The Buzz
SWAMP THING:
City Councilmember Christine Quinn’s staff wants to set the record straight on the Westbeth Artists Residents Council allegedly being “bought off” by a $7,000 grant Quinn gave them, in return for which — the accusation goes — George Cominskie, WARC’s president, publicly stated at a Community Board 2 meeting that WARC supports the city’s Solid Waste Management Plan. Kate Seely-Kirk, Quinn’s legislative aide, points out that Quinn also gave $85,000 to the Friends of Hudson River Park, which opposes the S.W.M.P., a.k.a. “Swamp.” Under the plan, part of the Gansevoort Peninsula in the Hudson River Park would be used for a marine transfer station to barge recyclable garbage to Brooklyn. Asked about the new proposal, coming out of the new Coalition to Protect Our Parks, to instead put the M.T.S. at Pier 76 at W. 35th St., Seely-Kirk and Maria Alvarado, Quinn’s spokesperson, said Gansevoort remains Plan A unless it’s impossible to change the Hudson River Park Act legislation to allow putting the facility there. Seely-Kirk and Alvarado wouldn’t comment on the new alternative, but added that Quinn’s agreement with the Bloomberg administration stipulates they are to search for alternative sites as well as Gansevoort. They added that having the M.T.S. at Gansevoort constitutes “borough equity” in terms of dealing with garbage, and will ultimately reduce overall pollution and trailer-tractors hauling garbage through the streets, since more will be barged. Quinn is getting a lot of “quiet support” from local environmentalists, who are intimidated to speak out at public meetings and who are praising Quinn for “making the hard choice,” they added.
Heroic feat:
Dr. Charles Raymond of 445 W. 23rd St. tipped us off about a dramatic rescue that recently occurred in the London Terrace health club swimming pool. Joel Vargas, 19, the pool’s certified lifeguard, said that on Oct. 12, he was on duty when he heard a loud groan from a man in his 50s who had been doing laps. It turned out the swimmer had had two quick heart attacks in succession, the second one knocking him out. Vargas sprung into action and hauled the man — a hefty, 6 feet, 2 inches, 230 pounds — out of the pool. Trainer Adair Moran ran up with a defibrillator. First they tried C.P.R. on him, with Vargas pumping the man’s chest and Adair doing the mouth to mouth. It didn’t work. “He wasn’t breathing, he hadn’t had a pulse for 30 seconds and he was turning blue,” Vargas recounted. Vargas then applied the defibrillator. Then they did a second round of C.P.R. — and the man started breathing again, though he remained unconscious. “He woke up. We brought him back,” said Vargas. Responding to a 911 call that was placed, paramedics arrived to take it from there. “He’s a healthy guy,” Vargas said, “but he was rehabbing from a car accident and maybe he was pushing it too hard.”
Tasty Mario:
Mario Batali’s Del Posto restaurant on 10th Ave. and 16th St. has made the Michelin Guide, the most prestigious international directory of elite restaurants. When it opened at 85 Tenth Ave. it got lukewarm reviews, but Jean-Luc Naret, Michelin Guide’s director, is a huge fan. “You could pick anything from the restaurant and it’s very good,” said Naret in the Daily News. It’s not only good one night, it’s been good every single night we’ve been there.” Michelin gave Del Posto two stars, one of just four restaurants in the city to get the rating.
Congrats!
Eliyana Kaiser and Danielle DeCerbo, two local political aides, are tying the knot. Kaiser is a staff member in Assemblymember Richard Gottfried’s office, and DeCerbo, who started out as a staffer in Councilmember Christine Quinn’s office, is now on the staff of the City Council’s Land Use Committee. They’re getting hitched in Canada, where it’s legal to perform same-sex marriages.
