Keeping Tunnel-to-Towers tradition
alive with solemn Battery Tunnel walk
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Since its inaugural in 2002,
the Stephen Siller Tunnel to
Towers Run has grown into
one of the biggest annual running
events in New York City — raising
millions of dollars for fi rst
responder families while honoring
the legacy of a fi refi ghter who
died while responding to the Sept.
11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The run through the Hugh
Carey (nee Brooklyn-Battery)
Tunnel to the World Trade Center
site usually takes place on the
fi nal Sunday in September, with
tens of thousands typically huddling
at the starting line near the
Brooklyn entrance to the tubes.
But the crowd was absent on Sept.
27, as the event was canceled due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, members of
the Siller family, the nonprofi t
Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers
Foundation, and the MTA Police
Department kept the tradition alive
on Sunday by retracing the fallen
fi refi ghter’s steps themselves.
The Siller family and MTA officials head toward the tunnel
entrance in Brooklyn.
Frank Siller, brother of Stephen
Siller and CEO of the Tunnel to
Towers Foundation, led the way
as the group walked along the
narrow service pathway of the
1.7-mile Carey Tunnel’s Brooklynbound
tube as traffic passed
alongside.
Stephen Siller was off-duty
when terrorists hijacked and
crashed two airliners into the
Twin Towers of the World Trade
Center on the morning of Sept.
Led by Frank Siller, and accompanied by MTA Bridges & Tunnels President Daniel DeCrescenzo
and Acting Vice President and Chief of Operations Richard Hildebrand, the walk commemorates
FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller run through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (now the Hugh
L. Carey Tunnel) on September 11, 2001, before his death at the World Trade Center.
11, 2001. He grabbed his gear
and raced toward the World Trade
Center site in his own vehicle, but
was unable to pass through the
closed Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.
Siller then put his fi refi ghting
gear on and ran through the
Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to get
to the World Trade Center. He
died in the ensuing collapse of
the South Tower.
His story served as the inspiration
for the annual Tunnel to Towers
Run and the creation of the
nonprofi t benefi ting fi rst responder
families. By the end of this year,
the Tunnel to Towers Foundation is
expected to have raised more than
PHOTOS BY MARC A. HERMANN / MTA NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT
$250 million to support police
offi cers, fi refi ghters, EMTs, and
service members across the U.S.
Along with its charitable efforts,
the Stephen Siller Tunnel to
Towers Foundation also increased
its role in this year’s observance of
the 9/11 anniversary.
After the 9/11 Memorial and
Museum opted to forego this
year’s reading of the victim’s
names at the annual memorial
ceremony because of the
pandemic, the foundation held
its own reading a block away
at nearby Zuccotti Park. They
also created a “Towers in Light”
tribute, resembling the Tribute
in Light in Lower Manhattan,
near the Flight 93 Memorial in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
After exiting the tube near Battery
Park on Sept. 27, Frank Siller
expressed gratitude to the MTA
for allowing the tradition to continue,
even as it was downsized
this year due to the pandemic.
“It was a heroic run, it was his
(Stephen’s) fi nal footsteps, but
those footsteps have inspired so
many people to do good, to do
the right thing,” Siller said. “It’s
different this year. We should
have 30,000-plus people running
through the tunnel and going by
Ground Zero, but it’s just as
important that we’re covering it
and that we never forget.”
Siller remarked that the smallness
of the run this year made
it more intimate, and thoughts
turned to his brother and the
sacrifi ces he made on that fateful
morning nearly two decades ago.
“For me, personally, the loss
today is just as great as it was 19
years ago. You never get over it,
you just learn to live with it. But
the best way to live with it is to
do something for somebody else,”
Frank Siller said.
Joining the Sillers for this year’s
walk were Daniel DeCrescenzo,
president of MTA Bridges and
Tunnels, and Chief of Operations
Richard Hildebrand. MTA
Bridges and Tunnels oversees the
Carey Tunnel.
“It’s critical that fi rst responders
and families of those who lost
their lives know that we will never
forget the sacrifi ces they and their
loved ones made,” said DeCrescenzo.
“It’s especially important
that during this pandemic, when
large events are being cancelled,
we are able to keep the tradition
going by safely remembering
those who gave their lives to try
to save others that faithful day.”
The Siller family and MTA officials hold a press conference on the Manhattan side of the Carey
Tunnel on Sept. 27, 2020.
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