Hand counts, court challenges and less than three hudred votes in Florida have turned our nation upside down this week. As all the debates continue, has it made you believe that your vote counts or do you think your vote doesn't matter? "Did you count?" To express your opinion, CALL (212) 980-3434. ENTER question number 354 PRESS 1 IF YOU NOW BELIEVE YOUR ONE VOTE MADE A DIFFERENCE PRESS 2 IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE YOUR ONE VOTE MADE A DIFFERENCE

Race Disgrace:
NBC's Marathon

Here’s a message to the folks at WNBC-TV Channel 4.

You managed to overlook something during your state-of-the-art coverage of the 2000 NYC Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 5.

Now, let’s see – what could you have possibly missed, what with all those cameras and crew members wandering around four of the five boroughs?

By golly, it was Queens! Surely, you are familiar with the borough of Queens – 71,780 acres of land that lies between Brooklyn and Manhattan
on the Marathon route. We’re hard to miss, with our two million people living on 34.8 percent of the City’s land area – land valued at more than $16 billion, home of two major airports and the National League Champion NY Mets.

It’s not enough to say that you failed miserably
in your coverage of Queens’ participation in the 2000 Marathon. Your cameras zoomed in on Staten Island for the start and traveled through Brooklyn before heading directly to 1st Avenue in Manhattan completely shutting out Queens.

And to add insult to injury, your crew arrived on the shores of Manhattan Island via the nonexistent "59th Street Bridge!" It’s the "Queensborough Bridge" — the name is etched on the entrance to the span.

For your information, there were two – yes, two Watering Stations located along the Queens route of the Marathon. The two stations are operated by local civic groups that organize a combined 307 volunteers, who work from 4 a.m. to at least 4 p.m. on "Marathon Sunday," passing water, orange slices and assistance to runners. The stations are located at what Marathon officials describe as the halfway mark of the 26 mile, 385 yard trek through the five boroughs.

It’s the spot where runners are apt to "hit the wall," in the race, officials said. And oddly enough, it’s the same spot where your coverage "hit a wall," and blanked out the entire borough.

And, for the record, the watering stations, a high school band, the volunteers and the crowds of spectators have been there on Crescent St. at the foot of the Queensborough Bridge for 18 years cheering on the multicultural mass of runners as they pass through the city’s most ethnically diverse borough.

Thanx for the memories!

Lucy Liu: Queens Angels On Top

You knew her first from Ally McBeal. Her role as the vicious Ling Woo, caused so much attention, she was recognized as one of the most beautiful and hottest women on tv.

But her Jackson Heights neighbors knew her as Lucy Alexis Liu, born on December 2, 1968. After Stuyvesant High School she spent a year at NYU and later graduated from the University of Michigan.

Her first acting gig, was playing a waitress on Beverly Hills, 90210. Later, she appeared in Jerry Maguire, Gridlock’d, and City of Industry.

Last year, she starred alongside Mel Gibson, in Payback and alongside Clint Eastwood in True Crime.

Look out, this Queens superstar, who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, also practices Indonesian Martial Arts.

Now, Lucy headlines with the headliners: in Charlie's Angels: The Movie. She co-stars with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz.

She has our vote as the hottest spot in Jackson Heights.

Costly Error?

Queens residents who picked up a copy of Wednesday’s edition of the New York Post may have come across the bargain of a lifetime and the chance to own a piece of history.

Calling the election — like the major cable news networks did earlier — The Post’s early post-election edition hit the streets in the wee hours of Wednesday morning with the headline "Bush Wins!" To fix the flub, Post editors recalled the papers with the erroneous headline — and printed an updated edition but not before readers scooped up copies that are now fetching hundreds of dollars more than the papers' original price of 25 cents.

Copies of the paper were up for auction on the web site, e-bay, for over $200. By Friday, the seller identified only as "das 107" received 36 bids for a copy of the paper going for $202.50.

Just Looking

It’s set in Queens but only playing in Manhattan.

"Just Looking," the directorial debut of Jason Alexander, better known as George from Seinfeld, is being billed as a sex comedy for the whole family.

It stars Getchen Mol, Patti Lupone and among others, a seventeen-year-old Maspeth kid, Joseph Franquinha, as a naïve but hilarious Queens kid in this 1950’s coming-of-age story.

Joseph is a freshman at Fordham and a graduate of PS 229, IS 73 and St. Francis Prep. His credits include a batch of commercials and made for TV movies as well as an upcoming episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

The seventeen-year-old stud wannabee was active in St. Adalbert’s in Elmhust and recognized by Bishop Daly with a Youth Leadership Award.

Hevesi Loses

Dan Hevesi was re-elected to the NYS Senate last week with 96.5% of the vote. He acknowledged however, a bad loss in his other race two days earlier. Dan, son of NYC Comptroller Alan Hevesi, completed the NYC Marathon in 4 hours, 51 minutes, not quite fast enough to beat that guy from Morocco. was re-elected to the NYS Senate last week with 96.5% of the vote. He acknowledged however, a bad loss in his other race two days earlier. Dan, son of NYC Comptroller Alan Hevesi, completed the NYC Marathon in 4 hours, 51 minutes, not quite fast enough to beat that guy from Morocco.

Hevesi intends to stick to political races!

President Bore The People Have Spoken? New Book Contracts 10. Three Card Monte - by Baker & Cristopher 9. Florida: Where Everything Is A Croc 8. Daddy Taught Me Well – by William Daley 7. Counting On My Boys – by George Bush 6. Unsafe At Any Speed – Ralph Nader 5. The Excitement is Very Exciting - by Al Gore 4. A New Florida Atlas: Maps Clearer Than Our Ballot 3. The Women’s Vote: A Blown Opportunity - by Bill Clinton 2. No Hand Jobs or Manipulation in My State - by Jeb Bush 1. Fuzzy Math - by George W. Bush

Confidentially New York . . .

E-MAIL your items to: conf@queenspress.com