The 9/11 Memorial after the 25th anniversary

What changed at the 9/11 Memorial for the 25th anniversary?

Two new exhibitions, a flag installation and a permanent seventh moment of silence at the annual ceremony.

The outdoor Memorial looks the same: two pools in the footprints of the towers, 2,983 names in bronze, the oaks and the Survivor Tree. The changes are underground, in the Museum, and in the ceremony held every 11 September. The Museum's exhibitions page lists two permanent core exhibitions plus the new special shows and installations.

The anniversary also brought a 35-minute film for schools, available on demand from 11 September 2026, with personal stories from a survivor, an NYPD first responder and family members, according to the Museum's release of 2 September 2026. The theme running through the anniversary programme is the generation that has no memory of the day.

What is the In Their Honor exhibition at the 9/11 Museum?

A special exhibition about people who turned grief into service after 9/11. It opened on 12 September 2026, and the Museum has not announced an end date.

The Museum's announcement describes six anchor artifacts. Among them: a phoenix sculpture made by children who lost loved ones, steel wings made from World Trade Center steel, a signed FDNY bunker coat and memorial quilts. The phoenix, Feathers of the Phoenix, is a 15-foot papier-mâché piece built by bereaved children at America's Camp, Fox News reported.

The stories are about careers: people who became firefighters, nurses, journalists, teachers or soldiers because of that day. Its tone is hopeful, which makes it a good place to end a visit with teenagers.

Which flags are in the Our Flag Was Still There installation?

Four historic flags, shown in Foundation Hall until February 2028.

The installation opened on 18 March 2026, the Museum's release says, and pairs each flag with personal stories:

• The Ground Zero flag, raised by FDNY firefighters on 11 September 2001.
• The Pentagon flag, draped over the Pentagon on 12 September.
• The Last Column flag, raised over the 36-foot steel remnant that still stands in Foundation Hall.
• The Bin Laden raid flag, carried on Operation Neptune Spear.

Foundation Hall is the big space at the bottom of the Museum, next to the slurry wall. You walk through it on any visit, so you will not miss the flags. Give yourself ten extra minutes here.

What else is on view at the 9/11 Museum right now?

A comics exhibition, an installation on soccer and 9/11 that closes this fall, photographs by Joe McNally and an installation on dust and illness.

Responding in Ink: Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and 9/11 shows about 50 covers, pages and original drawings from the early 1970s to the decades after the attacks, the exhibition page says. It starts with something few people know: before 2001, the Twin Towers were a favorite target for comic-book villains. It is on view through February 2028.

The soccer installation, The World's Game, is listed as running through fall 2026. If it matters to you, go before the end of the year. Faces of Ground Zero, with portraits of rescue and recovery workers, and Dust: Illness and Advocacy complete the current list.

What is the seventh moment of silence?

A new, permanent pause in the 11 September ceremony for everyone who has died from the health effects of 9/11.

For 24 years the ceremony held six moments of silence: when each tower was struck, when each fell, and for the Pentagon and Flight 93. In May 2026 the Museum announced a seventh, observed after the reading of the names, for first responders, recovery workers and Lower Manhattan residents who later died of 9/11-related illnesses. The release notes that the World Trade Center Health Program has 152,000 enrolled members.

On the plaza, the place connected to those illnesses is the Memorial Glade, dedicated in 2019 to honor responders, recovery workers, residents and survivors who died or are sick from 9/11-related illnesses. Walk to it after the pools.

How should you plan a visit to see the new exhibitions?

Book a Museum ticket, add 30 to 45 minutes to the usual two to three hours, and start early in the day.

The new shows sit on top of a Museum that already takes most people two to three hours. The Museum's visit page lists Wednesday to Monday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., last entry 5:30 p.m., and the adult ticket is $36. The extra Tuesday openings this autumn are in our holiday hours post, and the free evening slots in the free admission post.

A guided walk first makes the exhibitions easier to read. On the All Access 9/11 Experience you walk the site with a guide, then get skip-the-line entry and about two hours inside on your own. One guest in July wrote: "On the 25th anniversary year of 911 I was deeply moved by this experience." For a family with teenagers, see our guide to the Museum with kids.

A guided walk of Ground Zero, then skip-the-line entry to the Museum and One World Observatory in one booking.

★ 4.9 · 5 hours · from $109

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