A new museum hopes to pay tribute to the spirit and joy of New York City.

"It's a tribute to the magic and the resiliency of New York City. It's a way for visitors to the city and New Yorkers to come celebrate the magic of New York," said David Niles, the museum's director and filmmaker.

"I just felt there was a need downtown where we are to bring something in front of the public that allows people to feel the vibrancy of the area," Niles said.

Situated in heart of downtown Manhattan, the Tribute Museum offers visitors a multimedia experience of the city -- the highlight being a short film titled "Remember,"which pays homage to the extraordinary and ordinary beauty of the Empire State.

"It's a little emotional roller coaster that we go through that brings out very strong emotions and feelings and the wonderfulness of New York City," said Niles.

So touching and uplifting is the film that organizations set up to assist people affected by the tragedy of Sept. 11 have taken people to the museum as part of the healing process.

"The difficulty of ground zero right now is it just looks like a big construction site," said Mikki Baloy, of the Lutheran Disaster Response.

"We see the hardships and the devastation and the controversy of the rebuilding, but there was so much about New York that we really loved that brought us in the first place and this is a really great place to reconnect with that."

What really makes the museum unique is the obvious affection and sense of humor with which it looks at New York.

Tribute is open seven days a week and admission costs $7.