As the salaries of officials who run the 9/11 Memorial and Museum skyrocket, so does the ire of Sept. 11 survivors.
Thirteen of the museum's 411 employees made more than $100,00.
The New York Post's investigation revealed President and CEO Elizabeth Hillman received $856,216 — a $775,084 base salary, $34,500 in retirement and deferred compensation, and $45,679 in other benefits.
Information shows that she received a 63 percent pay hike since she took over in 2022
Despite charging a $36 admission fee to the 9,000 daily visitors and bringing in $93 million in 2024, the museum ended in the red last year to the tune of $20 million, according to documents unveiled by reporters.
“How can you justify these salaries? It’s just another slap in the face of the families, more pain and grief to add to the heartache." said retired FDNY Firefighter Jim McCaffreywhose brother-in-law, Firefighter Orio Palmer, died on 9/11.
The Post's probe showed the museum's payroll was $34 million in 2024, compared to just $22 million in 2020.
“From the very beginning it was very clear that the 9/11 Memorial and Museum would not only be the most expensive memorial museum ever built on the planet, but also the most expensive to operate as well,” slammed Glenn Corbett, professor of fire science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and advisor to 9/11 firefighter families.
He and others have long called for the museum to be taken over by the National Park Service.
“The 911 memorial museum is paying out bloated salaries while asking Congress for handouts,” said Sally Regenhard, who lost her son, FDNY Firefighter Christian Regenhard in the attack.
At the heart of the families’ long-running bitterness with museum leaders is their continued refusal to put the remains of the 1,100 still-unidentified victims anywhere but the building’s basement, ignoring the pleas of families — while they profit on their tragedy, reporters noted.
