{"id":344547,"date":"2026-09-12T01:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T01:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/344547\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T01:00:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T01:00:33","slug":"big-bills-new-york-pizzas-9-11-day-of-giving-made-the-restaurant-iconic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/344547\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Bill’s New York Pizza’s “9\/11 Day of Giving” made the restaurant iconic"},"content":{"rendered":"

CENTENNIAL \u2014 When the Twin Towers collapsed and the world changed a quarter century ago, Bill Ficke found his purpose while surrounded by pizza pies.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen 9\/11 hit, I went over to my pizza store and it was loaded with nobody but New Yorkers,\u201d Ficke recalled. \u201cAll they wanted to do was tell their story, and hear other stories, and be around each other for emotional support. So later that night I said, \u2018We have to do something. We\u2019ve got to help.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Ficke, the former Denver Nuggets assistant and NBA scout, is a Long Beach, New York, native who founded Big Bill\u2019s New York Pizza<\/a> in 1995. Over the last three-plus decades, Ficke\u2019s joint has emerged as more than just a pizza parlor. The restaurant at Holly Street and County Line Road is a community staple with a sports motif and basketball roots reflective of Ficke\u2019s background in athletics.\n<\/p>\n

Ficke\u2019s philanthropic epiphany that night in his restaurant led to his annual 9\/11 Day of Giving, where Big Bill\u2019s New York Pizza donates all its proceeds in remembrance of the September 11 attacks.\n<\/p>\n

He hosted the first fundraiser the week following the attacks for a fireman\u2019s fund in New York. Another fundraiser was held the next week to support the families of FDNY Squad 41<\/a>, which had six of its firefighters die<\/a> while attempting to rescue people trapped inside the South Tower that day.
\n\"AA NYFD fire helmet and a cross made from the steel of the World Trade Center are displayed during the annual “9\/11 Day of Giving” fundraiser at Big Bill’s New York Pizza on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Centennial, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)\n<\/p>\n

Instead of customers paying their check to the restaurant, their money for their bill \u2014 plus however much more they want to tack on as an additional donation \u2014 goes to Ficke\u2019s fundraiser, which has become a hallmark of the restaurant. The 9\/11 Day of Giving raised about $70,000 that first year, and has raised about $3 million in the 25 years since.<\/p>\n

In the early years of the campaign following 2001, the money raised went to an orphanage in Denver. Then in 2008, Ficke began sending the fundraiser\u2019s money to Colorado entities that support cancer research, treatment and support, as part of the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation<\/a> that honors his late wife who died of the disease in \u201907.\n<\/p>\n

While the beneficiaries of the fundraising changed, the focus remains the same: To honor the lives lost on one of the most influential and somber days in American history. Each of the last two years, the fundraiser drummed up about $170,000 in donations. Ficke hopes to reach the $200,000 mark this year.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you come in to Big Bill\u2019s on 9\/11, you\u2019re really seeing the spirit of 9\/12,\u201d Ficke said. \u201cWhich was our country coming together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe life is about helping others. That\u2019s what we\u2019re put here for. And in my small way, I love doing this. Everyone who walks in our door today is here to honor the dead of 9\/11 and to help other people. We don\u2019t see enough of (the latter) in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

A parlor frequented by local pros<\/p>\n

Ficke played college basketball at Belmont Abbey<\/a>, served in the Air Force and made his first notable mark in the Denver business world as the owner of Fleet Feet, an athletic shoe store he ran for two decades while getting into coaching.<\/p>\n

When the basketball player\/coach-turned-businessman opened his pizza parlor in 1995, he did so without knowing anything about cooking or running a restaurant.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"PatronPatron Cosmas Agwu looks over wall covered in photos of Bill Ficke with athletes during the annual “9\/11 Day of Giving” fundraiser at Big Bill’s New York Pizza on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Centennial, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

\u201cI went home and told JoAnn I was opening a pizza place, and she beat the crap out of me because she grew up in the restaurant business,\u201d Ficke recalled with a laugh. \u201cThey had a restaurant up in the Catskills. It was in their family for 100 years. And she just said, \u2018You have no idea what you\u2019re getting into.\u2019 Which was true.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know how to boil water. But I started to work at my buddy\u2019s pizza place, where he taught me how to cut lettuce, how to cut a tomato, how to make a salad, how to toss the pizzas. I did that for about six months before opening up my own place.\u201d<\/p>\n

