New York, NY —

The 9/11 commemoration drew large numbers of out-of-town visitors to Lower Manhattan today to pay respects or voice their opinions near Ground Zero. Members of a Mennonite community from Russell, Massachusetts handed out gospel CDs on Broadway near Fulton Street. One of them was Phil Mullet.

MULLET: I praise God for the opportunity. It's a real blessing to be here to share the Gospel. I've never seen New York City before and it's a blessing to see New York City. But so far as the city itself -- I'd rather be in my home town.

REPORTER: But many other visitors were big fans of the city. Liz Billek and Nick Baum, in town from Frederick, Maryland, said they come to New York every few months for the restaurants and the shows. But this was their first time visiting Ground Zero.

BILLEK: It's really hard to see, and you know sometimes when you see it on TV you just say oh, these people died, but when you come here and you see the people's faces you realize each person had a life and family and they were working and they had children and parents and it's just crazy to see how bad the devastation was.

REPORTER: While visitors, protesters and police officers clustered along the barriers to the site, throngs of shoppers were coming out of the nearby clothing store Century 21 carrying bags full of purchases, many of them Europeans taking advantage of the strong euro and weak dollar.