The Sun Shines Bright on 24th Annual Tunnel to Towers Run

The mostly quiet weekend streets of Red Hook, Brooklyn, and Lower Manhattan surged to abundant life as more than 30,000 people participated in the 24th annual Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk on Sunday morning, Sept. 28. Commonly abbreviated T2T, the event was first held in 2002 to commemorate the events of 9/11.

Unlike the wet and windy conditions of the past two T2T Sundays, this morning dawned bright and warm, with an almost summer-like glaze of humidity in the air that would rise toward 80 degrees as the day went on.

While one can’t escape the sorrow of 9/11 at such an event, neither can one miss the strong admixture of resilience and joy among participants, be they dressed in competitive running gear, “I Run for Heroes” and other memorial T-shirts, military uniforms, or heavy firefighter pants, turnout jackets, and helmets.

Among the many was a fit and tatted member of the NYPD Running Club and his wife, with their infant in a stroller, ready to do his first race, and First Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kinsella, herself an avid runner. Many other NYPD officers were present, including some members of the elite Emergency Service Unit (ESU) and their even more elite Canine Unit.

Asked how smart his dog—which appeared to be a Belgian Malinois—was, an amiable officer told an 8-year-old girl, “He’s smarter than I am. I can’t smell a bomb or a gun with my nose.”

Remembering Stephen Siller, FDNY

The Tunnel to Towers 5K honors the memory of firefighter Stephen Gerard Siller. A member of FDNY Squad 1, based in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on Sept. 11, 2001, the 34-year-old Siller had gotten off duty when the Twin Towers were attacked. Hearing the news on his radio, Siller rushed back to the firehouse, retrieved his gear, and tried to drive downtown to help.

Finding the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel closed to vehicles for security reasons, Siller ran the nearly two miles into Lower Manhattan carrying 60 pounds of gear on his back. Siller died sometime following the collapse of the South Tower at 9:59 AM.

The first Tunnel to Towers run was held the following year with 1,500 runners. Its promoter, the nonprofit Tunnel to Towers Foundation, was co-founded by Siller’s older brother, Frank, who’s also the organization’s present CEO.

“This event is the cornerstone of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. It’s how we honored the life of my brother Stephen in 2002, and it remains a moving tribute to all of those lost on 9/11 24 years later. Each year, people from around the country and the world come to New York to help us fulfill our mission to Never Forget,” said Siller.

Besides the Tunnel to Towers 5K, the foundation promotes numerous other New York City events—and partners with other races elsewhere—to raise money for the families of first responders who died on 9/11 or from subsequent 9/11-related illness.

Among the foundation’s other missions are providing assistance to homeless veterans; Gold Star military families and catastrophically injured veterans; and educating young people about the events of 9/11.

Flags of Freedom

The event is a substantial—and impressive—logistical undertaking. In the week or so prior, both sides of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, now known at the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, are festooned with hundreds of American flags, bringing bright dashes of color to an otherwise drab industrial, traffic-laden landscape.

Then there are the hundreds of No Parking signs, warning local residents many streets from the tunnel down to the water must be cleared by Saturday. This isn’t an idle threat. As placid as some Red Hook blocks might appear, come Sunday they would be packed curb-to-curb with people.

People not personally invested in the horrors and heroism of 9/11 might be surprised by how huge Tunnels to Towers has become, both locally and nationally. There are some contradictions, or at least complexities in this.

First is something also seen at events like the annual 9/11 Memorial reading of the names: the presence of people who are generally liberal / left Democrats who are yet fervently patriotic and anti-terror. While this shouldn’t be such a surprise, given the inclusive, non-discriminatory death toll of 9/11, it’s not something easily gathered from today’s political discourse.

Second, while the Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a much-praised charity that eschews the executive profiteering characteristic of many so-called “nonprofits,” it’s notable that in a lopsidedly one-party city, a substantial part of T2T advertising goes to “conservative” talk-show programs.

While many Straus Media readers have WNYC or WQXR tote bags at home, other people are listening to WABC radio hosts like Greg Kelly and nationally syndicated programs like Clay Travis and Buck Sexton; Sean Hannity; and Jesse Kelly (no relation to Greg), where the call to donate $11 a month to T2T is often heard.

The New Deal

By contrast, it’s worth noting that the starting line and staging area of T2T are above the entrance to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, adjacent to which is a Triborough Bridge and Transit Authority police station; the Brooklyn Motor Inn, which—while not advertised as such—has been used as a migrant hotel for over two years; a giant Tunnel airshaft building and the Harold Ickes Playground.

Named for the former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ickes was also one of the leading advocates of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies—proof that progressivism and American patriotism can and have gone together before. Heck, together they defeated Il Duce of Italy, the Emperor of Japan, and the dreaded Führer of Germany!

On the Manhattan side, this bedrock faith in the American project comes roaringly to life as the runners emerge from the tunnel and head uphill onto West Street, where they’re greeted by a couple thousand West Point Army cadets, as well as firefighters holding banners of their 343 fallen comrades.

This year’s T2T post-race concert was headlined by country music star, Chris Janson, best known for his 2019 hit “Good Vibes.”

“I cannot wait to perform in New York for the heroes who inspire us all,” said the 39-year-old Missouri native, now a resident of Nashville beforehand. “It’s an honor to support Tunnel to Towers and its mission to serve first responders, veterans, and Gold Star families.”