The Buzz

LEFT AT THE ALTAR: The disconnect between the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and its New York City regional office in Queens, staffed by the hard-working Thomas Panzone, appears to have gotten worse. Back in April, we learned from the tireless Christine Berthet—of Community Board 4 and the Hell’s Kitchen Neighborhood Association—about a planned May 23 hearing at Panzone’s office, scheduled by DEC deputy commissioner Carl Johnson and staff engineer Robert V. Bielawa in response to HKNA’s Clean Air Act lawsuit against the Hudson Yards rezoning plan (which Chelsea Now reported on in our April 27 and May 4 issues). But when we first called the regional office in Queens to inquire about the meeting scheduled in Panzone’s own office, he knew nothing about it. (He then confirmed it on his agency’s own Website.) To add insult to injury, on May 23, the day of the hearing, neither Panzone nor others in his regional office seemed aware that key Albany players (Johnson, Bielawa and the presiding judge) had scheduling conflicts that would keep the hearing from happening. But by that time, Berthet had marshaled her forces—including co-plaintiff Dan Gutman (a former EPA wonk) and Matthew Roth (director of Transportation Alternatives)—to attend. They showed up, only to discover the hearing had, of course, been cancelled. Fortunately, it wasn’t a total waste for HKNA, since representatives from the federal Environmental Protection Agency did show up. “The only good thing: The guy from EPA was there, so we could tell him our side of the thing for two hours,” said Berthet. When Chelsea Now asked DEC reps in Queens and Albany why HKNA had been left at the altar, we were given only a cheerful “It’ll have to be rescheduled.” We suspect they’re just scared of Christine, and we don’t blame them: Perhaps they heard her query starchitect Annabelle Seldorf’s contractors a month or so ago at a C.B. 4 meeting.

INTO THE FRYING PAN: At last Thursday’s meeting of the Hudson River Park Trust, it was reported that the Trust had finally reached a lease agreement with John Krevey, owner of Chelsea’s beloved Frying Pan, the U.S. Coast Guard lightship moored for years at Pier 63 that served as a restaurant/bar, danceclub, host of a summer-night classic film series, and kayak storage space for the Hudson River water community. But getting details of the agreement has been another matter altogether. Laurie Silverman, lawyer for the Trust, refused to comment on the proceedings. Matt Urbanski, former assistant to Trust boardmember Lawrence Goldberg, assured Chelsea Now that mum would be the word on details surrounding the agreement until a formal announcement is made, sometime in the coming weeks. As Chelsea Now reported in our April 27 issue, the Frying Pan lost it’s home last fall, when the Trust closed Pier 63 to make way for construction of the Hudson River Park, and has sitting idle ever since. On April 9, the Trust okayed its move north to Pier 66, between 26th and 27th Streets, and although Krevey has been happy to call the new spot his home, he’s been on tenterhooks without a formal written lease. All parties contacted by Chelsea Now admit that a deal is imminent, though Krevey remains cautiously optimistic, given the on again-off again history of these negotiations. For the Frying pan’s owner and captain, this is deja-vu all over again: “A year ago, I could have said the same thing, that a lease would be signed soon. But I think this time we may have something.”