The debate over gas drilling in the Marcellus is beginning to attract some Madison-Avenue-style advertising stunts, such as this video by Riverkeeper's Don't Frack With NYC campaign:
It stars Louis Thompson, the owner of Terrace Bagels in Prospect Park, who leads the viewer through the life cycle of one of his bagels while emphasizing the importance of clean NYC drinking water to their creation. It's all fun and starch until he says that fracking could contaminate that water -- and, thereby, all of New York's bagels.
This isn't the first time Thompson has spoken out in defense of the ineffable uniqueness of NYC's drinking water. He was the first person the New York Times quoted in a 2006 article about whether or not the city would have to install a multi-billion dollar filtration plant.
The wrong water can ruin things, he said. “You can’t use well water to make bagels,” he said. “You could, but they won’t come out right. What, exactly is in that water, I don’t know. I’m not a chemist, I’m just a bagel maker. All I can tell is the water in New York has always been good for bagels, Italian bread, pastries.”
