WTC Crowds Grow And Grow

Officials are considering extending the hours of the World Trade Center viewing platform because tickets are in such high demand.

Although roughly 6,000 platform tickets are issued daily, many would-be visitors have to be turned away, said Richard Stepler, a director of the South Street Seaport Museum, which has been issuing the free passes since January.

The 13-foot-high wooden platform is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Visitors generally get a few minutes on the platform, which overlooks the east side of the trade center complex and can hold up to 400 people.

“People are very quiet, they're very respectful,” Stepler said. “There's a sense that it's hallowed ground.”

Frank McCarton, spokesman for the mayor's Office of Emergency Management, said the city is considering longer hours to coincide with daylight-saving time. Building more platforms has not been ruled out, he added.

Recovery crews found the remains of two people in the ruins early Wednesday, officials said.

The remains were discovered in the area that used to be the south tower, according to Jimmy Maguire, a fire department spokesman. Their identities were not known, but Maguire said they were civilians.

In the seven months since the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the city medical examiner's office has identified 931 trade center victims out of the roughly 2,828 people killed in the disaster.

The recovery and clearing effort at the site is expected to end next month, but Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, said the work of identifying remains would last another eight months. More than 18,000 body parts have been collected so far.

Of the 363 firefighters who died on Sept. 11, 179 — fewer than half — have been identified. Thirteen of the 23 NYPD officers killed have been identified; 20 of the 37 Port Authority police officers who perished have been identified.

On Tuesday, the total amount of debris removed from the site topped 1.5 million tons — the estimate city officials initially gave for the total weight of debris from the twin 110-story towers and surrounding complex. The total is now expected to exceed 1.6 million tons.