On 11 September 2001, Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi – known for his depictions of gangsters and weirdos and once described by The Guardian as a “strangely attractive shoelace” – returned to his old job as a New York City firefighter. He worked 12-hour shifts for several days alongside other firefighters, searching for survivors in the rubble of the World Trade Center.

Buscemi had taken the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) civil service test when he was 18 and used to work as a FDNY firefighter in downtown Manhattan in the 1980s. He later left the service to become an actor but has remained in touch with New York firefighter causes, speaking at union rallies and hosting the HBO documentary A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY.