Take note Reddit. We mock the point that this factoid is the most well known and repeated factoid of 9/11.
But we do not mock Steve Buscemi himself. He was a firefighter before making it big in acting. He volunteered his time during 9/11 not as a stunt but to get the job done and assist in rescue and cleanup efforts. And he has never self-aggrandized his time doing this.
My favorite Steve Buscemi is the introductory scene in Desperado when he walks into a bar and tells the bartender, played by the legendary Cheech Marin, a story. His charm and comedy can't be replicated.
"He was dark too. I don't mean dark skinned. No, this was different. It was as if he was always walking in a shadow... I mean every step he took towards the
light, just when you thought his face was about to be revealed—it wasn't. It was as if the lights dimmed just for him."
I still love him in the Sandler movies too. Played an amazing crazy homeless guy, and of course the time he played the role of someone that was bullied by Billy Madison
Don’t forget about Ghost World! One of my favorites.
He also narrated the audio tour at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly! I skipped part of the ceremony when I got my master’s degree (it was for the whole university, not just my area) so I could take my family to experience that audio tour! My degree was in museum studies, so I thought it was appropriate. It’s my favorite audio tour I’ve ever experienced. If you’re ever in Philly it is worth the visit.
He’s done several interviews and even produced a documentary about the responders. He’s not shy about discussing it, though he doesn’t do so for praise.
he's wearing a mask (which tbh all the firefighters should have been) for atleast some protection against the dust, he's not trying to show his face, he's there to do his patriotic duty saving people from the rubble. it's so obviously not a stunt, nice factoid though.
To those who still don't fully appreciate this comment: Old school redditors remember how for years, todayIlearned had not only a post roughly once a week telling everyone about Steve Busciemi, but it always got upvoted to the front page.
I don't know if someone made a rule, or if a bot catches those posts now, but it was both annoying and fodder for a joke.
He'd still be alive today if, back in '87, he had been happy with his surprise $920,000 windfall, and had not argued with his kidnapping partner over splitting the value of their stolen Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.
I'm pretty sure that comment was just a joke based on this meme. Nobody is doubting that he was there as a firefighter, considering the photo of him being there as a firefighter and all.
Sadly even the masks weren't enough. The way the air was filled on the day itself they would have needed full respirators, so many fire crews turned up from all over there would never have been enough air.
People might say it was their job but the first responders really were hero's.
I went down there like two weeks after it happened to see the destruction, and it smelled terrible, I ended up with a cough after just spending a couple of hours there, the cough lasted like a week so I can only imagine the people who were working down there for hours upon hours and days upon days 😢
Tons of retired and volunteer first responders showed up even within the first few hours. For a lot of people it wasn't officially their job but they did it anyway.
for the first few days it was tons of people. I had a friend who went--he was not a first responder but had a small amount of experience. After the first few days they told people not to come as it was interfering with the chain of command. And they had concluded at that point there were no survivors anyway. Last survivors, IIRC, were found by 2pm.
Sadly even the masks weren't enough. The way the air was filled on the day itself they would have needed full respirators
A well fitted mask would have removed a large percentage of particulate pollution, which would include asbestos, so they would be a huge help. They can't remove gaseous pollution, which would also have been a major risk, but I would guess less of a risk than the asbestos.
filtering 95% isn't good enough, but it is a helluva lot better than filtering 0%. Initially wouldn't have had enough proper respirators onsite, but that would have just been a couple of days. Still saw pictures with very few wearing PPE. Shameful they were allowed to do that.
It is their job but people who say that about 9/11 genuinely are being negative toward the fire department for no reason, the emergency responders went above and beyond the call of duty.
he was just a volunteer (at this point but was a fireman way before 9/11) iirc? probably was not exposed for too long. i dont think he has any terminal illnesses (that we know of)
The fault lies with Christine Todd Whitman who was EPA administrator and kept holding pressers saying everything was safe.
When I lived in NYC we had a guy from the EPA stay with us from upstate and his job was to go to Ground Zero every day and try to convince everyone to mask up. He told me few would do it. His job was made much harder when the leaders were saying it was safe.
I just want to point out that I lived 2 miles north of the WTC, way outside of the worst of it, and I would wake up in the morning with an acrid burning in my throat. Because of this (and just the weather in general) I ran my window AC most nights until it unexpectedly quit in late October. It died because it was full of the WTC dust.
Really weird how Steve didn’t realize he was walking, but instead actually being carried by the man who owned the tallest building in New York but it’s a true story.
I'm running on very little sleep, so my thought process went "wait, but it's FDNY not NYFD". Then a moment later "that helmet looks photoshopped on". Then a good 3 seconds later "wait, is that Marco Rubio?"
Donny was a good bowler, and a good man. He was one of us. He was a man who loved the outdoors... and bowling, and as a surfer he explored the beaches of Southern California, from La Jolla to Leo Carrillo and... up to... Pismo.
He died, like so many young men of his generation, he died before his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you took him, as you took so many bright flowering young men at Khe Sanh, at Langdok, at Hill 364. These young men gave their lives.
And so would Donny. Donny, who loved bowling. And so, Theodore Donald Karabotsos, in accordance with what we think your dying wishes might well have been, we commit your final mortal remains to the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, which you loved so well.
My dad was there when the towers fell, and for some lucky reason he wore a respirator while working (nypd) I’m grateful that he did. He only has minor (comparatively) breathing problems/health issues now.
I never knew Buscemi used to be a fireman. Guess that gives me another reason to like the guy.
There was another actor I remember as serving during the 9/11 attack. Keith Glascoe, played a minor role as one of Stansfield's lackeys in Leon The Professional. Unfortunately, he went down with the Trade Center buildings.
“Buscemi began his career with the FDNY in 1980, serving with Engine 55 in Little Italy. He balanced acting and firefighting for years, responding to emergencies by day and chasing stage roles by night. Though he left the department in 1984 to pursue acting full-time, he never left the brotherhood”
EDIT: "My dad was a sanitation worker for New York City. His message to me and my brothers was, when you turn 18, take whatever civil service test is available. Lucky for me, it was the Fire Department’s. I didn’t yet know what I wanted to do for a career, but at Engine 55 in Lower Manhattan, I found something even better: a brotherhood. I laid low as a “probie,” but by the time my secret other life came out (I’d taken acting classes and dabbled in stand-up), I understood that busting balls is how firefighters express affection. When, after four years on the job, it became impossible to juggle my shifts with both a movie and a play, I took a leave of absence, figuring I’d be back."
IIRC I only found out about him volunteering his time from a random interview clip where he was directly asked about it, years later, yonks even, like some random anecdote about his life. Dude is humble af, he's a damn hero just being a firefighter, let alone being one on that day and it's aftermath.
Even cooler, he retired as a firefighter in the late 80s but durring 9/11 he went back and volunteered at his old firehouse and did daily 12 hour shifts for a week straight searching for survivors.
I’ve never been more concerned about his health. Thanks for sharing this, I somehow missed it over the last 25 years. Amazing to know he’s also a hero.
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u/Verittan 1d ago
Take note Reddit. We mock the point that this factoid is the most well known and repeated factoid of 9/11.
But we do not mock Steve Buscemi himself. He was a firefighter before making it big in acting. He volunteered his time during 9/11 not as a stunt but to get the job done and assist in rescue and cleanup efforts. And he has never self-aggrandized his time doing this.