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Corona
native John Leguizamo and wife Justine arrive at premiere of
his new movie — his first directorial effort
—“Undefeated.”
Photo
by: Steve Azzara |
"1OLDFART"
shot on the eastbound L.I.E.
at Main Street.
Photo
by: Ira Cohen |
Models Of Queens
Renaissance
Model
Isobella
Boucher
Home:
Astoria
Age: 21
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 114 lbs.
Stats: 32B-24-31
For
21-year-old Isobella Boucher, modeling wasn’t a plan – it just sort of
happened one day.
Boucher
was doing a bit of shopping before a Film and Television class at Queens
College when a photographer stopped her. “She thought I looked like an
angel just walking on the stairs,” explains Boucher. “So she ran up to
me and asked me if I wanted to model.”
How
do you respond to an encounter like that?
For Boucher, it was easy.
“I just said‘hi’, looked at her card and said ‘thank
you,’" she said. “These things just happen to me; I’m a little
lucky.”
But
it has taken more than luck to get Boucher from that fateful meeting just
over a year ago to where she is now. She has appeared in ads for cosmetics
and in trendy SoHo fashion shows, and has posed for several photographers.
Boucher,
as it turns out, is more talented than lucky.
She
has been dancing ever since she was a young girl. “The first time I ever
saw a ballet school, it was so beautiful and graceful. It’s just
beauty,” she explained.
Boucher has performed both in ballet and modern troupes.
Her
appreciation of beauty has also drawn Boucher toward the written word, and
she has penned poetry and plays.
Her verse, she said, tends to be as romantic as her personality. “A
poetry of love,” as she described it, “of the moments when you fall in
love, how the air changes, the little tiny things like that.”
Boucher
plans to continue modeling while she finishes her studies, and eventually
hopes to see her plays produced and perhaps find work as an actress.
Modeling, she said, is harder for her than her other interests. “You’re
always somebody’s else’s girl,” she explained. “You’re always
changing to be somebody else.”
As
for her style and look, she described it as innocent, simple and elegant.
She favors close-fitting silk or lace shirts with jeans and stiletto shoes.
“Girly clothes,” she says.
“I dress like me, very model like!”
Blame
Corona; Blame Canada
Mets
fans breathed a huge sigh of relief recently when
blown save extraordinaire Armando Benitez was dealt out of
Queens – and into the Bronx.
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Corona's
Omar Minaya &
Armando Benitez, the man
he brought to New York.
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The
sub par closer was traded to the Yankees, taking with him a sad record of
three wins, three losses, a 3.06 ERA, and of course, seven blown saves.
After
Benitez was shipped across town, Mets fans reminisced about some of his
landmark screw-ups, and discussed his departure.
“He’s
a bum,” said one caller to Mike “Mad Dog” Russo on The Fan.
“He should have been gone a long time ago.” Another caller said,
“He’s useless. I’ve watched him destroy three straight seasons now.
The Mets should have never gotten him.” A third caller said, “He’ll
never make it in New York. The Mets were morons for getting him.”
Yes,
Queens baseball fans have suffered a lot as a result of Benitez’s
five-year stint with the Mets.
But
if they’re looking for someone to blame, they don’t have to look far.
It’s
all a Queens guy’s fault.
Omar
Minaya, the current GM of the Montreal Expos, was raised in Corona and
worked for the Mets in 1999 as assistant GM when the team signed Benitez.
The Newtown High School grad was the guy credited with landing the so-called
big game pitcher who became an expert in turning the ninth inning of every
Mets game into a nail-biting fiasco.
Despite
Benitez’s lack of success in New York, Minaya apparently didn’t learn
his lesson. This year with Montreal, the Dominican-born baseball exec, who
was raised 10 minutes from Shea, tried to land Benitez again.
But
Maniya’s loyalty to the beleaguered pitcher wasn’t reciprocated. Benitez
refused to waive a Canadian no-trade clause in his contract, and instead of
going to the Expos, moved to the Bronx to join the Mets' hated rivals.
Good
old Benitez. He just can’t give Queens a break.
Back
To You, Jim…
The
pay at the NYS Assembly must not be so hot these days. Or perhaps
Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik
simply wants a career change.
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Barry
Grodenchik
interviews Helen Marshall & John Liu
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In
any event, QConf was
somewhat surprised to find Assemblyman Grodenchik interviewing fellow
pols (from left) Beep Helen Marshall and a sleepy Councilman John
Liu at a recent press conference.
Grodenchik
even donned a stylishly appropriate reporter’s trench coat for his debut
as part of the WB 11 news team.
Though
Grodenchik is sure to make a dashing journalist, QConf has to ask –
does he really have the hairline to make it on the small screen?
Vallone
& Barron Battle Again
Who
says the City Council is all work and no play?
A
QConf source tells us of a recent outing to Kingsborough
Community College where the work of the day was a softball game.
Councilmembers were “crushing” staffers before breaking up the team.
Queens stars included Joe Addabbo, Jr.; Pete Vallone, Jr. and Melinda
Katz, who suffered a bruised shin and didn’t go looking for an
attorney.
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Councilmembers
Peter Vallone, Jr. and
Charles Barron hooped it up.
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One
participant marveling at the athletic prowess of the Speaker and many of his
crew credited it all to term limits.
Everyone
including James Oddo, the Staten Island Repub., was seen with metal
bats in hand, contrary to his recently introduced legislation limiting their
use. He swings a mean one we are told. His team, however, went down to team
Vallone.
The
work then moved onto the basketball court where vertically challenged Dennis
Gallagher was the surprise to those watching.
It
was on that very bball court that Queens’ “Law and Order” Vallone, Jr.
faced off against Brooklyn’s black activist Charles Barron.
We’re
told their exchange went something like this:
Barron:
(Steals a pass from Vallone.)
Vallone: Nice
steal!
Barron: I’m
a brother; I didn’t “steal” it; I “intercepted” it!
Vallone: As
long as you don’t keep it and call it “reparations,” it’s ok with
me.
Vallone’s
team won.
The
Councilmembers rested.
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