From those humble beginnings, Big Bill\u2019s New York Pizza became an iconic parlor with dozens of autographed jerseys and photos adorning the walls, all of which Ficke acquired through personal connections. The restaurant has become a favorite within the circles of Colorado professional sports, frequented by big names of the past and present.\n<\/p>\n

It was a common eating spot for former Nuggets coach Michael Malone during his tenure that culminated in an NBA championship. Other former Nuggets coaches George Karl, Dan Issel and Bill Hanzlik are also frequent visitors there, as was the late Doug Moe, for whom Ficke served as a Nuggets\u2019 assistant in the 1980s. Ficke hosted a celebration of life for Moe, who died in February<\/a>, at the restaurant over the summer.<\/a><\/p>\n

In the past, Ficke has also held a Coaches vs Cancer event that\u2019s drawn in basketball coaches from across the state, including longtime CU boss Tad Boyle. And every couple of months for the past half-decade or so, Ficke hosts former American Basketball Association players who live in the area for a luncheon.
\n\"OwnerOwner Bill Ficke, a former Nuggets assistant coach and NBA scout, takes a seat between mingling with friends, family and patrons during the annual “9\/11 Day of Giving” fundraiser at Big Bill’s New York Pizza on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Centennial, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great time for them to sit around and lie to each other about how great they were,\u201d Ficke cracked.<\/p>\n

Beyond the basketball coaching realm, notable Colorado athletes\/coaches such as Jimmer Fredette<\/a>, Joe Sakic, Gary Kubiak, Chris Harris Jr., Mark Schlereth, Emmanuel Sanders and Clint Hurdle, among many others, have repeatedly made their way to Big Bill\u2019s New York Pizza, often with their families in tow.\n<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for celebrities to stroll in, too, like the time actor Denzel Washington came by for a slice. And the party room features hundreds of framed photographs of Ficke with famous people from all walks of life, many of whom he met at golf tournaments and dinners as a president and board member for the Harold & Carole Pump Foundation<\/a>, a California non-profit dedicated to fighting cancer.\n<\/p>\n

Growing up in that sort of environment at the confluence of sports, pop culture and pizza is what propelled Ficke\u2019s son, Dan Ficke, into a career in coaching. Dan is currently the head basketball coach at Metropolitan State University of Denver.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger and then also early in my coaching career, like when I was an assistant at DU, I loved how (the Coaches vs Cancer event) would have college staffs from all over the state coming to the restaurant to have fellowship and get to be with each other outside of that competitive environment,\u201d Dan Ficke said. \u201cI got to be a fly on the wall in those rooms and for those conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the same thing when my dad\u2019s friends would come by when they\u2019d come into town \u2014 guys like (NBA coach) Larry Brown or (longtime Kansas coach) Bill Self. I got to be a part of that world as a kid, and it had a huge influence on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u2018Cheers of Pizza\u2019<\/p>\n

If you walk into Big Bill\u2019s New York Pizza on a weekday at lunchtime, you\u2019ll likely see Big Bill Ficke sitting at the \u201cDoug Moe Table\u201d in the corner of his restaurant, holding court over a pie with his closest pals.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always has four, five, six of his friends there and I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve ever paid for a meal that they\u2019ve eaten,\u201d Issel said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe walls are covered with basketball memorabilia during the annual “9\/11 Day of Giving” fundraiser at Big Bill’s New York Pizza on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Centennial, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that sort of camaraderie that has kept Ficke, 83, going all these years. And all the famous faces that walk through the restaurant\u2019s doors aside, Ficke still gets goosebumps thinking about the ripple effects of 9\/11 and his visit to New York City six months after the attacks.\n<\/p>\n

During that trip, Ficke spent time raking through the rubble at Ground Zero, and then later also stood in as part of an impromptu honor guard as an ambulance drove away with the remains of a victim that had been found. Ficke says those moments are still \u201ctwo of the greatest days of my life,\u201d and his memories of seeing the devastation up close continue to fuel his desire to honor 9\/11 victims from afar.<\/p>\n

