Members of the Neighbors group who participated in the Tunnel to Towers run on Sept. — from left, Jill Goodkind, Robert Moore, and his wife Mary Ann “Mac” Chiulli — agreed that it was an inspiring experience they want to do again.
BY COLIN MIXSON
Never forget — but let bygones be bygones.
Every year, the Tunnel to Towers 5k run attracts tens of thousands of fitness buffs and first responders to Vesey Street in Lower Manhattan for an event that honors the fallen heroes of 9/11, but also disrupts life for residents with its massive and raucous afterparty, leading many locals to resent the event.
But this year was different.
The 15th Tunnel to Towers Run/Walk on Sept. 25 marked the first time that a group of local residents joined the 28,000-strong procession — although, by all accounts, it won’t be the last.
“It was amazing,” said Reade St. resident Robert Moore. “We enjoyed it very much, and I know ‘enjoy’ is kind of a funny word — the event obviously has a very deep significance — but we enjoyed participating in it and we’d of course do it again.”
Many firefighters wore their gear for the run, which retraces the steps of firefighter Stephen Siller, whose legendary dash though the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Sept. 11, 2001 — in full gear — to the burning Twin Towers, where he died saving civilians.
The annual run from Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan retraces the steps of firefighter Stephen Siller, whose legendary dash though the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel Sept. on 11, 2001 — in full gear — to the burning Twin Towers, where he died saving civilians, has come to epitomize the heroism of the 9/11 first responders.
The residents’ group — appropriately dubbed the “Neighbors” — included more than 20 Downtowners hailing from across Lower Manhattan, with runners and walkers turning out from Battery Park City, Tribeca, and South Bridge Towers to join in on the memorial jaunt.
The merry band of local runners was formed by Battery Park City resident Tom Goodkind, largely in response to years of gripes and demands that Community Board 1 made of run organizers, including that no alcohol be served as part of the event’s post-run party, Goodkind said.
“You can’t have music, you can’t close our streets, you have to clean up, no one’s allowed to drink,” recounted Goodkind, himself a member of CB1. “Imagine 30,000 firemen and no one’s allowed to drink. Nobody would come!”
And CB1 wasn’t the only local organization giving Tunnel to Towers guff, according to Downtown resident Dan Kohn.
Kohn, who participated in Tunnel to Towers for five years before joining Neighbors, wrote The Broadsheet supporting the event after another Downtowner penned a letter decrying the event as a “Brooklyn Interloper,” which “inconveniences all the residents of the neighborhood who have no say in the matter.”
Regardless of the misgivings of other locals, the Downtowners who participated with the Neighbors were amazed at how profound the event could be, according to Jill Goodkind, who helped organize the group alongside her husband Tom.
In particular, Jill Goodkind described the moment when, just as the group emerged from the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, she was greeted by 343 emergency workers bearing images of first responders who died during the attack.
“It was amazing,” she said. “You come out of the tunnel and you see the light, and you’re greeted by fire fighters — each holding a photo of someone who died — high-fiving everyone, and thanking us for supporting the cause. It was extremely moving.”
The Tribattery Pops, conducted by Tom Goodkind — who also organized the Neighbors group for the run — played at the Tunnel to Towers afterparty.
