Ashley
Summer Home: Astoria
Age: 20
Height: 5' 5"
Weight: 110
Stats: 34C-24-34

UModels.com

Ashley Whitmer, welcome to Astoria. Ashley moved here from Pennsylvania a month ago to work in New York for the summer. "It’s a change," says Ashley. "I’m used to running through back roads and now I’m running through a city."

Ashley is an exercise nut. She is part of the triathlon team at Penn State, where she runs, swims and bikes. "The exercise itself is an addiction," admits Ashley, who says she does it to relieve stress.

Make no mistake Ashley is no dumb jock. This soon-to-be senior is getting a degree in chemical engineering.

She got into modeling when she was a teenager.

"I was 16 when I won Miss Pennsylvania Teen," says Ashley.

Since then she has been building up her modeling portfolio. She would love to end up in the pages of Victoria’s Secret. "That would be the ultimate dream."

Though she hopes her modeling career seriously picks up, she recognizes that "getting my degree would be important."

Originally, Ashley is from a small town called Church, right outside of Philadelphia.

Ashley likes Queens because "it’s a little more high pace. There’s always something to do if you want it."

She is used to taking the N train more and driving less, because she keeps getting parking tickets.

So what does Ashley look for in a guy?

"I like a good personality," says Ashley. "Attraction is important. Someone who makes me laugh. I like a guy who takes care of his body."

One thing is for sure: she is attracted to Queens men. Her boyfriend is from Middle Village. They went to the same school, but didn’t meet until the first night of Spring Break in Cancun a year ago. He recognized her from the gym.

Ashley is a hostess at the Russian Tea Room, an upscale restaurant frequented by celebrities.

She also interns at UModels where she does office work and can be found at UModels.com (#219).

A very special Queens resident was honored this week with a State Assembly citation for bravery . This Queens resident is brave. He is heroic. And he is furry. His name is Prince the dog.

In January, the heroic pooch witnessed a nearby neighbor – a senior – slip in the snow. Fallen and unable to get up, there was no one there to help her…except Lassie… we mean Prince, that is.

The three-year-old Cocker Spaniel barked and barked on that cold January day, the cries of help emanated from Prince until help came. The neighbor ended up being alright, and Prince was credited with saving a life.

Now, five months later, Prince is being honored as a man among animals. The citation of bravery, along with a ribbon, was presented to Prince by Assemblyman Michael Cohen, who represents Prince and the rest of Forest Hills in the Assembly.

About the citation itself, Cohen said "this is my way of giving the dog a so-called ‘pat on the head.’"

Good boy.

In Nicole Kidman’s first post-Tom Cruise movie about sex and drugs and the cancan, Queens’ John Leguizamo plays a drunken, sexual dynamo, and hater of things "Bourgeois." 

Leguizamo, from Corona, plays the artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, who immortalized the Parisian Cabaret, Moulin Rouge.

At the Jackson Heights site of the birth of Scrabble, the game's value of each letter is shown on the street sign. photo: Arlene Lewis

Queens has been an entertainment mecca, host to the rich and famous and the site of two World’s Fairs, but one legendary attraction – the "Scrabble sign," found on 81st Street and 35th Avenue – represents something known all over the world that remains an obscurity to some neighborhood residents.

The sign is a replica of the game – showing the value of each letter – invented by Jackson Heights resident Alfred Butts and perfected at the Community Methodist Church located on that corner. A Scrabble club is ongoing in the building of its origin.

Hundreds of people continue to walk under and around the sign, yet it goes unnoticed. "You’re looking for what? I’ve lived here all my life and I never saw this thing," said a passerby.

So much for neighborhood history and charm.

An expectant mother needs to prepare for the birth of her babies. She needs a safe birthing place, nourishing food for herself and the little ones, and a snug cradle to be gently rocked by a soft breeze.

It’s mating season, and every tree, nook and cranny has been booked for months. This mama bird forgot to make a reservation. She’s been flying around for days pecking at this tree, chirping at that tree—no one will let her in.

Oh, my, what to do?

If there was ever a doubt that necessity is the mother of invention, go to the intersection of 245th Place and 61st Avenue in Douglaston and look up at the suspended traffic light. There’s a bird’s nest cradled in its crevice.

Although homeless mama bird took refuge in a public shelter, rumor has it that a neighbor in a nearby tree took her in.