New York City’s 9/11 Tribute Museum shuts its doors

The 9/11 Tribute Museum in lower Manhattan is closing its doors. The museum had major struggles with attendance, continued sponsorship and couldn’t come back after the effects of the pandemic.

Attendance to the museum took a major drop from 500,000 in 2011 to just over 25,000 last year.

The 9/11 Tribute Museum was founded by the September 11th Families Association in November of 2001 whose mission was to unite the 9/11 community, present evolving issues and share resources for a long-term recovery.

The September 11th Families Association pays homage to include the families of the 746 victims of the World Trade Center who either resided or had ties to New Jersey.

The programs that the museum and September 11th Families Association had developed are very impressive. The went from a psychological healing to educational zoom meetings for students, walks awareness and tributes to families who have experienced great loss at the hands of one of the worst, if not the worst attack on American soil.

In an interview with Channel 7 News in New York, September 11th Families Association CEO and co-founder Jennifer Adams-Webb stated that "We're millions of dollars in debt with our lease, and to try and make that up on top of our annual operating cost is almost impossible without visitors or some intervention from our government."

The museum is on Greenwich Avenue in Lower Manhattan and is not part of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum at Ground Zero.

There are just so many programs and resources that they have developed to educate and help those families who lost victims at 9/11 help cope with the tragedy. The museum will continue to operate virtually but other walks and tours have been cancelled and the doors to the museum were closed Wednesday, August 17, 2022.