NEW YORK (wnbc) – In an attempt to manage the crowds that have solemnly lined up to see the devastation of the World Trade Center, the city will issue free numbered tickets to the viewing platform at the site.
The tickets, available at the South Street Seaport Museum beginning Wednesday afternoon, will be given out free, two per person, the newspaper said. The tickets will allow up to 100 people on the platform for 15 minutes at a time.
“Even in the cold weather I see people standing on line for hours, and some of them are young children,” said Richard Sheirer, the director of the Office of Emergency Management.
The new system was decided on by members of Community Board 1, the Office of Emergency Management, local businesses and the city’s tourism bureau.
The groups agreed that tickets would be the best way to manage the thousands of visitors to the site and keep them out of the cold as they wait for a glimpse of the place where the twin towers stood.
The 13-foot-high wooden viewing platform is located on Fulton and Church streets in lower Manhattan, giving visitors a clear view of the site. It is the first of four planned platforms.
“People really are there for the right reasons,” Sheirer told the News. “They want to reflect, say a prayer and pay their respects. But we have to keep it safe.”
