Portfolio at NYU

Posted 03.30.03
The New Tourist Mecca: Ground Zero

By Caroline Binham

When the Twin Towers were standing, they were the most visited tourist attraction in Lower Manhattan. The site where they fell is still the location to which the largest number of tourists gravitates. In an era where 9/11 runs like a fault line, separating Before and After, what was the World Trade Center and what remains Ground Zero, has provided an almost ironic continuity, despite appearances.

The terrorist attacks repelled tourists from New York: in 2001, 5 million less tourists visited the city than in 2000, according to official figures. In an area as fraught with emotion and symbolism as Lower Manhattan, the increased tourist presence at Ground Zero underscores tensions that exist in the post-9/11 vacuum. The collapse of the World Trade Center may have decimated many of Lower Manhattan's businesses, but now, months later, it could also be the reason for the area's revitalization due to one uncomfortable fact: tourists want to see Ground Zero.

There are, as yet, no official figures for the amount of people who have visited Ground Zero, as the viewing platform with its system of free tickets that allocate a certain time, has only been in place since December. Go down to St. Paul's Chapel however, and a long line of tourists waits patiently amid the bustle of Broadway. They wait to mount the platform, to ponder, stare and pay their respects.

These visitors, if they look at the Empire State Building may be tourists, but once they come down to Ground Zero, that label no longer applies. One visitor from England, Donald McConey, who had just stepped off the viewing platform said: "The site is a necessary outlet for grief, but it has nothing at all to do with tourism."

Robert Warren - who, as a vendor of 9/11 memorabilia on Fulton Street, is likely to welcome visitors no matter what they call themselves - agreed: "It's almost like a Mecca. People relate to it more than they did when it was the World Trade Center. They have a sense of awe, like it's sacred."

If the site is sacred, to be likened to a place of pilgrimage, then Warren is akin to the peddler of religious relics and indulgences. Street vendors like Warren are one element of the controversy of new "tourism" in Lower Manhattan. As in any famous location in New York, vendors are dependent on tourists for their livelihood. The difference is that at Ground Zero, they also elicit strong emotion and criticism for exploiting the 9/11 tragedy.

"It sucks!" said Darcie Riedel, a costume designer from Pittsburgh, asked for her response to the vendors. "These people are getting rich selling pictures," she said, "It makes me sick to think of it."

Warren, dressed in jeans and a pair of Statue of Liberty sunglasses with the Stars and Stripes motif, said: "My basic approach is that there is no harm being done. People don't have to look or buy my stuff. I try to do it in good taste, but even if it's in poor taste, the only criticism that comes is unfounded and sensationalist, saying that we're capitalizing on tragedy." People do buy from his stall, however, which sells pictures of the Twin Towers for $3:99, and a collection of ten "original" 9/11 photos for $9:95. "Business has been excellent," said Warren, "We were the first vendors here. In the first couple of months, it was just phenomenal."

Counterfeit FDNY and NYPD merchandise abound on stalls; money from the knock-offs going straight into vendors' pockets. Yet vendors remain, tolerated by police - those who might be offended most by the fakes. "It's to be expected," shrugged Police Officer Trimmer [badge no. 17092], whose new beat is ensuring visitors form an orderly line at the viewing platform at Ground Zero.

On most days at the platform, police officers and visitors can listen to strains of patriotic songs. The notes, played on a Chinese flute, emanate from Henry T. Cobb Jr, who stands on Broadway no matter what the weather. Taking a momentary lapse from "America the Beautiful," he said: "What I'm doing is making music practical on a daily basis. Music is life." He has had an overwhelming response to the continued presence of his music. "I know people like my music. I know police officers do; after all, they've let me stay here!" said Cobb. He has a hat for any contributions and his CD is on display. "I'm not in it for the money," he insists, "I made no money on Monday, whereas after the attacks I was making $20 to $50 a day. It's definitely slowed down." Since he arrived in October to play his pertinent (or contrived, depending on your point of view) tunes, Cobb has been featured in the New York Times, on Dateline, and on CBS. He is currently searching a record deal with a studio.

