22
NOVEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
DISPATCHES
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GLOBETROTTING
Andrew Coté stands on the
20
th-floor roof of Manhattan’s
Waldorf-Astoria, skyscrapers tower-
ing over him. His attention, though, is
on the six smaller structures rising up
around his waist. Made of pine and
painted white, these are the hotel’s
beehives, home to some 400,000
honeybees (which, like other guests
here, enjoy ready access to the flora-
filled expanses of Central Park).
Coté—whose father, Norm, kept
bees for Martha Stewart—is the
founder of Bees Without Borders,
which helps establish apiaries in
impoverished communities around
the world, including ones in Uganda,
Guatemala and Iraq. Closer to
home, he’s had a hand in many of
the 182 hives registered in New York
City. The cluster he installed at the
Waldorf-Astoria in April represents
one of his more ambitious projects
here. If all goes well, Coté says, the
hotel should be able to harvest 300
pounds of honey each year.
As he tends the hives, Coté is
joined by David Garcelon, the hotel’s
culinary director, and sous-chef
Joshua Bierman. Both men wear
netted masks and thick gloves.
Coté also wears a mask, but not
the gloves. “I don’t want to risk
hurting them,” he says of the bees,
shrugging off the few stings visible
on his hands. (Garcelon is less
blithe about the fierce-looking lump
on his temple.)
The bugs swarming around him,
Coté explains, have been brought
in from as far afield as western
Pennsylvania, eastern Georgia and
northern California. “It’s a story of
small-town bees,” he says, “who’ve
made it in the big city.”
—
JAMES STURZ
SUPER BOWLS
A time-honored convenience
finally gets its day
Nervous laughter fills the air as
people snap photos and hover
playfully over the a ractions at
South Korea’s latest contribution
to the world of theme parks.
It may not have death-defying
coasters or people dressed as giant
cartoon characters, but what the
Toilet Culture Park lacks in thrills
it makes up for in plumbing.
The newpark, located in the
city of Suwon, was the subject of
much pre-debut speculation, with
local media reporting that it would
boast not only “sculptures,” but
also, intriguingly, “hands-on sites.”
Its July opening was a ended by
such luminaries as Koo Ue, director
of the Japanese Toilet Laboratory;
musical accompaniment was
provided bymembers of the
Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra.
Three days a er the park’s
opening, crowds of visitors move
among its various a ractions,
pausing to inspect a rustic bucket
or amassive replica of a contem-
porary unit. A particularly popular
item is the “Apricot Frame,” an
elegant, elaborate contraption
used bymembers of the Joseon
royal dynasty some 600 years ago.
Residents of Suwon, it turns out,
have a long-held fascinationwith
lavatories. The city’s former
mayor, Sim Jae-Duck, was
dubbed “Mr. Toilet” due to his
passion for public bathroom
improvement. In 2007, Sim
built himself a $1.6million
toilet-shaped home in the city.
Upon his death in 2009, the
house was donated to Suwon
and the motion for the theme
park was put forward.
Visitors should enjoy the
facilities here, says Lee Youn-sook,
a parkmanager, but equally vital
is education. “Toilet culture,” she
says, “is very important in our
daily lives.”
—
LESLIE PATRICK
SUWON, SOUTH KOREA
MALIBU, CALIF. •
Café Habana doesn’t
immediately suggest Hollywood glitz.
The décor is simple. Tuesday is Taco
Night. Yet for reasons that even the
staff doesn’t quite understand, this
Cuban eatery’s weekly karaoke night
has become all the rage with celebrities.
On a recent Wednesday evening, Kid
Rock, David Charvet and Jeremy Piven
stopped by. Kid Rock picked up Piven’s
tab and left a big tip. Conan O’Brien
banteredwithBrody Jenner. DavidBeck-
ham rode up on a Harley. Steven Tyler
asked awaitress if she’d ever considered
becoming a professional singer.
Helen Hunt, Rachel Zoe, Michael
Keaton, SeanPenn, GerardButler,Wayne
Gretzky, Serena Williams and John
McEnroe have all revealed themselves
tobe karaoke buffs, taking the stagehere
withaplomb, if not vocal polish. Some do
rock ’n’ roll; others prefer ballads. “Kid
Rock,” a staffer says, “even threw in a few
rap lyrics.”
—
EMMA BUSSEY
THE LATEST BUZZ
A LANDMARK MANHATTAN HOTEL GETS HIVES
MALIBU’S GOT TALENT
NAME-DROPPING AT THE KARAOKE CLUB OF THE STARS
NEW YORK CITY
