9/11 Memorial Museum Gift Shop Ignites 'Political Outrage'

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The 9/11 Memorial Museum won't officially open to the public until Wednesday, but the site is already drawing criticism over the contents of its gift shop. According to the NY Post, "Political outrage erupted Sunday over the 9/11 memorial museum's peddling of such crass items as FDNY dog vests and designer jewelry near where the remains of the fallen are housed." While the concept of a museum gift shop is nothing new (many on Twitter have pointed out that even the Holocaust Museum has one), for some the wares being sold in the shop seemed to inappropriately commercialize the event of 9/11.

By way of explanation, the CEO of the 9/11 Memorial, Joe Daniels, issued a statement on the matter, saying that "To care for the Memorial and Museum, our organization relies on private fund-raising, gracious donations and revenue from ticketing and carefully selected keepsake items for retail." The items also aren't available online; only museum visitors have access to the gift shop.

· 9/11 Memorial [Official Site]
· Criticism Erupts Over the 9/11 Memorial Museum Gift Shop [Racked NY]