By Linda Tancs

Today marks the official opening of New York City’s National September 11  Museum to the general public.  The complex includes an outdoor memorial plaza with reflecting pools (already accessible to visitors from around the world) and a museum of 10,000 artifacts and exhibits, including personal effects, wreckage and videos.  The twin reflecting pools sit within the footprints where the World Trade Center’s twin towers once stood.  The name of every person who died during the 1993 attack as well as those who died on September 11, 2001 at the World Trade Center, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon are inscribed into bronze panels edging the pools.  Inside, the museum’s Last Column (an imposing hulk of steel that helped support the inner core of the south tower and was last to be salvaged) serves as a somber backdrop in a cavernous hall that recounts the heroism and courage displayed on that fateful day.  Purchase advance museum tickets for access at your preferred time and date.  The site is within easy reach of public transportation.