Photos By Steve Azzara - steveazzara.com

Patricia
Home: Corona
Age: 26
Height: 5’
Weight: 101 lbs
Stats: 34-27-36

Beautiful Corona native Patricia said she can’t wait to start showing herself off – as a Broadway actress, that is.

Although Patricia only started getting interested in acting a couple of years ago, she’s already working hard at making a name for herself.  Currently, she’s studying theatrical arts at the venerable HB Studio in Manhattan, which has been around since the early-1940s. 

While she currently works as full-time administrative assistant at a law firm, Patricia isn’t ready to give up on her acting dream.  Recently, she took part in a showcase put on by an acting school, where she performed several different scenes and monologues.

Patricia, a 2000 graduate of Fordham University, said that the Psychology B.A. she earned there has really helped her with her acting. “It helps me understand people, and how they think.”

Before moving to Corona with her family, Patricia says she lived in Jackson Heights. While she loves both neighborhoods, she said she’s very happy in her current location.

“Corona’s very eccentric. There’s a lot of interesting people always hanging out on the streets.  It’s nice talking to my neighbors every day.  And, if something bad ever happens, everyone pulls together as a community.”

One of Patricia’s favorite things about being at home, she said, is enjoying the company of her family.

“I’m an only child, but my family is so large that I never get lonely.  They’re just great,” she said.

What do you get when you put a State Senator, a Bayside civic leader and a former Community Board chairman in a room together? Possibly part of a jury.

When Community Board 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece, a former candidate for public office, recently walked into Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens to report for jury duty, he was “really surprised.”  He immediately saw the familiar face of State Senator Frank Padavan. Iannece said, “He was also called for jury duty. The same day. Is that a coincidence or what? It’s pretty funny.”

What was even stranger was that Adrian Joyce, the former chair of Community Board 11, also an aspiring elected official, was also there reporting for jury duty. To make matters weirder, Iannece said that there was also a current Board 11 member there. Iannece said, “There are three courts in Queens and a million cases, but we all get called to the same place on the same day.” He then added with a laugh, “I guess they’ve got nothing better to do than pull civic leaders off the street.”

Although none of the four civic leaders were chosen to serve on the jury in question, Iannece said, “Imagine if we were all on the same jury. We could have a Board 11 meeting right there in the jury box.”

Imagine the poor judge on the case!

    From the bad pun department:

    Hometown hip-hopper Russell Simmons, the millionaire record producer and clothing maker who has never shied away from using his products to promote political causes, is punctuating his recent endorsement of gubernatorial candidate Carl McCall by renaming one of his shoes the “Carl McCall Running Shoe.”

    “I want people to race down to the polls,” the Hollis hero said.

    Simmons renamed the “Phat Classic,” designed by his brother and pioneer rapper Run (Rev. Run, to be exact) and sold by his very popular label Phat Farm, a couple of weeks after his mid-September endorsement of McCall. The $65 sneakers’ design, logo and packaging won’t change for the renaming, which will only be effective for the month of October, Simmons said.

    Simmons had previously used the shoe to help promote his support for the slavery reparations movement.

    While McCall was appreciative of Simmons’ endorsement, his spokespeople didn’t want to comment on the shoe.  Perhaps that’s best, as the shoe’s official description on www.phatfarm.com reveals some qualities that McCall’s people may perhaps want to stay away from.  For example:

    The laces are fat — but not the candidate.

    The shoe is only available in “white on white,” but the endorsement here is black on black.

    The shoe has a “conforming sock and tongue.”  We don’t know what that is, but would think it is something no candidate would want.

After the artwork called “Falling” by artist Sharon Paz that consisted of cutouts of people falling from the World Trade Center was exhibited at the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) and taken down, another artwork in Queens is stirring up more controversy, according to Crain’s Business News. 

Some visitors to the Queens Museum of Art were bothered by a piece there designed by Palestinian-American artist Emily Jacir that consists of a stack of pamphlets from the 1964 World’s Fair's Jordanian Pavilion. The work “bears anti-Israel sentiment” and is part of the museum’s Queens International Show that exhibited works from 44 local artists, according to the report. 

According to Crain’s, QMA Executive Director Tom Finkelpearl asked the artist to remove the pamphlets from the exhibit, and the museum held two events to discuss the work in a seminar called the “Dialogue Project.”

Finkelpearl told the reporter that the show did not set out to be controversial, saying, “I never anticipated this.”

	No, the former candidate for the City Council is not back in politics – yet. He's entered in the NYC Marathon to raise funds for the developmentally disabled. We're sure John is keeping in shape for the next (political) race, but this is a worthwhile effort. You can make a pledge to help him. At 25¢ per mile, it'll cost you $6.60 for the 26 mile race. Call 321-3800, ext. 252 to donate.