Mayor de Blasio: Uncle Sam should kick in on 9/11 museum

From left: Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum and Mayor Bill de Blasio
From left: Sept. 11 Memorial & Museum and Mayor Bill de Blasio

The price of admission is too damn high, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The September 11 Memorial & Museum, which announced Thursday that it will charge adults a $24 admission fee, a cost that de Blasio now says should be offset by financial help from the federal government.

“This is something that I agree with Mayor Bloomberg on entirely,” he said during a press conference Friday. “What could be more of a nationally important site than this? It was a national tragedy, and people come from all over the nation, all over the world, to see it. So of course the federal government should play a role and that’s something we’re working on.”

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Asked whether the city would contemplate putting money toward the issue, de Blasio did not give a direct answer.

“The bottom line is we’re not gonna speak about the financing from our side until we see something from the federal government,” he said in reply. “We have to hear a federal response here.

The museum is slated to open this spring and aims to cover up to 70 percent of its $63 million budget via ticket and gift shop sales, Crain’s reported thursday. Families directly impacted by the terrorist attacks can enter the memorial and museum free of charge, and free hours for the general public will be set aside each week. [Capital New York] Julie Strickland