IS THIS CRASS?

[Duchess]

As most of you know the ⁹⁄₁₁ Memorial Museum recently opened in NYC. It occupies a massive amount of space and it holds everything from a damaged firetruck to a wallet, a shit ton of artifacts from that time. There is also a gift shop there that sells souvenirs. Do you think that is in poor taste?

[crash]

When I went to the memorial two years ago they had a gift shop a block or so away where you had to go to get your ticket before you actually went to the site. I remember feeling a bit icky about them selling NYFD hoodies and Tshirts with 'Never Forget' emblazoned across the back of them. One part of me thought yeah, I get it, the other part of me pictured people with rebel flags tattooed on their shoulder buying them..

[ramseycat]

Does the money made off the souvenir shop go to the famines of the victims? I wouldn't want to see people profiting from the tragedy.

[QueenBee]

I am with ramsey, if I knew that all the monies either went to the families and/or for upkeep of museum (including salaries for the staff who provide that upkeep) then I say all for it. I do not feel anyone should make a profit from this tragedy.

I know that the lady from the Airline who was on the phone with Todd Beamer (from 93) wrote a book about her experience. I think she is donating all or most of her profits to the Flight 93 memorial.

[Duchess]

I'm not in favor of this gift shop at all, regardless of where the money goes. In my mind it's akin to having a gift shop at a cemetery.

[ramseycat]

There is a small gift shop at the cemetary where my brother is. They sell fresh and artificial flowers and things you can put on the graves. It's highway robbery for the flowers so I don't buy them there.

[cannongal]

There is a small gift shop at the cemetary where my brother is. They sell fresh and artificial flowers and things you can put on the graves. It's highway robbery for the flowers so I don't buy them there.

Holy Shit! A gift shop at a cemetery!

Actually, they should put a gift shop in the one that Jonny Clarke is buried in. That way Maytee wouldn't have to run to the dollar store every day.

[Donovan]

There are two ways to look at it. On the one hand, a gift shop full of tacky tragedy souvenirs is crass and classless and trashy, yes. But those gift shops often help keep the museum running because those places are notoriously underfunded. Look at Gettysburg. They sell shit every day that somebody dug up from the battlefield. Some of it undoubtedly dropped from a corpse. But if funds the museum.

Second, trashy and classless souvenirs is almost a NYC trademark. If they had snow globes with collapsing buildings and glitter shaped like bodies I'd be all over that. And I'd love a chunk of debris for the historical record. It's like touching history.

[HairOfTheDog]

It might be a little crass, but there are bound to be a lot of tourists visiting and wanting souvenirs. I don't really find it offensive.

I don't think it's unusual for any kind of museum to sell souvenirs, and for memorial museums to display personal items from some of the victims. I visited the Hiroshima Memorial Museum. There were backpacks and shoes of schoolchildren who'd been killed in the bombing on display and it did help convey the devastating personal loss.

Of course the history, as told on the tape narration and placards at the museum, reflected a different perspective than what's taught in the US. Anyway, I remember there was a gift shift shop there and it was packed with Japanese tourists on holiday.

[Donovan]

There is a similar squawk over whether shipwrecks ought to be brought up. The ship at Pearl Harbor has been left down there with bodies intact and realizing it is a profound moment. But the chunk of wall from Titanic I was able to lay my hand on was equally profound.

[Duchess]

There is a similar squawk over whether shipwrecks ought to be brought up.

I view that kind of thing as sacred, I view ground zero as sacred. Some things should remain pure. I'm bothered by the idea of souvenirs as well but I do understand that people would like something to commemorate paying their respects.

[Maggot]

Pearl Harbor has a gift shop. It may have been questionable at some point for them also.

[BlueTiki]

Remove the repository holding the unidentified remains and it's no longer a cemetery.

Or quit charging family members $24 bucks, to visit their loved ones.

[Duchess]

Or quit charging family members $24 bucks, to visit their loved ones.

Are you kiddin' me? I don't think I've ever given any thought to the overhead of these places but to charge people to visit a memorial seems so wrong.

[Midwest Spy]

I visited last summer and unfortunately the museum wasnt opened yet.

I went into the same gift shop Crash mentioned. Very small and cramped. I didn't for an instance feel like it was tacky or shouldn't have been there though.

I was there on a day when it was pouring the entire time and it was still crowded. I can only imagine how packed it is when the weather is nice.

[Duchess]

One of the things sold at the Memorial gift shop is clothing for pets.

[Midwest Spy]

One of the things sold at the Memorial gift shop is clothing for pets.

How does that strike you?

I

[Duchess]

I think it's tacky.

[Duchess]

The New York Post is reporting that the museum is going to have an 80 seat restaurant.

The ⁹⁄₁₁ museum’s appetite for crass commercialism will be satisfied with an 80-seat restaurant inside the memorial’s allegedly solemn grounds.
The Pavilion Cafe, run by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Events, is scheduled to open this summer inside the National September 11 Memorial & Museum — a move overlooked when museum officials took media and VIPs through the grounds last week.
The menu is expected to offer “an array of local, seasonal fare in a relaxing and comfortable environment,” according a notice in the official museum guide.
“We’re not doing this for crass or commercial reasons,” said Meyer, adding that a portion of proceeds are going back to the museum.
A rep for Union Square Events added: “We’re just trying to create a thoughtful experience and bring our hospitality [to the museum and visitors].”
The museum’s struggle with good taste was on display Tuesday night, as VIPs partied on the sacred grounds while first responders and family members of victims were turned away at the door, sources told The Post.

Story

[username]

It's tacky but supply/demand. If people didn't buy this shit up, they wouldn't exist.

Personally, I have no desire to own a "9/11--Never Forget" sweatshirt or coffee mug. Nor would I be interested in having a nice dinner in a location where I know thousands died a horrible death, some jumping from windows etc. Maybe they can make it even more tacky and name some of the entrees after events: Firehouse ribs or Flattened Flank Steak.

Crass, yeah but I imagine gift shops like that can be found around many areas we consider sacred. There's a great store at Arlington National Cemetery. From what I could find, they offer a nice line of spa products...