On September 11, 2001, debris from the collapsing Twin Towers knocked over a giant sycamore tree that had stood for nearly a century in the churchyard of St. Paul’s Chapel, at Broadway and Fulton (see map photo). When the dust settled, the uprooted tree was found lying on a narrow path in the yard. It had fallen in such a way that none of the historic tombstones around it were disturbed, and none of the wreckage reached the church. Sculptor Steven Tobin heard the story of the sycamore and envisioned using its roots as the base for a bronze sculpture. He saw the roots as a metaphor for our connectedness and our strength after the tragic events of September 11th. The original roots, painstakingly preserved by Tobin with the help of tree experts, have been returned to St. Paul’s to reside permanently.