9/11 museum counts 300K visitors since May opening

NEW YORK (AP) -- Organizers say over 300,000 people have visited the Sept. 11 museum since it opened little more than a month ago, and that has exceeded their expectations.

President Joe Daniels said this week that attendance has topped projections by about 5 percent since the museum opened to the public May 21 and to 9/11 survivors and victims' relatives six days earlier.

Organizers see it as a strong start for the ground zero museum. It had faced questions about its $24 ticket price.

Visitors come from around the world. Among Americans, more are from New York state than any other.

Besides serving as a measure of interest, attendance is key to the museum's finances. Admissions are to cover much of the $63 million-a-year cost of running the museum and the aboveground memorial plaza

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