9/11 Memorial & Museum and the Oculus

National September 11 Memorial & Museum / Oculus (World Trade Center)

Two square waterfalls where the towers stood, and a white winged station beside them

⚠ Museum closed Tuesdays

Hours

Memorial daily 8am–8pm; museum Wed–Mon 9am–7pm (last entry 5:30pm), closed Tuesday except select Tuesdays and holidays (official site)

Tickets

Memorial free. Museum adults $36 on the official site, reduced for ages 7–12, free for 6 and under (free ticket still required). Advance booking required

Address

180 Greenwich Street on the World Trade Center site, with the Oculus just to the east

Exactly where the Twin Towers stood are two square pits of roughly an acre each, water falling endlessly down all four walls and vanishing into a deeper hole in the centre. The victims' names are cut into the bronze parapets, and on each person's birthday a white rose is tucked into their name. The underground museum shows twisted steel and a crushed fire engine from the collapse, and many reviewers say they came out quiet. Next door, the Oculus, a subway and PATH hub and shopping mall whose white steel ribs rise like wings, is a change of mood.