Ground Zero Museum Workshop Tour

This is a must see. Seeing all the artifacts gets into you and make you realize more what happened that tragic day. Everything is presented in a tasteful and respectful way. Everything is well explained, I would recommend this to everyone.

We found our visit extremely educational and eye opening on what really happened that day. Along with a personal visit to the site, we have a better appreciation of the devastation and suffering that took place.

The museum was a respectful and sensitive journey into the reality of 9-11. The entire presentation of the details and the facts has an overarching theme of love for the victims and their families, as well as the firefighters and others who gave their lives day after day in the search and recovery efforts. The personal stories were very moving and brought the depth of the tragedy into a new light. Thank you to Gary Suson and the Uniformed Firefighters Association for your time, energy and heart. This is how our nation needs to remember 9-11.

I went to the exhibition with my 18 year old son. The events of 9/11 were imprinted on our memories. They unfolded during our school day - me as a teacher and my son as a Yr 8 student. Our Head teacher commentated over the speaker system what was happening and we felt a real sense of horror which worsened as we began to see live television pictures of the devastation, for ourselves, when we returned home. Although over the coming days and weeks our school, a Roman Catholic faith school, held memorial Masses, wrote to school children in New York and e-mailed friends across the United States, we always felt our distance from what had happened. When I attended the exhibition the distance of miles and time diminished as I held some of the fragments of the Twin Towers in the palm of my hand. We looked at images capturing the raw emotion of those involved in the recovery operation and cried shoulder to shoulder with other visitors as we listened to the personal accounts and stories of Gary Suson. What made the exhibition particularly profound was the presence of Gary himself. It was a privilege to share a short time with this remarkable young man and listen to his first hand experiences in order that we might never forget what came out of that tragic day. My son and I were profoundly affected by what we saw and heard in the exhibition but as a Mother I was particularly humbled by the values I saw demonstrated through my son's reaction to what he witnessed. He was a twelve year old boy who lacked understanding when 9/11 occurred but he left the exhibition, a mature young adult, with his appreciation of the unfathomable love of individuals and the resiliance of a nation in mourning vastly broadened. We spent much of the rest of our day in companionable silence, thoughtful and reflective regarding what we had seen. It was a great lesson in the capabilities of mankind, the depth of human investment in the face of adversity and the unbreakable spirit of a great nation not ashamed to show its hurt and grief to the world. We will never forget. Thank you.

An extremely interesting couple of hours.

Wonderful experience for the whole family. My 5 year old son was intrigued by listening to all the stories and having such vivid photos and displays. Gary was there during our trip and he was wonderful, he was very informative, compasionate and caring. My son learned so much from him. This was a great experience for anyone, it is a true story in the pages of history.

As a member of the Corps family, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to provide assistance to the NY District, USACE in November 2001. As it turns out, it was around the same time that Gary began taking photos of the recovery. While I never worked or was at the recovery site, I worked only a few blocks away. The smell in the air became imprinted in my memory along with the other sites and sounds. When I walked into the Ground Zero Museum Workshop all of the memories came flooding back along with the tears of that fateful day. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to see how Gary had documented what took place, and to meet and thank him for what he had done for all of us. It is through his work that we will never forget that day.

To much hype on this one... First of all I had to pay $42.00 for 2 tickets and I had to book it in advance? There was 6 people in my group. I had to wait on the 1st floor of this bldg for another tour to finish. While I was waiting, there were people taking fresh meat in boxes past me, not very sanitized. After waiting 15 minutes, while they tell you to be on time, I finally made it to the workshop. The workshop which is roughly a 15X20 room did have some very interesting pictures and objects from Ground Zero. I was expecting a "guided tour", instead I was given a headset and was told to put a number in this audio device and it told me a story about each item. I was not even able to watch the video that they talk about. You were not allowed to take a picture of a window from one of the planes, why not? at another museum you are allowed. To me, this is just an opportunity for someone to make money off of the tragic events of September 11th. He is mentioned about being an Honorary Battalion Chief with the FDNY and he uses it a lot, he was not even a firefighter, he was appointed this back in 2004 because his work at Ground Zero. For some people, they think he actually worked for the FDNY, he did not. The 9/11 tribute at the Fireman's Museum and the WTC Visitors Center Museum were better then this one and it only cost a donation of $10.00.

My sister (age 39) and daughter (age 19) also thought this was the best part of our trip to NYC. The museum is thoughtful and respectful. I felt like the experience seemed therapeutic. Gary is an awesome photographer and narrator. I bought his book and although it is a horrible event, the book is written and put together beautifully. Gary is also a really nice guy. Lou, our tour guide, was fantastic as well. I honestly can say nothing negative about my experience. I am telling anybody who will listen to me that if they travel to NYC, to definitely check it out!

This is a must-visit museum with beautiful stories and interesting artifacts. You can hold history in your hands. My only criticism is that it felt as though it had religious undertones to it and so if this bothers you, you might need to be able to seprate the event from this.