Add The New York Post on Google For Pete Davidson, the 25th anniversary of 9/11 is wrapped in layers of grief and emotion — and even optimism.
The “Saturday Night Live” alum was just 7 years old when he lost his father, Scott, a New York City firefighter with Ladder Company 118 in Brooklyn Heights.
“I thought, ‘Oh, he was an old guy. He’s 33,’” Davidson told The Post. “But now I’m there, and I have a kid, and that would be like my kid not having her dad.
“So this year is extra tough, but also extra beautiful because I get to spend the day with Scottie. It’ll be very healing and special.”
Davidson, who turns 33 in November, welcomed Scottie, his daughter with model Elsie Hewitt, in December. Although the couple split shortly after her birth, Davidson said they were united over their daughter’s name.
“It was really cool that Elsie also wanted to name her Scottie,” he said. “My dad’s name was Scott, but his nickname was Scotty. When she arrived, we both looked at her and were like, ‘She looks like a Scottie.’ It’s nice to keep that name alive.”
And his daughter already seems drawn to the grandfather she will never meet.
“When Scottie was first born, we’d give her a bath in the sink, and there’s a picture of my dad above the sink. She would always stare at it,” Davidson revealed.
“You’re like, ‘I don’t know if that’s because that’s the only picture there and she’s brand new and just observing things.’ But then I moved back to Brooklyn and put the picture in a different location. When I walk around, Scottie always turns her head and looks at him.
“I don’t know what I believe in, but I like to think that his presence is somehow around.”
Davidson has not yet worked out how he will explain his father’s death to his daughter.
“Luckily, I have some time,” the Staten Island native said. “Honestly, this year is way harder than it’s been in a really long time because I have Scottie, and now I’m the age that my dad was when he died. So I’m just kind of like, ‘Holy s–t.’”
But he cannot wait to tell her about her namesake. “I have old videos and pictures and stuff, and I’m excited to share the classic stories I have of him with her,” he said.
Davidson is teaming up with his longtime pal Jon Stewart to host “NYC Still Rising After 25 Years: A 9/11 Comedy Benefit” at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 10, with proceeds going to several charities that support first responders from that day and their families.
“Jon Stewart’s my guy,” Davidson said. “Talk about someone who’s so New York and represents the tri-state area — and is just the barometer of goodwill. We’re pals. We did the 20th anniversary at the Garden, and we had every great comic. It was such a special night.
“Benefits are tricky, and 9/11 is such a sad thing. So to be able to check that at the door and have a good time for a great cause is one of my favorite things. This is fun for us because all the firefighters, first responders, police and EMTs come, and we’re fans of them,” he added. “A lot of those guys are my dad’s friends and colleagues.”
He and Stewart have visited firehouses and the Port Authority to mark previous 9/11 anniversaries.
“We look up to those guys,” Davidson said. “We think they’re so cool.”
Stewart became a passionate advocate for rescue and recovery workers after many developed severe respiratory illnesses and cancers from the toxic dust at Ground Zero. Working for years with campaigners including John Feal, a demolition supervisor at the site who lost his foot after a steel beam fell on him, Stewart helped pressure Congress to provide long-term medical care and compensation through the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. It was finally signed into law in 2019 and is funded through 2092.
“He was also personally affected by 9/11, and it’s just nice to have a brother in that,” Davidson said of Stewart.
For Davidson, continuing to honor surviving first responders is both personal and part of what it means to be a New Yorker.
“You honor those people and always appreciate those guys. Those are real-life heroes,” he said. “If there’s anything I could ever do for anyone, I would do it. I really enjoy it, and I like to honor my dad and keep that memory alive.”
Davidson is also giving back to the community that helped care for him after his father’s death. Both he and his sister, Casey, 28, attended America’s Camp, a therapeutic summer camp outside Boston for children affected by 9/11.
“I went for six or seven years,” he said. “My sister and I went every summer for a week, and it was awesome. We had counselors from all over the world, like Wales and Australia, who volunteered their time. It was a free camp. People worked there just for the love.”
“I ran into Taylor at ‘SNL’ a couple of years ago and thanked her for performing at America’s Camp — and she remembered,” said Davidson, who has remained connected with his fellow campers.
“We all love each other,” he said. “There are people from Boston and New Hampshire. It wasn’t just firefighters and police we lost. It was people on the flights and people who were in the city that day.
“It was people from all over. They stopped doing the camp because we all grew up, but whenever we see each other, we’re immediately thrown back to really good times. It was nice to have a camp full of people who got it. We all shared this thing.”
One thing Davidson does want to stop is what he sees as the “memefication” of 9/11.
“It’s this weird thing that happens in our country where a tragedy over time becomes a holiday. And then sometimes I know the youth on the internet uses 9/11 memes as jokes. Someone will be like, ‘This song’s fire,’ and then they’ll post the towers … and we’re the ones that have to see that s–t all the time,” he said.
“And it’s very nice that people that have nothing to do with it post a photo on that day and they’ll never forget. But it’s also like, you guys have no f–king idea, actually.”
The comedy benefit is, in part, an attempt to take back the anniversary from the documentaries and images that force grieving families to relive the horror every year, Davidson said.
“We want to reclaim the day and just have fun,” Davidson said, “and not be in the middle of 12 documentaries that are so sad and rehash it.”
For all that has changed, Davidson still believes New York retains the spirit that carried it through its darkest day.
“The one thing I know our city and our state are really good at is coming together and having other people’s backs when the chips are down,” he said. “New York has changed since I was a kid. It’s damn near unrecognizable.
“But we show up for each other. At the end of the day, that’s what New York is.”
