....July 1, 2:14 PM
 
 
 
Cinderella Story
Monique Taylor
Rochdale Village
Age: 25
Ht: 5’6
Wt: 147
Stats: 34-37-38
Black Cartel

It sounds like a Cinderella story: little-known Rochdale Village resident Monique Taylor was helping out back stage at a fashion show, making sure the models had everything they needed to strut their stuff. Then, a sharp-eyed photographer spotted Taylor, and well, the rest is history.

Monique’s been the one strutting her stuff ever since. In fact, she’s attending weekly rehearsals for an upcoming fashion show. How she keeps her sexy curves and model physique is no secret. Monique said, “I don’t’ diet, but I go to the gym 4 times week.”

“Urban. Very hip. Very street, but with a little glamour to it,” is how Monique described her fashion style. How she accomplishes this is a mix of, well, the real world and the fashion world.

“A pair of jeans with a few rips in them,” is a start. Add to that vintage t-shirts and “really, really nice three-inch sandals,” she said, and it’s a look one can take from the corner to the catwalk.

Where does a young, intelligent beauty with her own fashion sense go from here? To her own clothing line, of course. Monique said she even has a name for the line she’d like to open one day: “K-isi Kouture.”

“I’m going after women who like to dress sexy, so we need a sexy name,” she explained.

Monique’s long-term goals don’t end with owning her own business. Monique, who moved to Harlem three weeks before the interview, said she wants to return to the borough. “I like the idea of raising a family here,” she said.
 
 
Birdman Of Hillside Avenue

Calvin Kim in front of Hillside Cleaners with a couple of friends.
Pigeons have an ally on Hillside Avenue. Apart from being the owner of Hillside Cleaners, Calvin Kim, is out in front of his store three times a day, with a cup of birdseed in hand to feed the local pigeons. Passersby giggle as they watch the pigeons set down on the dry cleaner’s arms to snack on the seeds he provides.

“If I’m not out feeding them by the time they want to eat, they’ll begin pecking at the windows and sometimes even come into the store,” said Kim. The Jamaica storeowner first got involved in the task of helping his feathery friends when he nursed an injured bird back to health a few years ago. He bandaged the bird’s broken leg, and soon enough, people from around the neighborhood would come to the store to have Kim play doctor on injured birds they either found or kept as pets. As his heart grew for pigeons, he began to frequently buy birdseed from pet stores. Now Hillside Cleaners is quite the hot spot for Queens pigeons.

But customers need not fear because Kim thoroughly washes his hands when he goes back to laundry work. Asked if the pigeons ever make deposits onto his sleeves, he replied, “Never. They know I don’t like it.„ Hillside Cleaners is located at 165-23 Hillside Ave.
Ready To March, But Not Surf

A web address but no site: www.mikegianaris.com
Astoria Assemblyman and likely Attorney General candidate Mike Gianaris is ready to march, as he did in a recent Puerto Rican Day Parade, but there’s one place he’s not quite ready to go: his own Web site.

The site, www.mikegianaris.com, was advertised on a banner Gianaris carried during the parade. QConf discovered “the site is under construction and coming soon.”

When asked for comment, the quick witted but Internet challenged Gianaris said, “Your crack investigative team has truly uncovered an amazing truth: my banner printers work faster than my web designers. Rest assured, the website will be up within days.”

Check it out yourself.
Picture Perfect: Hear No Evil

What is Claire Shulman up to while standing next to Gary Ackerman and listening to Mike Bloomberg?
As a crowd sat and listened to Mayor Michael Bloomberg talk about the changeover for Fort Totten from a military installation to a public park, it appears as though at least one public figure just couldn’t take any more.
One could almost hear former Borough President Claire Shulman saying “La la la la, I’m not listening,” as the mayor spoke about the way Fort Totten shifted hands throughout the years.

Truth be told, Shulman was just smoothing out here hair, which was starting to frizz in the baking heat. Actually, we hear that the former Queens Beep is a really big fan of Mayor Mike and is likely to be crossing party lines -- big time -- concerning Mayoral endorsement.
Walken On Sunshine

Christopher Walken
The next few months are going to be pretty busy for Astoria native Christopher Walken.

In three separate films Walken will portray a concerned federal figure who fears for his daughter’s future, a singing and dancing tough guy on the streets of Bensonhurst and a TV producer in a movie about a model-turned-bounty hunter.

In “Wedding Crashers,” which opens July 15, Walken plays Treasury Secretary William Cleary, a dad whose daughter has just become the latest bedpost notch for one of a pair of habitual wedding crashers, played by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.

On Aug. 19 the musical craze hits again with “Romance & Cigarettes,” where Walken plays Cousin Bo to James Gandolfini’s Nick Murder in a musical described as “Pennies From Heaven” meets “The Honeymooners.”

Walken’s final project for the year hits theaters Nov. 4. Tony Scott’s “Domino” is the true life story about the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey (“The Manchurian Candidate”) who went from being a Ford model to a bounty hunter.

So get ready to see a lot of this bug-eyed Oscar winner between now and Christmastime. And when you’ve had enough in 2005, look out for him to join Adam Sandler in next year’s “Click.”
The Donald & Two Parises

Paris: Latsis and finacee Hilton
What will one Paris say to the other? I do.

The two Parises, hotel heiress Paris Hilton and shipping heir Paris Latsis will march down the aisle in December. Queens native Donald Trump has reportedly cautioned Hilton to sign a pre-nup with hubby to be Latsis.

“Every time celebrities get ready to walk down the aisle - and, believe me, I know all about that - I continuously caution them to get a pre-nuptial agreement,” Trump reportedly said.

The very wealthy Paris Hilton is marrying the even wealthier Paris Latsis later this year.

Trump should be warning Latsis as he is set to inherit billions while Hilton will have to split her millions with her siblings.

Does he find something about Paris distracting?


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