New Rochelle’s long-serving Fire Commissioner, Raymond “Doc” Kiernan, is straight out of central casting — from the big mustache to the encyclopedic knowledge of every street in the city. He’s also a tremendously funny guy, who seems to have an amusing (and relevant) anecdote at the ready for almost any event or situation. It’s hard to be simultaneously devoted to and irreverent about a tough job, but Doc pulls it off.
Anyhow, Doc (he inherited the nick-name from his father, a physician at New Rochelle Hospital) was recently profiled in the Journal-News. The article is spot-on and a fun read, so I decided to pass it along.
(By the way, Doc isn’t the only City commissioner out of central casting. If you ever watch our Council meetings on TV, take a look at the folks who lead our various departments. Then decide if you couldn’t do a pretty good job of matching them up with their positions, based strictly on appearance. A little spooky.)