Q Confidential

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Q Confidential is edited by Michael Schenkler and Tamara Hartman. Contributors:
Nick Abadjian, Tom Allon, Steve Azzara, David Colby, Ira Cohen,
Marcia Moxam Comrie, Barbara Jarvie, Stephen McGuire, Mike Nussbaum, and Dee Richard.

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Photos By Steve Azzara

Models Of Queens
Not Just Another Rangers Fan

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photo: Bill Brent

Liz Altolaguirre
Home: College Point
Stats: 34B-25-34
Age: 28

Liz is one die-hard Rangers fan. She doesn’t miss a game and even created a fan website.

And the love of the game made her pursue a job with the NHL. She became the assistant to the head of NHL security and got to meet puck legend Wayne Gretzky.

Liz grew up in New Hyde Park and moved to her parents’ native Uruguay. They moved back in 1982 to live in Flushing.

"I’m a mutt. I have blonde hair but I am Spanish," says Liz.

She attended PS 219 in Kew Garden Hills, Parsons JHS and John Bowne High School. This bilingual beauty went right to work after high school. After starting in Queens, she worked her way up and is now an executive assistant at Rubenstein Associates, the NYC mega pr firm.

Even though she never studied acting, Liz says, "I’ve always had the acting bug."

She got a break when she entered and won an online contest that was looking for the next big star. The contest chose 10 women to be extras in the movie "The New Guy" due out in February.

Liz was flown to Austin, Texas for a three-day shoot, had her own trailer on the set and got to hang out with the stars.

Although she is pursuing acting when she has the opportunity to audition she says, "I’m not going to live in a car . . . but I have a feeling that no matter what I do I’ll be successful."

"I love Queens," says Liz. She now lives in College Point but is looking for a place in Forest Hills, her favorite neighborhood.

Liz gets her nails done on Austin Street and eats at Five Burros Café. She also walks her dog, Lucy, a yorkie, in Forest Park.

From time to time she’ll catch a Rangers game at Donovan’s off Bell Blvd.

Mayor Mike & Lay-a-way Plan

Mayor-elect Mike Bloomberg recently hosted new and returning Council members at his Manhattan townhouse and upon seeing the spouse of one of the newly elected Council members from Queens admiring a piece of his 16th Century art in the parlor, said, "I just had that hung there today, I felt the spot needed something." Then he said, "Come, let me show you my favorite piece and with that, escorted the Queens lady into an adjacent room where he showed her a non-descript piece" by an obscure Boston artist and revealed, "This was the first piece of art I bought when I came to New York. It was $5,000 and I put a deposit on it and paid $25 a week until I paid it off."

The Council-elect's spouse looked at him and said: "Wow, it’s very gratifying to know that Mike Bloomberg once used layaway!"

So there, Bloomberg can relate to the average Joe.

At this very moment, we are told that the Councilman-elect and his spouse have a piece of art on layaway!

Library Gets Beat

Following a world record-setting $2.42 purchase of the original manuscript of his classic book "On The Road," the legacy of Ozone Park’s own original beatnik Jack Kerouac continues to live on.

The literary and personal archives of Kerouac were bought recently by the New York Public Library as part of a larger effort to document the "Beat Movement."

The large archive was preserved by Kerouac himself and includes manuscripts, notebooks, letters, journals, photographs, and personal items saved from the time he was 11 until his death in 1969.

They’ll be on display for research purposes at the New York Library on 42nd Street.

Size Matters?

When it comes to menorahs, size does matter.

At least that’s what several Jewish institutions in Queens believed this Hanukkah season, as the battle to brag the borough’s biggest and best menorah burned for eight straight days.

The Chabbad of Eastern Queens probably had Queens’ biggest menorah. In fact, it promoted its Dec. 9 menorah lighting on Union Turnpike as "the lighting of the largest menorah in Queens."

The Central Queens Y in Forest Hills, which usually claims it has the borough's largest menorah, didn’t do so this year, acknowledging that the Chabbad of Eastern Queens achieved the honor. Still, Bob Friedman, assistant director of the Y, refused to be outdone, and said, "Well, we don’t claim to have the largest menorah, but ours is certainly the one that burns brightest."

The Chabbad of Northeast Queens also stakes its claim to having one of the best menorahs in the borough, lighting a 15-foot one at Bay Terrace Shopping Center.

Still, despite the competition, NEQ Jewish Community Council Board Prez Corey Bearak said, "What matters is that the Jewish population of Queens sees a visible symbol of the holiday it celebrates, helping members identify with their religion."

So, Corey, does size really matter?

Queens Sexaholic

Queens kid John Leguizamo is at it again with another one man Broadway show that is drawing mixed reviews from critics.

The show titled "Sexaholix . . . A Love Story," consists mostly of material based on Leguizamo’s life growing up in the Queens neighborhoods of Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.

"Sexaholix," is not Leguizamo’s first attempt at a solo stage performance – in 1999 he won an Emmy for the televised version of his Broadway hit "Freak."

Leguizamo returned to Queens in 1999 to film scenes for the Spike Lee movie "Summer of Sam" in which he starred.

Bloomberg Fans At Queens Bd #9

Shortly after the November election, Community Board 9 sent a congratulatory letter to Mayor-Elect Michael Bloomberg, also inviting him to sit down with them and discuss the needs of community boards throughout Queens.

District Manager Mary Ann Carey, revealed to the QConf she received a call from Ray Fink, a spokesperson for Bloomberg, on Dec. 10, acknowledging receipt of the letter, apologizing for the lateness of their response, and informing her their office would be amenable to a meeting, as soon as possible, after the inauguration.

Carey said she’s been involved with community boards for the past 20 years and no mayor has ever given a personal response to their congratulatory letter.

"We are very pleased," she said, "just for directly acknowledging us, and feel confident that Mayor Bloomberg will work with us."

Estrogen Files

Forest Hills fast-talker, Fran Capo, has gone the way of all performers — she’s in cyberspace. And she gets there via some dot com web thingamajig.

Capo can now be found at The Estrogen Files: Money, Men and Motherhood, an award-winning cybersitcom, created with a friend.

Also on her space tour, tune into www.m4radio.com and hear an episode of The Estrogen Files every Monday and Wednesday at 3 p.m., simply by hitting Listen Live.

The show, complete with cool music and sound effects, has modern day bluntness with a touch of old time radio. It’s comedy, mayhem and male misinterpretation.

Male and female Queensites will love it — at least one female Confer thinks so.

 

Confidentially New York . . .

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