newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

As the 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, family members of the victims would like to remind memorial visitors that the site is not an amusement park.

Family members are saying that disrespect at the National September 11 Memorial has reached an all-time high. The site has been open for a year.

The New York Post reported that people have been seen splashing themselves with water from the memorial’s two waterfalls during the summer, while others sit on bronze plaques bearing victims’ names. One relative said a tourist spilled coffee all over her son’s name.

First responder and head of the FDNY EMS Retirees Association Marianne Pizzitola said people were acting “like this was a park or playground.”

According to WPIX, Memorial spokesperson Michael Frazier said the site’s policy is to inform tourists that it's against the rules to lean on the bronze panels.

Signs calling for proper behavior are all around the memorial site, according to GMA News Online. One sign reads: "If you see anyone scratching, sitting on or otherwise damaging the names panel, please alert memorial staff." Back in June, visiting students threw trash into a black pool marking where the towers stood.

Kathy Bowden, sister of one of the victims seemed pleased that the mood at the site wasn’t somber. Bowden said, according to the Post, “I have always assumed that as time goes by, people will come there for gentle recreation — walking, sitting in the dappled sunshine, even picnicking, so I am rather surprised that anyone thinks this is not acceptable behavior.”

According to The Telegraph, 4.5 million people visited the 9/11 Memorial over its first year in operation. Construction of a 9/11 museum has been delayed due to funding issues. It had been expected to open this month, but it will take until at least 2014 to complete.