Interestingly, one of the most famous residences in the vicinity happens to be Bloomberg's official ceremonial residence, Gracie Mansion, which is just a couple blocks from the East 91st Street site.

Bully For Hogtown
Here's an interesting follow-up on the city of Toronto's big landfill purchase last week. The Toronto Star says the deal is a brilliant political move by Mayor David Miller but a public policy disaster because Miller steered the purchase through the City Council without any public comment or debate, thereby "violating every tenet of democracy, due process, public accountability, openness and accessible government the mayor says he promotes with 'every fibre of my being.'"

"He acted like a bully," the Star concludes.

Condi & Christie: She Said/She Said
The New York Post reports that Condoleezza Rice's office gave the final OK to issue the EPA press releases a few days after the 9/11 terrorist attack claiming the air around Ground Zero was safe to breathe. At that time Rice, now secretary of state, was head of the National Security Council and "the final decision maker" on EPA statements about the air quality at Ground Zero, according to the report.

Christie Whitman, who was head of the EPA at the time, said through a spokeswoman Friday that she never talked directly with Rice about the agency's press releases.

The Post quotes Whitman's then-chief of staff, Eileen McGinnis, saying she took part in heated discussions, including "screaming telephone calls," about the information that should be put in the press releases.

Pete Fehrenbach is assistant managing editor of Waste News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.