9/11 Families - Memorial Park

Memorial Park

The Brief History of Memorial Park

Since the early hours following the attacks of September 11th, providing for 
the identification and safekeeping of the victims' remains has been the        
responsibility of the Medical Examiner's office.

The Purpose of the Park
Memorial Park is maintained by the Medical Examiner's office and will be in 
place until the identification process is complete. Eventually, the 
unclaimed remains of the September 11th victims' will be housed in the      
permanent memorial at Ground Zero. You will not see any remains while at 
Memorial Park.

Visiting Memorial Park
Families and their invited guests can visit Memorial Park - it is not open to 
the general public. You must schedule a visit, please call 212-447-7884 to 
schedule an appointment. Normal visitation hours are from Monday 
through Friday from 9:00am - 5:00pm, with weekend visitation hours made 
by appointment. Up  to 20 people may visit per hour. When scheduling an      
appointment, you will be asked to provide the names of all of those people 
who will accompany you. Please  note that no photographs or recording 
devices are allowed in Memorial Park.

Why People Visit
Memorial Park, located on 30th street adjacent to the Medical Examiner's 
Office, is the temporary resting place for the victims of September 11th. 
It was built and is maintained by people from many callings and places.      
It is a place of peace where many have come to pay their respects, and 
a place of honor for all of those lost. It is a hollowed space where dignity 
reigns and a grieving nation honors its heroes. Most importantly, it is the      
place from which this nation returns to families the remains of their loved
ones, with the deepest of sympathy, respect, honor and dignity.

What's Inside
Housed inside Memorial Park (a large white tent) are a series of refrigerated 
units holding the remains of all of those lost in the attacks. The remains        
are kept here until they are identified and returned to the family. The 
remains are cooled to preserve DNA and to slow decomposition. All of the 
remains are kept separate with their own unique identification number.

During Your Visit
When you arrive at the Medical Examiner's Office please check in at the 
lobby. Please be mindful that while Memorial Park remains a working facility, 
we also consider it a sacred place. Therefore, unscheduled visits are not 
available and scheduled visits must end on time.  If you are late for your 
appointment, you will be able to visit, but only until the scheduled end 
of that visit. The first time you visit our facility, you will be asked to show 
a photo ID. At that time (if you choose) you  will be issued a photo ID 
which you can use to visit Memorial Park in the future. Any family member 
can obtain a photo ID. All family members and guests must bring photo 
identification whenever they visit Memorial Park.The Mayor's Office of 
Community Affairs has adopted this ID as the universal family ID for all 
future WTC events. Staff members of Project Liberty will escort family 
members from our lobby to Memorial Park. Project Liberty is a FEMA 
funded disaster-recovery program created by the NY State Office of
Mental Health to provide free  crisis counseling and referrals to people 
affected by the WTC disaster. They can be reached at 1-800-LIFENET      
or online at www.projectliberty.state.ny.us.      

You are welcome to bring photographs, flowers or other mementos, 
which can be left at Memorial Park.

Getting to Memorial Park
Memorial Park is located at the Medical Examiner's Office at 
520 First Avenue (at 30th Street) in Manhattan.      

Subway Take the six train to either 28th street or 33rd street and 
then proceed east to First Avenue and 30th street. Driving Take FDR 
drive to the 23rd street exit to First Avenue. At First Avenue, make 
a right and go to 30th street. Parking is available at NYU 
(29th and First) or at other nearby lots. There is metered parking      
on Second Avenue. If you have any questions, please  call us at 
212-447-7884, Monday through Friday from 9:00am - 5:00pm.

Based  on the information from the Memorial Park section on the 
NYC.gov website as of 12/30/08.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

911 Families © 2009