The National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York is a profound, beautiful monument to the lives lost in the 1993 and 2001 terror attacks at the World Trade Center. But the iron curtain of security surrounding the site forms its own monument: to our successful adaptation to the realities of a post-9\/11 world, and perhaps to choices that speak less well of us.<\/p>\n
Advance tickets are required to enter this public, outdoor memorial. To book them, you\u2019re obliged to provide your home address, email address, and phone number, and the full names of everyone in your party. It is \u201cstrongly recommended\u201d that you print your tickets at home, which is where you must leave explosives, large bags, hand soap, glass bottles, rope, and bubbles. Also, \u201cpersonal wheeled vehicles\u201d not limited to bicycles, skateboards, and scooters, and anything else deemed inappropriate. Anyone age 13 or older must carry photo ID, to be displayed \u201cwhen required and\/or requested.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once at the memorial you must go through a metal detector and your belongings must be X-rayed. Officers will inspect your ticket\u2014that invulnerable document you nearly left on your printer\u2014at least five times. One will draw a blue line on it; 40 yards (and around a dozen security cameras) later, another officer will shout at you if your ticket and its blue line are not visible. Eventually you\u2019ll reach the memorial itself, where there are more officers and no bathrooms. You\u2019re allowed to take photographs anywhere outside the security screening area\u2014in theory if not always in practice.<\/p>\n
Eleven years after 9\/11 and a year after the memorial opened, it\u2019s time for a freedom-loving people to consider the purpose and impact of such security measures. Let\u2019s ask the experts\u2014and ourselves\u2014three questions. Is enhanced security necessary at the memorial? Are the specific measures in place likely to be effective? And what is their cost to a free society?<\/p>\n