On Friday at lunchtime, Big Bill\u2019s Pizza was already packed with patrons as Ficke and his staff settled in for a long day of service. Each year for the fundraiser, Ficke gets to the restaurant at 6 a.m. to prepare for his busiest day of the year; the doors open around 9 a.m. and don\u2019t close \u201cuntil the last person leaves.\u201d Many of the restaurant\u2019s employees, who all wore commemorative 9\/11 25th anniversary shirts, donate part of their salaries from the day.\n<\/p>\n

The waiting area overflowed with patrons, and a line stretched out the restaurant\u2019s front door, wrapping around the sidewalk and spilling into the asphalt of the parking lot. While Dan Ficke hustled around taking drink orders, a throwback to his college days working at the parlor, another line extended back from the to-go counter. Behind that counter is a mural of the New York skyline painted on the upper wall, with a heart and a 9\/11 with the words \u201cNever Forget.\u201d
\n\"OwnerOwner Bill Ficke, a former Nuggets assistant coach and NBA scout, wears a shirt commemorating Sept. 11, 2001, along with his staff during the annual “9\/11 Day of Giving” fundraiser at Big Bill’s New York Pizza on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Centennial, Colo. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)\n<\/p>\n

Ficke sat in the corner of the restaurant, behind the \u201cDoug Moe Table\u201d and adjacent to one of the several white donation buckets perched on chairs. A stream of customers went up and shook his hand, with many dropping donation envelopes into the buckets as they did so.\n<\/p>\n

Throughout the day and evening, Ficke filtered from table to table, sprinkling a personal touch that not only made the restaurant a longtime success, but also cultivated an intensely loyal customer base that is eager to help the 6-foot-6 former forward raise six-figure donations for cancer research in a single day each year.\n<\/p>\n

Hanzlik, who recalls bringing his young children into Big Bill\u2019s New York Pizza and Ficke dropping a big ball of dough on the table to keep the youngsters entertained, notes that Ficke is \u201ca master of connecting with people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI always make sure I get around to the tables, talk to people, get to know them over time,\u201d Ficke said. \u201cLike developing relationships with coaches and players (in my basketball career), I see it as an important part of what I do here. It\u2019s why the community ordered so many takeout pizzas during COVID (to keep us in business). It\u2019s why they are so supportive of the 9\/11 Day of Giving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s why we call Big Bill\u2019s the \u2018Cheers of Pizza.’\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, a cross made from the steel of the World Trade Center was on display in the restaurant. The piece is loaned to Ficke by a diehard customer for each 9\/11 Day of Giving. Also on display was a firefighter helmet from Squad 41, which Ficke obtained during his trip to New York the year after the attacks.\n<\/p>\n

Ficke hopes those two pieces serve as tangible reminders of the anguish of the day, but also of the resilience that followed. And even as he enters his mid-80s, he hopes he still has a couple of decades ahead to continue owning the restaurant and overseeing the charitable day that\u2019s become a central part of his life ethos.\n<\/p>\n

Whatever the future holds, his old hoops buddies say Ficke\u2019s legacy has transcended both basketball and business.<\/p>\n

\u201cPizza places come and go, but not this one,\u201d Issel said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s because of the heart that Ficke has for his community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our new food newsletter, Stuffed, to get Denver food and drink news sent straight to your inbox. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CENTENNIAL \u2014 When the Twin Towers collapsed and the world changed a quarter century ago, Bill Ficke found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[5301,4567,129166,2136,41086,129167,12595,5341,129168,9134,4683,545,8894,7673,3088,232,30527,21,9,11,10,821,319,61226,904,7037],"class_list":["post-344547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-9-11","tag-basketball","tag-bill-hanzlik","tag-california","tag-chris-harris","tag-clint-hurdle","tag-college","tag-colorado","tag-dan-issel","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-family","tag-fire","tag-food-and-drink","tag-front-range","tag-fundraising","tag-lifestyle","tag-more-nuggets-news","tag-nba","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-restaurants","tag-sports","tag-the-know","tag-things-to-do","tag-world-trade-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}