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....July 1, 10:18 AM |
| More Than Just Good Looks
Wanda Ferreiras Home: Little Neck Age: 20s Height: 5’5" Weight: 110 lbs. Stats: 36C-26-36 Wanda Ferreiras may be the only model in the history of Queens to receive honors from a sitting Borough President, but she didn’t win the accolades for her raven-haired beauty alone. In a special cultural celebration last February, on the date that marked the 160th anniversary of independence for the Dominican Republic, Borough President Helen Marshall presented Ferreiras with a special award for her work in theater and television which “has enriched the cultural life of the Dominican community and beyond.” How many models can make that sort of claim? Perhaps this recognition came to Wanda because she is much more than just another model. Born in the Dominican town of Salcedo, Wanda spent her youth absorbing the rich performing arts traditions of her country before immigrating to the New York area. Eager on arrival, Wanda took the first money that she made and invested it in acting courses, traveling long hours by bus to develop her acting skills in Manhattan workshops. “I remember my long trip every evening,” Wanda said. “But since I was doing what I enjoyed most, the lengthy trip home late at night did not bother me.” Her love of acting extends back all the way to her Dominican childhood. “As a young girl, I loved to play the fatal woman role, using a red flower with a long stem typical of my country as a cigarette and smoking as if I was on stage,” she recalled. As an accomplished actress, Wanda no longer has to make believe she is on stage – and she gets to play the fatal woman role for real these days, especially in Spanish-language theater productions and television shows. The hard work paid off: Wanda’s most recent film, “Female Assassins,” just debuted at the New York Independent Film Festival. On her family’s advice, Wanda also enrolled in college and eventually earned a communications degree from SUNY-Old Westbury. Now, when she is not acting, she reports for a local television news program. With Wanda reporting, the news has never looked better. |
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| Mr. Softee's Hard Sell
Sweeping anti-noise initiatives proposed by Mayor Bloomberg earlier this month grabbed headlines for one particularly odd provision. The wordless jingle broadcast by Mr. Softee ice cream trucks, an ubiquitous sound of city summers, would be outlawed under Bloomberg’s revised noise codes.
Anyone who has stood on a city block and seen the speed with which young residents appear out of nowhere after only a few bars of the Softee theme song can understand that tuneless trucks would be a business hardship. In all likelihood, a Pavlovian experiment could find that the mouths of New Yorkers water at the Softee sound. But not all ice cream trucks rely on the allure of the jingle alone – some drivers, it seems, prefer to use stealth military tactics. After a recent Cunningham Park performance of the Big Apple Circus, children and parents happily departed the circus tent and walked up a rolling hill to the parking lot. Just beyond the crest of the hill, waiting in silent ambush, sat a Mr. Softee truck. The cunning driver turned on the jingle just at the moment that he could see the whites in the little kids’ eyes. The result, of course, was a course of youthful pleadings for parents to pay for a post-circus ice cream treat. Many parents, who had already paid for tickets and snacks at the circus itself, grudgingly complied. Even if the Softee truck owners manage to preserve their jingle from the clutches of the Bloomberg administration, ice cream ambushes should be fair game for our youthful City Council. |
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| Not A Pretty Picture
A new book about Queens’ own Amazin’ 1986 New York Mets just hit the shelves, but if you’re looking for a chronicle of noble heroes bringing home the trophy, look somewhere else.
The Bad Guys Won! is a look at the dark side of the 1986 Mets. For example, the team trashed airplanes, got high in the locker room, had domestic problems, and participated in lots of boozing and lady chasing. Sure, they may have been losers, but hey, at least they won. Maybe the 2004 Mets should give it a try. |
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| Burned
When Queens man and civic activist Bryan Pu-Folkes was asked to carry the 2004 Olympic torch through a part of the borough recently, he gladly obliged.
After all, you have to be nominated to carry the torch, and not that many people get to do it. The torch was passed from torchbearer to torchbearer until it reached Athens Square Park in Astoria, and Pu-Folkes – the founder of the group New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) – was one of the lucky people who got to participate. But it wasn’t all fun and games for poor Pu-Folkes. When Bryan got the torch, it went out. It was re-lit of course, but still, it actually went out. You know what they say about NICE guys. |
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| Brit Blunder
Pop princess Britney Spears had to cancel her tour recently when she injured her left knee while filming a video in Woodside.
She was practicing a basketball scene, and she ended up twisting her knee to the point that she needed surgery. But if Brit hurt her left knee, why has she been spotted holding her solitary crutch under her right arm? That’s what a few gossip columnists wanted to know recently when they spotted her holding the crutch on the wrong side. Her answer? Her left arm gets tired, so she switches. Great answer. Could it be that Brit isn’t as hurt as she says? Could it be that the pressures of being a sex symbol have gotten to her and she just doesn’t want to hit the road? Probably not. After all, by canceling her tour, she loses $900,000 a week. That may be chump change for her, but still. |
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| Poetic License
Awww! You too! And she was driving a Jaguar on 147th St. and 145th St. in Rosedale.
photo: Ira Cohen | |||||||||
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can reach us by e-mail at conf@queenstribune.com Fax to Conf (718) 357-0972 Or you can reach us by mail: "Confidential" 174-15 Horace Harding Expressway Fresh Meadows, NY 11365 |
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