The 9-11 Memorial Has a Gift Shop, This is Not Only Absurd, It’s Tasteless

TASTELESS …

The 9-11 museum at Ground Zero in New York City tells the grim story of that fateful September morning in 2001 when terrorists attacked the United States and changed our lives forever. The museum contains artifacts and exhibits that pay tribute to the innocent people that were killed that day and the first responders, police and firefighter heroes who ran into the buildings and paid the ultimate sacrifice. There is also about 8,000 unidentified body parts stored out of sight in a “remains repository” at the museum’s underground home. How does something like this have a gift shop? It is not only absurd, it is completely tasteless and offensive the the families and  friends who lost loved ones that day. It just seems so wrong, but the museum does need funds to exist. The Gothamist points out that the Holocaust Museum have gift shops as ways of funding.

It also has a gift shop.

The 9/11 museum’s cavernous boutique offers a vast array of souvenir goods. For example: FDNY, NYPD and Port Authority Police T-shirts ($22) and caps ($19.95); earrings molded from leaves and blossoms of downtown trees ($20 to $68); cop and firefighter charms by Pandora and other jewelers ($65); “United We Stand” blankets.

There are bracelets, bowls, buttons, mugs, mousepads, magnets, key chains, flags, pins, stuffed animals, toy firetrucks, cellphone cases, tote bags, books and DVDs.

Even FDNY vests for dogs come in all sizes.

Among the museum shop’s specially designed items:

-?A black and white “Darkness Hoodie” printed with an image of the Twin Towers. The pullover, like other “Darkness” items, bears the words “In Darkness We Shine Brightest.” Price: $39.

-?Silk scarves printed with 1986 photos by Paula Barr, including a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline. Another depicts “lunchtime on the WTC Plaza.” They go for $95 each.

I just cannot see some one wearing a 9-11 hoodie as a way to remember and understand what 9-11 means. I have to second the comment from Mediaite, “It’s not because the money is going to a good cause that a 9/11 gift shop makes sense, although I’m just as perplexed as everyone else about exactly who it is that will want to buy any of this shit, it’s because this memorial is meant to be a symbol of what 9/11 represents.”