Believe it or not, someday in the future there will be a memorial and museum commemorating the victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Some officials say the museum part is just two years away from opening (and others promise Bigfoot will be at the ribbon cutting with Elvis and Tupac). But operating expenses alone are expected to cost $50 million a year, and with New York State broke, it looks like they're going to need to charge admission. Proceeds from the gift shop won't be enough?
Joe Daniels, the president of the organization that’s building the museum and the memorial, tells WNYC that an admission fee makes sense. "People pay $20 now to go see a world-class museum," he said yesterday after testifying at City Council hearing on the progress (ha) of redeveloping Ground Zero. "This museum will certainly be impactful and world-class."
It's unclear if the fee would be mandatory or a suggested donation, but Daniels promises that family members of victims of the attacks would not have to pay. Which makes us wonder how they'd confirm that a visitor was in fact a relative, and not some cheap bastard trying to pay respects to the dead for free.
