(
)
The World Trade Center’s 9/11 Memorial opened its online box office for ticket reservations yesterday and wound up deluged with more than 24,000 requests by the evening — so many that the Web site wasn’t able to handle all the demand.
“It’s been phenomenal,” said Joe Daniels, president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. “It’s been a very nerve-wracking day.”
Daniels said the site was inundated, with up to 1,000 people logged on simultaneously, compared to the 40-person average on a regular day. More than 5,000 tickets were issued in the first hour after reservations opened at 9 a.m.
“We know the country wants to come to one of its most sacred grounds and they want to pay their respects,” said Daniels.
Visitors who were unable to make reservations yesterday were encouraged to keep trying, with the flood of requests expected to ease up in coming days.
The memorial is slated to make its long-awaited opening on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks when it will be open only to families of the victims and other guests invited for the anniversary service, the first on the Trade Center site in several years.
Public access to the memorial will begin on Sept. 12 and will be free for visitors to the plaza.
The first day is already booked with 6,000 visitors, said Daniels.
He said about a maximum of about 1,500 people will be allowed at the memorial at any given time, but those numbers could be revised over time depending on how smoothly things go.
The memorial, an 8-acre plaza with 400 trees, features two reflecting pools where the Twin Towers stood. The names of the victims of the 1993 and 2001 attacks are etched into bronze panels flanking the pools.
The accompanying museum will open the following year but may not be free. Daniels has said he is considering either a mandatory fee or a suggested donation, depending on how much the organization gets in federal funds.
The memorial will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends.
A Lower East Side resident booking a reservation made a $911 donation to the memorial yesterday.
One World Trade Center — formerly called the Freedom Tower — is scheduled to open in 2013. It will stand at a symbolic 1,776 feet. On the anniversary of the attacks, the city will hold a reception at 90 West St., next to the memorial, for family members of Sept. 11 victims.
City officials anticipate 4 million to 5 million visitors annually at the site and will open up new parking spaces for tour buses bringing in crowds.