Latest Ground Zero Dispute; a Restaurant

Parent Cafe
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<p>From what I know (I haven’t been there, not sure to be honest I want to go there, too many people I knew died there), the restaurant is upstairs from the actual museum. I can understand those who feel that the gift shop and restaurant are inappropriate, I can understand those who lost loved ones their objecting to it. For me personally, I lost people I knew there, quite a few, and it doesn’t bother me, it is the fact that they are being remembered that is the important thing, that hopefully as a museum, in some ways like the holocaust museum, it is a reminder of the horrors humans can inflict on one another and to say “never again”, plus remembering real people died there. If the purpose of the party last night was to get well heeled and/or high heeled donors to support the museum, it wasn’t some vapid event. Likewise, if revenue from the gift store and restaurant go to support the museum, as long as they aren’t profit centers for some outside vendor, I can’t really object (and again, this is just me, I cannot say others are wrong). Put it this way, if the restaurant is run by some restaurant guy to add to their empire of chic restaurants, I would be upset, but if the restaurant is there to serve the people who are going to the museum, rather than drawing people in as ‘the restaurant at the WTC memorial’, and the restaurant and gift shop’s profits support the memorial, I don’t have a problem, if it lines the pockets of whoever is running it, I do. </p>

<p>It is funny about memorials, they can make some people feel better, others angry. My dad was a WWII combat veteran, fought from the invasion of France to the end as part of the 3rd army, and he kind of hated the fuss that people like Stephan Ambrose or Tom Brokaw made about his generation, and he wasn’t fond of the memorials, he said to him it glorified something that shouldn’t be glorified, that it made war seem like something it isn’t, that is glorious or somehow sanctified, when to him it was just a brual, ugly reality if a necessity…everyone has their reasons for feeling as they do, and unfortunately with something like this it is hard to please everyone or not create controversy. Muslims claim the museum goes to far in describing those who were responsible for 9/11 as being driven by their faith, those who lost people aren’t happy that the Museum is too ‘secular’ and that the possible remains of those lost have been lost in building the site, and the list goes on…</p>

<p>It is kind of ironic, not long after 9/11 when they had the temporary wall at street level listing the names of those who perished and such, there were street vendors selling t shirts and such, and at a time when I wasn’t feeling all that great, it kind of made me smile, it is just such a NY thing, hustling a buck off of something…</p>

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<p>I mean honestly, who would object to a 9/11 cheese plate, with helpful stars on it to show where the planes hit? Amirite?</p>

<p><a href=“This 9/11 Cheese Plate May Be The 9/11 Museum's Most Tasteless Souvenir - Gothamist”>This 9/11 Cheese Plate May Be The 9/11 Museum's Most Tasteless Souvenir - Gothamist;

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<p>Good god, what is next, trading card sets with images of the victims or a special perp series? Gift shops are usually pretty tacky, with some exceptions, but that is pathetic. </p>

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<p>This is beyond tacky!</p>

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<p>The Pentagon was also hit on 9/11. It’s been repaired, and life has gone on…</p>

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<p>As I understand it, the 9/11 memorial/museum has no taxpayer support, and the revenue from the high ticket prices, gift shop, and cafe is needed to defray the cost of keeping it running. In contrast, the Holocaust Museum in DC is taxpayer funded and has free admission and, unless I’m mistaken, its gift shop is educational in its approach and eschews tacky garbage like dog collars and cheese plates, notwithstanding how profitable they might be. I have to say I find this completely backwards. The 9/11 facility memorializes an event specific to the US. Why in heavens name isn’t it supported by federal funds? And while it’s certainly nice that the Holocaust Museum (which I think is an incredible experience that everyone should visit) is free, I think its taxpayer funding is harder to justify. </p>

<p>I for one would gladly pay a few dollars more in taxes every year to permit the 9/11 memorial to be run with a modicum of taste. If nothing else, the gift shop merchandise should be limited to educational materials about the events of 9/11, the history of NYC and its fire and police departments, and biographies of the lost. As it stands now, the store is an embarrassment to the nation, and I cringe to think what foreign visitors will think of it.</p>