TOO-TIRED CLERK NIXES NUPTIALS
By DENISE BUFFA
June 2, 2008 -- A Bronx bride was left at the altar, but it wasn't the groom who stood her up - it was the court clerk, who refused to marry the couple because she claimed to be tired and hungry.
In a scene reminiscent of a scandal that erupted a year ago in the Marriage Bureau at Bronx Supreme Court, 23-year-old Gwendolyne Ortiz stood in her white dress as she used a brown paper bathroom towel to wipe away tears.
"[The clerk's] upset with the staffing. She refuses to do any more [ceremonies]," the bride said, choking back tears.
Her groom, Harold Poueriet, 22, all decked out in a white Armani shirt with gray pinstripes, said, "[The clerk] says she's tired and she's hungry."
But Ortiz's wedding day was saved when a lawyer, court officers and a judge stepped in for the weak and weary clerk and performed the ceremony Friday.
Appalled at seeing the crying, four-months-pregnant bride, lawyer Maxine Susseles, Maj. Raymond Diaz, Sgt. Tamara Glover and others came to the rescue.
"You know what they say, 'You cry once on your wedding day, that's 1,000 tears you won't cry during your marriage,' " Glover told the bride.
"Don't cry. Everything's going to be fine," Diaz added. "I got a judge. He's waiting for us."
Diaz then escorted the couple to Judge Paul Victor's eighth-floor chambers.
Before they knew it, Victor was saying, "I now pronounce you man and wife," as Susseles stood as a witness with the maid of honor, Catalina Cruz. The relieved newlyweds then embraced and kissed.
"I'm glad I was here," the judge said.
The bride, finally smiling, said, "I am, too."
The newlyweds said they had a big reception planned for Saturday in The Bronx and are now on their honeymoon in Atlantic City.
Edwina Townes, in charge of the bureau in the absence of head clerk Carmen Baez, had no comment.
In May 2007, couples claimed clerks had closed the doors 45 minutes early for a co-worker's retirement party.
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