Iconic New York City Museum Shutting Down Permanently
The iconic 9/11 Tribute Museum in New York City's Greenwich Village has announced that it is shutting its stores permanently.
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The 9/11 Tribute Museum in Lower Manhattan opened back in 2017 to commemorate the thousands of people who perished during the attack. Now, the 9/11 Museum is set to close its doors for good this week. The iconic monument is closing due to its inability to rebound after many pandemic hiccups.
In March, the 9/11 Museum’s founders made a statement predicting the impending closure. The September 11th Families’ Association was the group responsible for funding the project in 2017. The group stated months prior that the museum had declined in visitors, just like many other monuments and museums during the pandemic. Due to low attendance, the museum wasn’t receiving enough income to sustain its operations. Unfortunately, the pandemic losses have been too substantial to keep the monument up and running.
CEO and co-founder of the September 11th Families’ Association Jennifer Adams elaborated on the 9/11 Museum’s closure. “Financial hardship” was the main reason the monument couldn’t sustain itself. No visitors and no donations meant no extra money going back into funding the memorial. But even though the physical museum won’t be present anymore, the organization intends to keep the museum running virtually.
The 9/11 Museum will continue its presence online instead of at its Greenwich Village location. The online memorial will provide educational resources for those wanting to know more about the families who’ve been affected by the crisis. The site will also offer external resources for visitors who wish to continue funding the families in question. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum, which is different from the actual museum, will still be located at ground zero and have no plans to be scrapped in the future.
Where will the 9/11 Museum’s displays go if the Greenwich Village location closes? Fortunately, the artifacts and valuables from the museum will be transferred to the New York State Museum in Albany, the state capital. Albany is only a few hours away from the bustling city, so if you want to explore the 9/11 Museum’s contents, they’ll still be available relatively close by. The September 11th Families’ Association will work with the museum to ensure the artifacts are transferred properly and successfully.
9/11 Museum’s courses will be available on the 9/11 Tribute Museum’s website. There you can find educational resources for introducing the terror attacks to young people and how to explain and discuss the topic sensitively. The course centers explicitly on those born after 9/11 and living in a post-attack society. These individuals won’t know what life in America was like before the attack, making the course crucial for teachers and parents with young children. The online resource uses personal testimonies to outline the tragedy and humanity of the survivors and their families.
Though the 9/11 Museum won’t be physically available anymore, its resources will still be located tangibly and virtually. For those wanting to learn more about the terror attack, a visit to the 9/11 Tribute Memorial at ground zero is still available for an in-person visit. If you live outside New York, there are numerous ways to get involved virtually with the memorial and the families affected by the attack.
