By Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — The FDNY is bringing back the heat.
The department’s wildly popular “Calendar of Heroes” featuring photos of hunky and hot first responders will be back for 2026 — three years after it was scrapped, the Daily News has learned.
City firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics were told of the calendar’s comeback in an internal memo earlier this month. Members interested in modeling for the calendar were told to send in their “glamour shots” by April 4.
According to the FDNY Foundation a nonprofit organization that raises money for FDNY equipment and training and sponsors the calendar, photo shoots are expected to be done in the summer with the calendar released by year’s end.
“We’re very excited to bring this back,” FDNY Foundation Chairman Matt DiLiberto told the Daily News. “It was one of the most in-demand items we’ve had and we’ve gotten a tremendous response already.”
The calendar was on hiatus for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic before it was officially cancelled.
Declining sales were initially blamed for its cancellation in 2023, but DiLiberto said the calendar was always a “substantial fundraising initiative” for the Foundation and the FDNY. Production was halted while the Foundation “rethought its focus,” he said.
“It’s not just about beefcake anymore,” he said about the new calendar. “It’s about health, fitness and wellness and we want to spotlight that.”
The Foundation also has a new production partner for the calendar: Florida-based Firehouse Subs, a sandwich shop franchise looking to have a presence in the Big Apple.
“Since our inception, we have been staunch supporters of firefighters who are committed to public service,” Firehouse Subs Chief Marketing Officer Dena vonWerssowetz said. “This calendar will highlight the brave men, women, and families who bring the heat every day and are an integral part of keeping the city safe.”
The decision to pause the calendar came as the FDNY struggled to become more diverse and Laura Kavanagh was named the city’s first woman fire commissioner in the department’s 157-year history. But the Foundation says their decision had nothing to do with the department’s leadership at the time.
Current Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker, a longtime Foundation board member, said the calendar “presents an opportunity to highlight our Best and Bravest while helping fundraise for the critical mission of the FDNY Foundation .”
“This new partnership is a great example of how public and private entities can work together to benefit the lifesaving mission of the FDNY,” Tucker added.
First published in 2003, the $16 calendar was an FDNY mainstay for two decades. Every year more than 100 FDNY members would “try out” for a spot. Scores of hard-bodied bravest were then whittled down to a dozen lucky models. The models were photographed in front of FDNY equipment or city landmarks and would take part in promotional events in Times Square where they signed autographs for their hardbody-smitten fans.
The Foundation photographed its 2021 calendar, its last edition, before the city went into lockdown in March 2020 . No attempt was made to put together a 2022 or 2023 calendar while the pandemic remained a threat and FDNY members responded to a massive surge of emergency calls.
After a decade of serving nothing but beefcake, the FDNY started including women firefighters, paramedics and EMTs in 2014. Three years later the Foundation began offering two smoldering calendars: a men’s and a women’s edition.
In 2019, the Foundation decided to add animals into the mix and photograph the heartthrob hunks and heroines with animals adopted through the Animal Care Centers of NYC. But that backfired when Big Sexy, a feline model, got spooked and bolted from a lower Manhattan firehouse during a photo shoot.
Big Sexy was on the run for about two months before he was found on Staten Island and returned to his owner.
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