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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Hundreds of 9/11 Family Members Reserve Tickets to Memorial

LOWER MANHATTAN — A new hotline that allows 9/11 family members to reserve free passes to the World Trade Center memorial fielded hundreds of phone calls on Wednesday, its first day in operation.

Family members reserved about 500 memorial visitor passes, a spokesman for the memorial said. Most of the reservations were for the week of Sept. 12, the first week the memorial is open to the public. The passes are date and time specific, and guests are expected to time their visits to the stated hour on their pass.

"Providing accommodations to 9/11 families is a top priority," said Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, "and we’ll work to ensure their experience is respectful and sensitive to their needs."

Family members do not have to reserve tickets for the commemoration ceremony at the memorial on Sept. 11, but they will need a reservation if they want to visit the memorial after it opens to the public the following day.

Several 9/11 family members who spoke to DNAinfo said they had not reserved tickets yet, because they were already planning to be present at the memorial for the anniversary of 9/11 and weren't sure when they'd be emotionally ready to return.

Some are also hesitant to rush to the memorial because of the added stress of having it become a major tourist attraction, they said.

Others say they're reluctant to take one of the available pool of tickets — the memorial has said they'll limit the number of visitors to 1,500 per hour — to allow others who want to visit to attend.

Charles G. Wolf, a Greenwich Village resident whose wife as killed on 9/11, said it was important to him to be at the memorial for the solemn anniversary proceedings, but after that, he can't predict when he'll next want to go there.

"How often I'll want to go, I have no idea," Wolf said.

Wolf added that he hopes that many people from around the world can visit the memorial once it opens.

"The memorial isn't just for us — it's for the public," he said.

Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was killed in the attacks, said she did not ever plan to make a reservation to visit the memorial following the 10th anniversary. Regenhard has been critical of the planning of the 9/11 memorial and museum, objecting in particular to the decision to place unidentified human remains in an underground repository.

"I'll endure it on 9/11," Regenhard said of visiting the memorial. "But I'm not going to be able to subject myself to it after that."

The memorial is expected to draw thousands of people each day to see the waterfalls in the Twin Towers footprints, surrounded by bronze plaques inscribed with the victims' names.

The public can begin reserving free, timed tickets online on July 11. Family members will also be able to use the online reservation system, or they can continue calling the dedicated phone line, 212-266-5201, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.