Vendors aside, Lower Manhattan remains a neighborhood, with 25,000 residents and small businesses. One hundred thousand jobs were lost following the attacks on the World Trade Center, according to the Alliance for Downtown New York, the area's Business Improvement District. In a survey taken in January 2002, the Alliance reported that 50% of local businesses indicated that their sales volume for October through December 2001 was down by half, in comparison to 2000. The thousands of tourists that come to the site every day possess a spending power that if harnessed, could provide the economic resuscitation that Lower Manhattan desperately needs. Before 9/11, New York City received $25 billion from tourism, according to statistics from NYC & Co, the city's tourist board.

Ronnie Alshech opened his Little Caesar's pizza restaurant on Maiden Lane on September 4, 2001. "Business is better than it used to be right after September 11 but it's not back yet to the levels before the attacks," he said, "Anybody who gets here, whether tourists or additional business people, would be very helpful."
Obviously, local businesses have to walk a thin line between promoting their product and avoiding charges of taking advantage of the large crowds at Ground Zero. Century 21, the designer discount store opposite Ground Zero on Cortlandt Street, reopened February 28. "Tourists were significant to us prior to 9/11," said Renee Farman, spokesperson for the store, "But we don't know what percentage it was. There are less tourists coming in to the store now. Our merchandise and prices are what attract customers. We have no plans to run special advertisements."

Century 21's strategy of passive-aggressive marketing - making sure everyone knows you're open for business, but not stressing the point too much - is one adopted by the Ritz-Carlton hotel on West Street, which boasts Lady Liberty views, but from whose suites one can also view Ground Zero. Asked if the hotel capitalizes on its proximity to the site, Kellie Pelletier, with the hotel's PR company, said: "We definitely do not go there. We'd rather people come for the name." Had anyone specifically asked to have a hotel room looking to Ground Zero? "No request would be too crazy," demurred Pelletier.

Plans for the Ritz-Carlton first appeared in 1998. While it is true that a new breed of visitor has come to Lower Manhattan since 9/11, it would be incorrect to say that the area was devoid of tourism before that. In fact, the Ritz Carlton was the latest in a trend of bringing tourists down to Lower Manhattan as the corporate landscape conceded more and more land to recreational sites: there was the opening of Ellis Island, the Jewish Heritage Museum and South Street Seaport all in the '90s. "We're being aggressive in the area's promotion, but being incredibly sensitive at the same time," said Keith Yazmir, vice president of NYC & Co., "I think that the momentum of bringing tourists down to Lower Manhattan should, and will, continue."

Barry Tenenbaum's tour operating company advertises its walking tours to Ground Zero on the Internet. "If I set up shop offering tours on September 12, then that would be exploitation," said Tenenbaum, president of New York City Vacation Packages, "But out business has always been promoting New York City. I don't see why that should change post-9/11." The company, which organizes walking tours in nearly every downtown neighborhood, has experienced fluctuating interest - ranging from eight to 80 people - in the Ground Zero tour. The tour walks the perimeter of the site instead of using the viewing platform, which Tenenbaum believes "was a sign that New York City was not discouraging - but not exactly encouraging, either - visitors to the site."

Tenenbaum counters any criticism of exploitation by stating that his tours help the neighborhood, bringing in more visitors and money: "I feel we are doing good. It's our patriotic duty to do this. We are enriching people's travel experiences, and exposing them to other historical sites downtown, so they'll return again and again to New York."

With plans as yet undecided as to what will be built on Ground Zero, it is nevertheless clear that people will not stop visiting the site. By acknowledging this, and by stressing the value of other downtown attractions, Lower Manhattan might be able to balance the thin line of recuperating through continued tourism, not exploitation. Karleigh Koster, a graduate student who was living in the NYU John Street residence at the time of the attacks, said: "At first I was very annoyed by all the tourists, but then I realized they're bringing in money, which New York needs. They have to build some sort of memorial at Ground Zero, otherwise it would be pretending it didn't happen, but at the same time, taking away the utility of all that space would be a defeat." To this extent, Tenenbaum agrees: "Lower Manhattan has always been an area for commerce, since the days of Peter Miniut in the 17th Century. There should be renewed commerce at the site, but also twin beams of light. Tourism and art have always been ways to revitalize areas that need it, and we're seeing it now in Lower Manhattan."