Long before he was the star of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” Steve Buscemi was a New York City firefighter. Though he only had the gig for four years, he remained committed to the men he worked and lived with from Engine 55 — sharing in their triumphs and tragedies, as well as pitching in when disaster struck (Sept. 11).
As “Boardwalk” begins its final season Sunday night, HBO on Monday does Buscemi a favor after five seasons of loyal service by airing “A Good Job: Stories of the FDNY,” a documentary he co-produced about New York City’s bravest, introducing us to some of the men Buscemi has known for decades — and even to a few of the women who made history by joining the FDNY and getting promoted.
It’s a warm and touching tribute that allows the guys to express a range of emotions, from why they took that civil service test to gain admittance to the department (some frankly admit that they didn’t know what else to do with themselves), to how their experience as firefighters allowed them to become men and, later, fathers.
Scenes of the guys joking around in the firehouse kitchen contrast with scenes where they risk their lives to do their jobs, walking through burning buildings and “listening to the fire” to tell them where to move while they try to rescue people trapped inside.
Director Liz Garbus bookends the film with scenes of the firefighters picking through the ruins of Rockaway after Hurricane Sandy leveled Breezy Point — leaving many residents homeless — and the catastrophe of 9/11, which claimed the lives of 343 of New York’s bravest. In between, the oral history of this amazing group is told, with plain-spoken eloquence, through memories of some of the worst fires in city history.
After the infamous 1990 fire at the Happy Land Social Club, which killed 87 people, Captain Brian McKeon admits the only way he was able to deal with the body count was to tell himself, “I’m not going to look at people’s faces if I don’t have to.” Lt. Dennis Gordon recalls being trapped on the second floor of a burning house and thinking, “I’m gonna die on the floor of this stupid bathroom.”
The liberal use of vintage footage shows Bill Moyers, then a news correspondent, reporting on the “war years” (1964-78), when there were roughly 30 fires a day burning in the city, started by “a landlord for profit.”
The men speak on camera about doing their jobs stoically — a philosophy many of them shared until the World Trade Center attacks killed so many of their brethren that some senior firefighters were recruited to act as “peer counselors” to help those who were at Ground Zero deal with their trauma.
In those days, Chief John Dillon recalls, “your day consisted of two things: Going to the site and recovering bodies, or going to funerals.”
“A Good Job” is a worthy tribute to some very special New Yorkers whose heroism we can never take for granted.