POINT PERSON: Lydia Callis, the mayor’s dramatic sign-language interpreter, yesterday shows why she’s an overnight hit. (Reuters)
She’s the only person in New York capable of upstaging Sandy.
Lydia Callis, the mayor’s American Sign Language translator, has drawn raves for her animated translations of his press conferences and updates on the superstorm.
Her passionate interpretations — particularly contrasted with Mayor Bloomberg’s stone-faced seriousness — have made her an Internet sensation.
Callis says the cheek-puffing and exaggerated expressions and gestures are just part of her job.
“I’m here to serve the deaf and hard-of-hearing community,” Callis told The Post.
“I’m just glad, and I’m honored, that I was able to get the message out there . . . and that’s what it’s all about.”
Her creative facial expressions are crucial to her job, she said.
“American Sign Language is a very visual language, so sometimes you have to use pictures to describe what people are saying in English,” said Callis, whose mom and three siblings are deaf.
Callis doesn’t get Bloomberg’s speeches in advance, so she follows the news to be prepared for challenging concepts — including words like surge, crane or boom.
Callis’ many fans online include one poster who wrote: “She was mesmerizing in her enthusiasm! I couldn’t stop watching her!”
Talking about her, Callis said, maybe makes “the situation a little bit easier, not focusing on all the negative horrible things that are happening.”