Bleacher climb in Queens honors 9/11's fallen FDNY firefighters

A line of about 400 first responders and supporters spent Sunday morning climbing bleacher stairs in Queens to honor the FDNY firefighters who rushed into the Twin Towers on 9/11 and never returned, or died of related illnesses in the two decades since.

Each climber inside Louis Armstrong Stadium wore a badge with the name and photo of one of the 343 firefighters killed when the towers collapsed. The 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb was organized by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Joan York, 62, of Massapequa, has attended every commemorative climb since the first in 2015. York’s husband, Raymond, who died on Sept. 11, 2001, worked as an FDNY firefighter with Engine 285 Company in Ozone Park, Queens.

After word came down that a plane had crashed into the north tower, she said, Raymond York "hitched a ride" to lower Manhattan.

He and the hundreds of other firefighters who rushed to the scene "didn’t think a minute about their own safety — they just knew they had to do a job," Joan York said.

York didn't take part in Sunday's climb because of knee surgery, but a "crew" of about 30 friends, family and current and former members of Engine 285 did.

Participants were aiming to complete 2,200 steps, equivalent to the 110 stories of the World Trade Center. Some firefighters wore their full turnout gear, "as a mark of respect for the members that were lost in their firehouse," said Tom Richardson, a Deer Park resident, the FDNY’s former chief of department, and the department's liaison to the foundation.

The event raises about $100,000 each year, Richardson said. Last year, about 50 memorial climbs across the country and a few overseas raised more than $1 million for the foundation. Memorial stair climbs now take place in 25 states. The foundation aims to hold at least one in every state by 2026, the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

The funds help support the FDNY Counseling Service Unit, which offers free counseling to firefighters struggling with mental health problems and the families of those who have died on duty.

At the opening ceremony before the climbers began, participants observed a moment of silence at 9:59 and 10:28 a.m., the times when the south and north towers collapsed.

Anthony Pellicone, 53, of Commack, led a team of 12 from Northwell Health, one of the sponsors of the event. Pellicone, a Northwell critical care paramedic on 9/11, responded to Ground Zero after the attacks and served as a volunteer firefighter for 19 years in New Hyde Park.

"I lost 11 dear friends that day and this is a recognition and remembrance of them and of the survivors," Pellicone said.

A group of 32 climbers from Rockaway Beach was one of the top fundraisers of the day. Rockaway lost 18 firefighters on 9/11 and about 70 year-round and summer residents all together.

"I feel this is more of a spiritual walk than a physical one," said the group’s co-captain, John Burke, 56.

The event Sunday also supports the FDNY’s peer counseling program, which trains active and retired firefighters to help their fellow first responders.

Peer counselors "go to different firehouses and talk about the services they provide, and they provide a different level of support for the members," said Samantha Artese, a mental health clinician with the program who climbed for the third year with her sister, Lauren Artese.

Joan York said she and her children benefited from the department’s counseling program after her husband's death.

"It’s vital for family members who have lost a loved one," she said.