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Hennelly brought his wife and two children to New York from Fort Lauderdale to celebrate his daughter Deanna Hennelly’s 13th birthday. Last Thursday, Dec. 29, they braved the cold weather and visited the memorial for the first time, because seeing the site in person meant that much to them.
“Back home, the trees are green and the people are swimming,” said Deanna Hennelly, “but I’d rather dedicate my birthday to all these people, because it’s so sad but it’s also so great that people were able to do this for all [the 9/11 victims].”
The Hennellys are just a few of the one million visitors that have walked the grounds of the National Sept. 11 Memorial since its opening last September — cause for a press conference on the Memorial Plaza last week.
“We’re here today because we passed a very, very special milestone,” said National 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels. “The idea that one million people have come here and set foot on this ground, a place they have not been able to stand in ten years, makes all the work that’s gone into building this very special place worth it.”
The visitors, Daniels noted, have come from all over the United States and from more than 120 countries worldwide. “That’s more countries than [the number of countries] that lost people on 9/11, which is around 92,” he said.
Asked whether the National 9/11 Memorial would continue the community evenings program for Downtown residents, Daniels replied, “The fact of the matter is, Community Board 1 and Lower Manhattan has a very special place at this site. To the extent that the community wants to do things like community evenings, we can think about changing them, expanding them, or making them a different program.”
National 9/11 Memorial Board of Directors Member Anthoula Katsimatides, whose brother, John Katsimatides, was killed on 9/11, thanked all the visitors for paying tribute to those that died. “I know that if my brother John were here today, he’d be really, really happy at all this attention that the Memorial is getting,” she said.
Asked whether or not she was surprised by the turnout to the Memorial Plaza thus far, Katsimatides wiped away tears and replied, “I did have faith in the power of humanity.”
Community Board 1 Vice Chair Catherine McVay Hughes also made an appearance and felt overcome with emotion. Her husband, Thomas Hughes, was supposed to attend a technology conference in the W.T.C. the day of 9/11, but ended up not attending due to work obligations.
“They’re coming down here, rain, shine, and night, because it’s a sacred place,” said McVay Hughes of the million-visitor milestone. “We’re very happy to have the memorial for so many people to come and see for themselves what had happened here many years ago.”
Turnouts on frigid days such as last Thursday have exceeded the Memorial’s expectations, Daniels said. “On a day like today that’s this cold,” he said, “we’re still going to get more than 10,000 people, I firmly believe.”
For some visitors, like Hank Sembower, from Somerset, Pennsylvania, the temperature didn’t feel all that bad. “Where we live, this is probably warm,” he said. “Anyway, we left in a sleet and snow storm yesterday morning, so we’re dressed for it!”
