At 9/11 Museum Gift Shop, the Tchotchkes Are Made In Asia
Earlier this year, there was considerable controversy about whether it is appropriate to have a gift shop in the newly opened National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Now, another set of questions has arisen about where the merchandise should come from.
It’s the postcards that really stunned former Ground Zero demolition supervisor John Feal. The toy FDNY fire trucks and MTA subway cars he could almost understand, given the state of American manufacturing today. But the folks in charge of the 9/11 Memorial couldn’t find a company in the United States to print postcards?
“They had to go to Korea? For that?” asked Feal, who started a foundation to fight for health coverage and compensation for first responders who have developed illnesses believed to be linked to toxins inhaled at Ground Zero. “There’s a business in Lower Manhattan that can use that business. There are a lot of printing companies there. I find that utterly disappointing and disgusting.”