to do something about that, but I've not had any luck getting them to enforce their rules.

I agree with Loss Leader that the atmosphere will change when the memorial opens.
 
EeneyMinnieMoe said:
Even worse is the constant influx of wide-eyed tourists. Tour groups, Boy Scouts, summer camps, I could vomit. I understand the curiosity of out-of-towners and the novelty and coolness it seems to them but to a native New Yorker, that's a little like someone walking in all ooh and ahh into your family cementary and breathlessly asking "OMG, tell me all about what it was like to have your sister die! Listen, what was it like?!".

It's a tourist attraction, just like Pearl Harbor. So disrespectful, so insulting and so disgusting.
Click to expand...
It's Gravy's fault. He's a NYC tour guide.
 
I live in New Jersey (as my name suggests) only few miles from Ground Zero.
Have to travel into New York regularly - if have time will make pilgrimage
to site and look over site and remember the buildings that once stood there.
Will go across street to "TEN HOUSE" (quarters of Engine 10/Ladder 10)
and look over the bronze relief panel on the firehouse. Also when walking
past FDNY firehouse will stop and read memorial plaque to members lost
on September 11. As a firefighter feel it is least can do to honor men lost
that day.
 
Gravy said:
By the way, there's a group of over 100 9/11 victims who lead tours at Ground Zero. If it's okay with them, it's okay with me.
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Now there's something that can will the million dollar challenge because I was under the impression that most if not all of the 9/11 victims were dead.

I hear, however, you might be able to put together a large group of 9/11 survivors.


Ignore me. I'm a jerk.
 
Redtail said:
Please do not compare the cheap umbrella men with these "people" The cheap umbrella men has saved every New Yorker from getting wet at least once.
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Its the same guys. Don't believe me. Wait till it rains. These guys are prepared to peddle anything.
 
I think it is a tough issue either way. There will always be a percentage of tourists that act like horses (rule 8) No matter where they are. Maybe it is a case that New Yorkers dont realise just how much those towers meant to the rest of the world. To us the Towers were New York.

I was at a small party recently and Men In Black was playing on the TV. The scene where the Towers are perfectly framed by parkland during the birth sequence comes on. You could hear the hush around the room. No one was watching the action anymore, they were transfixed by the Towers, immediately conversation (After nearly 6 years) turned to events of that day.

The world we knew changed that day. And that change occured at Ground Zero. Maybe New Yorkers, because they actually went through it, have a different view of the situation. But many of us from around the world visit the site to reflect and to try and come to grips with happened that day.

As for rebuilding on the site. I think they have too. I always recall a touching comment passed about 911. New York City just had its two front teeth punched out - With that in mind it is time for the dentist to go to work and for New Yorkers to recapture the spirit that made them build so big and bold in the first place
 
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