Actor and former firefighter Steve Buscemi helped propel the nonprofit group Friends of Firefighters to provide more than 4,200 counselling sessions annually by 2024 to New York City first responders and their families coping with the enduring trauma of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

A Triumphant Return to Lower Manhattan

Before his acclaimed Hollywood career took off, Buscemi served four years as an active firefighter at Engine 55 in Lower Manhattan during the 1980s. Encouraged at 18 by his father, a New York City sanitation worker, Buscemi had sat for the civil service exam and earned his assignment to the busy firehouse. Although he eventually took a formal leave of absence when balancing shifts alongside theater and film obligations became unmanageable, he never abandoned the brotherhood that shaped him.

When terror struck on September 11, 2001, the veteran performer immediately retrieved his old protective gear, secured transport directly to the World Trade Center disaster site, and stepped into the bucket brigades shifting heavy debris. Working alongside former peers amid toxic dust and harrowing scenes, Buscemi spent days helping search the ruins. The camaraderie and collective resilience of the crews forged an unbreakable bond, proving that true courage and fraternal loyalty endure through the most devastating crises.

Building a Lasting Mental Health Lifeline

While clearing rubble was the immediate priority, the emotional toll of the devastation quickly mounted across every firehouse in the city. Having already worked with a therapist himself, Buscemi recognized that confidential emotional support was an indispensable tool that first responders rarely received. In the direct aftermath of the strikes, Brooklyn resident Nancy Carbone initiated visits to local stations to ask how the community could rally behind grieving crews, officially establishing Friends of Firefighters in 2001.

The grassroots initiative flourished into an essential sanctuary, offering free, confidential, and culturally competent wellness resources designed specifically for emergency crews. Because it operates entirely outside the official department hierarchy, active personnel and retirees could seek peer support and specialized therapy without anxiety over employer reporting channels. The initiative also welcomed firefighters’ spouses and children, recognizing that family networks bear the profound weight of traumatic service.

Victorious Legacy of Service and Recovery

Today, the triumphant outcome of that post-9/11 commitment stands tall. By 2024, Friends of Firefighters had expanded to provide over 4,200 dedicated mental health sessions each year across its network of active members, retirees, and families. Buscemi, who serves on the organization’s advisory council alongside other prominent figures and fire service veterans, continues leveraging his global profile to secure funding and preserve the historic memory of responder sacrifices.

“So many people can feel isolated or that they’re the only ones that are going through this. It’s important to know that we’re all going through this together.”

Through impactful cinematic projects such as A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY and Dust: The Lingering Legacy of 9/11, Buscemi has illuminated the prolonged physical and psychological battles endured by rescue personnel exposed to hazardous debris. His decades-long dedication demonstrates how frontline solidarity, compassion, and organized mental health advocacy can overcome systemic neglect, transforming raw catastrophe into an enduring framework of communal healing and collective strength.