Deutsche Bank site becoming visitors plaza

When the National 9/11 Memorial opens 10 years and a day after the nation's worst terrorist attack, a new visitor plaza will help direct foot traffic for an expected 4 million people a year.

The tourist plaza at Albany and Greenwich streets, formerly the site of the Deutsche Bank, will feature benches and trees -- and plenty of people waiting to enter the museum, said Joe Daniels, the memorial's president. Directly across from the plaza, two large hotel towers already are booking reservations for the disaster's 10th anniversary, he said.

"This is good news. Traffic is picking up in a good way for business and bringing in a new energy," Daniels said.

Tourists tote shopping bags amid construction workers as the plaza takes shape, and several restaurants there already are bustling with activity.

The $800,000 plaza is being built to ease crowding on the sidewalks in lower Manhattan. The plaza will be a holding area for tourists to show their tickets to get in the memorial.

After they show their tickets, visitors will enter the building next to the plaza, 90 West St., for a security screening and a short orientation, Daniels said.

Visitors then will exit back to West Street and walk north to Liberty Street to the entrance of the memorial area. There, visitors can view its reflecting pools, waterfalls and trees and see the names of those who died on 9/11.