VIBE

Opened on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in 2011, a striking memorial to the fallen towers now sits on the 16-acre site that once held the World Trade Center. The footprints of the original buildings have been converted to reflecting pools with dramatic manmade waterfalls, and the names of all victims of the 1993 and 2001 attacks are inscribed in bronze around the perimeter of the pools. There’s also a Visitor Center adjacent to the memorial, and there’s a museum slated to open soon. Alternatively, the Tribute WTC Visitor Center (120 Liberty Street), which was created by the September 11th Families’ Association, offers walking tours around the WTC site and moving exhibits about 9/11 and the 1993 WTC bombing. A series of six new towers designed by architectural greats like Frank Ghery, Fumihiko Maki, and Norman Foster is also under construction (only 7 World Trade Center is finished at this point), and the David Childs-designed tower One World Trade Center is set to be the tallest in the United States when it’s finished.

GO HERE WITH

Friends; family

WHY WE LIKE IT

The National September 11 Memorial and the Tribute WTC Visitor Center both offer spaces where you can reflect on the tragic events of the 1993 bombing and the events of 9/11.

WHAT WE WOULD CHANGE

Would be great if the museum at the National September 11 Memorial were already open. (If you really can’t wait, visit the free preview exhibit in the Visitor Center, where you can see plans for the completed museum, memorial, and new World Trade Center towers.)

GOOD TO KNOW

The National September 11 Memorial Visitor Center has partnered with The History Channel to record visitors’ memories about their experiences on 9/11 or about victims of the 1993 or 2001 attacks. Try to get to Tribute WTC about an hour before you’d like to go on a walking tour in order to give yourself plenty of time to buy tickets and scope the exhibits. (Tours last about an hour.) Other memorials in the area include a display in St. Paul’s Chapel in Trinity Wall Street (which served as a place for site workers to get food and rest during the rescue efforts) and an unofficial memorial in Battery Park (which was created from Fritz Koenig’s sculpture “The Sphere” that once rested in front of the World Trade Center).

CLOSEST COMPS

Vietnam Memorial (Washington, DC)