Construction on the 9/11 Memorial is continuing to move forward. Granite installation has begun inside the large reflecting pools and the memorial is now completely framed in steel. Its two acre-sized squares set within the original footprints of the fallen twin towers are clearly visible, defining the 16-acre World Trade Center site that is being reborn through concrete, steel and the labor of hundreds of construction workers.

The memorial opens next year for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror strikes.

In 2011, twin waterfalls that drop 30 feet will flow at the World Trade Center site. A network of pipes will feed the waterfalls with a series of ten pumps, each creating about 40 pounds of pressure. The pumps will circulate about 52,000 gallons of recycled water per minute. These pumps will be anchored on table-like steel bases weighing about 750 pounds each.  According to a report by the Times Herald-Record, these steel bases were created by D.C. Fabrication & Welding Inc., of Ferndale, NY, which is about 100 miles northwest of ground zero.

Reporter Victor Whitman of the Times Herald-Record writes that "none of the millions of visitors of the memorial will see them" but the steel bases will be "doing their job underground, beneath the [9/11 Memorial]." He characterized the bases as sturdy legs of the multimillion-dollar structure.

The company, which employs six, has completed all the bases for the memorial pool water pumps that will "send ribbons of water cascading over 30-foot waterfalls into pools below," according to the report.

Office Manager Bellinda Davis told the newspaper: "I am very proud we are part of this memorial. It is an honor."

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the Memorial

"You looking at me?"

Maybe Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro, who delivered that classic line decades ago, would now proudly say: "Hey, take a look at this."  De Niro and leading film producer Jane Rosenthal, who are board members on the foundation building the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, are asking local businesses to support the project taking shape at the World Trade Center site.

De Niro and Rosenthal have sent letters asking businesses - large and small - to take part in  Signs of Support, an effort designed to help build and sustain the 9/11 Memorial.

DNAinfo.com's Josh Williams reported a story on this grassroots program.

Participating business can publicly show support by displaying a special decal on front doors or windows.  In return, those businesses will be featured on the memorial and museum’s web site and in a business supporters’ directory at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vesey St.

So join other participating businesses like Lenny's Group & Bubby's Pie Co. and find out today how your business can show Signs of Support. Don’t own a business. That’s OK. Click here to find out about the other ways you can support the 9/11 Memorial. Update: NYC & Company is helping the 9/11 Memorial spread the word about Signs of Support. The city's official marketing and tourism organization sent to its members the support letter co-written by De Niro and Rosenthal.

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the 9/11 Memorial

This is a big week here; baseball season has officially started.  There are several die hard New York Yankees fans on staff: 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels being the most enthusiastic, by far.

As work continues on the 9/11 Memorial Museum, after a while, everything seems to connect to the larger story of 9/11 - even the Bronx Bombers. We have several objects in our ever-expanding collection that relate to the great New York baseball club.  Some survivors credit the rained out  Yankees-Red Sox game on Sept. 10, 2001 with saving their lives because it meant they instead watched the New York Giants play. Monday Night Football ran very late, and  in turn, many who watched it were running behind to work on the morning of September 11, narrowly escaping a fate shared by thousands.

Recently an EMT first-responder donated the ticket stub from the September 23, 2001 interfaith “Prayer for America” service that was held at Yankee Stadium to honor the victims of the WTC attacks.  Thousands attended.  Many recall the emotional service and felt it was fitting for New Yorkers to mourn the loss of life and try and heal a wound together at the home of  New York City’s famed club.

Then there's a much more personal connection like the well-worn Yankees cap donated to the museum by the family of Steven Morello of Bayonne, NJ. Morello, who died on 9/11, worked as a facilities manager  in the north tower of the World Trade Center.

The curatorial team at the 9/11 Memorial Museum is working to document these stories of fate, and collective grief and healing.  Sometimes a simple artifact, such as a ticket stub, is worth its weight in gold, and helps to visualize these bigger feelings and concepts that are the fabric of this history.

By Jenny Pachucki, Oral Historian for the 9/11 Memorial Museum

For more than 4 years, I’ve worked for the 9/11 Memorial.  I’m a senior development officer and I raise money for building and sustaining the Memorial, which opens next year.

In 2001, I witnessed the Twin Towers fall.  Then I worked in banking at Lehman Brothers near Ground Zero. The boss who hired me had just retired from the firm. My days there were numbered and I knew it.  Typically, new bosses bring in their own people. On September 11, 2001, I arrived late to work and headed straight to my desk without a care. Suddenly, I felt the floor tremble. Soon after a woman nearby yelled, “A plane hit the trade center.”  The South Tower had just been struck.

From a sixth-floor window, I looked up to see the gaping hole and smoke.  Quickly things out of the ordinary began to happen.  I can still see the terrifying images:  From above, I could see a group of people hand in hand falling from the sky. Down below, a man with blood on his hands and face passed my view. My gut said leave. Thank God I did.  I grabbed my purse and left, joining thousands of others fleeing along the city's west side.  We all watched as each tower crumbled, knowing people remained inside.

I had never felt death. I mean real tear-your-gut-out-my-heart-is-breaking death until about two weeks ago today when I lost my sister to cancer.  She was 32.  Since her death, I have a deeper, more personal understanding of why this country needs the 9/11 Memorial. During telephone calls, I explain to people who want to donate how important it is to remember the innocent lives that were stripped away.

Unlike most of the 9/11 victims family members, I had a chance to say goodbye to my sister, whom I love. Losing the ones you love is horrible enough, but when you’re not afforded the chance to say goodbye is a feeling  beyond the pain of a breaking heart.

To learn more about the 9/11 Memorial, visit national911memorial.org. For more information on how to support the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, click here.

By Blake Beatty, Sr. Development Officer for the 9/11 Memorial

Horrific. Awestruck. Paralyzing. Stunning. Chilling.

This is just a sample of words often expressed when viewing photographs or videotaped scenes from the morning of September 11, 2001. The 9/11 terrorist strike on the World Trade Center's Twin Towers is one of the most filmed - and watched - moments in history. Some of the gut-wrenching  images force you to look away. Others like the photos shown in recent media reports transport you back to a day when 102 minutes reshaped the lower Manhattan skyline, a thriving community and America's social landscape.

While professional videographers and shutterbugs boldly documented historical moments during and after the  attacks, equally compelling are the videos shot by everyday people fleeing the unknown of Sept. 11. The above videos are a sampling of the footage donated to the 9/11 Memorial Museum's permanent collection by four lower Manhattan evacuees. This powerful and unique footage documents their personal sagas as they witnessed the attacks unfold.

The ambient sound and sidewalk chatter in some of the videos are very powerful. One bystander is heard in the first video saying, "Look, that building is gonna collapse."

Learn more about this donated footage and the armchair videographers who shot it at national911memorial.org.

By Michael Frazier, Sr. Communications Manager for the 9/11 Memorial