A Somber Task for a Funny Man

The actor Billy Crystal is expected to be elected this afternoon to the board of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center. What seems at first to be an incongruous — or at least surprising — choice was explained by Joseph C. Daniels, the president and chief executive. “In the wake of 9/11,” he said, “Billy Crystal showed his support for New York through efforts like the ‘Concert for New York’ and the ‘Miracle of New York public awareness campaign, which helped to encourage tourism for the city.” Robert De Niro, who was active in efforts to revive Lower Manhattan after the 2001 terrorist attack, also sits on the Before anyone opens wide and lets someone stick a sharp object in his or her mouth, know which side of a dispute your dentist is on, and listen to Sam Roberts's weekly... [read full story]