Models Of Queens
Meaghan McMonigle

Although Meaghan looks all grown up, she watches Bugs Bunny and the Power Puff Girls.  She just turned 15 in June. 

Meaghan McMonigle is just your run-of-the-mill teenager.  So far she says that her summer has been pretty boring.  

Born and raised in Whitestone, Meaghan moved to Fresh Meadows a year-and-a-half ago. She still visits her friends in Whitestone, but depends on her father to drive her.

“I do absolutely nothing,” said Meaghan, and joked that she sits in front of McDonald's and vegetates all day. 

The truth is she does a lot of hanging out with her friends.   She especially likes the stretch along Francis Lewis with all the stores and restaurants.  She plays pool at Millennium on Francis Lewis Boulevard and enjoys Applebee’s in Fresh Meadows.

“On the nights that my friends get their paychecks, we’ll all chip in for a good restaurant or the movies,” said Meaghan.

Her modeling career started months ago when a fellow, male classmate gave her an envelope on graduation day at IS 194.  At first she though it was a note from a secret admirer.  It turned out to have the business card of model photographer Bill Brent. The classmate was Brent’s son who had called Meaghan to his father’s attention.

When her friends found out she was modeling, she said, “They started bugging out, ‘Oh my God.’ They think it’s cool.” 

Meaghan’s thinks, “It’s fun to get noticed.”

When asked what she is thinking of when the camera snaps her picture, Meaghan jokes, “Do I look like a moron?”

She always wanted to be a model and an actress and thinks that Gwen Stefani of the band No Doubt and actress Angelina Jolie are beautiful.

“She kicks ass,” said Meaghan about Jolie.  She loved to watch Jolie in the movies, “She makes everything look so real.”

She enjoys fantasy books and reads fashion magazines and wouldn’t mind ending up in Cosmogirl.  Meaghan will be a freshman at Francis Lewis High School this fall and plans on trying out for the swim team.   She is also thinking of pursuing a career as a lawyer.

Even though her father is an ex-cop and bodyguard who might scare off the guys, she’s had a boyfriend for three months. 

About going out with boys she said, “As long as he treats me well and looks decent – he doesn’t have to be hot.”

God Bless You, Henry Stern!

Our man on the spot, Park’s Commish Henry “Iconoclast” Stern, took the opportunity last week to turn another routine park ribbon cutting into a humorous, but political, moment.

“Starquest,” as he is known to his dog Boomer, paid homage to Boomer’s favorite park part . . . trees. At the celebration of the newly renovated St. Albans Park, Stern read the school kids' favorite poem, “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer.

You know, the one that begins: “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree,” and ends “Poems are made by fools like me But only God can make a tree.”

Stern couldn’t let the moment pass and commented to the crowd: “One of the reasons I love that poem is because it allows us to say God twice without getting in trouble.”

The crowd responded by laughing, with one person saying, “Amen!”

Oh, Henry!

So Many Records, So Little Time

Some people are satisfied with money. Some with fame. Some want love. And some people are satisfied only after they’ve yodeled for 23 hours straight to be featured in the Guinness Book of World records.

The yodeller is Jamaica resident Ashrita Furman, who holds the most Guinness World records of anyone on Earth with 66.

To accomplish this feat, Furman  rode backwards on a unicycle for 57.2 miles, hopped on a pogo stick for 11.5 miles, and balanced 62 glasses on his chin. He has pogo sticked under water for three hours, pogo sticked while juggling for 61 minutes, and completed 307 consecutive games of hopscotch. He has carried bricks and balanced milk bottles on his head for longer than anyone else. He has even created a new Guinness category - land rowing , which he did for 1,500 miles.

Furman, dubbed “Mr. Versatility” by the Guinness Book in 1998, said he enjoys the physical and mental challenges involved in setting records. He says the challenges push him to limits he didn’t know he could reach. And, no, he doesn’t care if you think he’s nuts. “This is for me and my personal goals. Sure, the records are nutty, but I’m still the best in the world at doing them. That means something.”

Currently, Furman is training to break the record for the most milk crates balanced on a chin.

 “These records are always fun. I love doing them,” said Furman.   “And it would be great to do this one in the parking lot of the Tribune. I’m guaranteed good coverage!”

It could happen soon. We'll keep you posted.

Furman, a Brooklyn native who was raised in Kew Gardens, is currently manager of the Guru Health Food Store in Jamaica. At the age of 47, he’s in great shape, both in mind and body. He is a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, a physical fitness guru based in Jamaica who preaches the use of meditation to increase stamina. 

In 1979, Furman first used Chinmoy’s techniques to get his name etched in the Guinness Book by doing 27,000 jumping jacks. Sixty-five records later, he’s still going strong. Since breaking his first record, he hasn’t looked back...unless he’s riding backwards on his unicycle, that is.

Cop Out?

The rumor mill is working overtime at One Police Plaza these days with the news that NYPD Commish Bernard Kerik is turning in his shield in September, off to a lucrative position.

Insiders tell QConfidential that Kerik may be headed for a top-level position with a private security firm, or for a stint at the FBI.

No one is betting on who will replace Kerik (if he leaves). First Deputy Commissioner Joe Dunne – a Queens boy – is on the short rumor list.

But we’ve heard that before. Stay tuned.

Confidentially New York . . .

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