....May 15, 10:35 AM
 
 
 
Woodhaven Woman
Daena (pronounced Diana) has been modeling since she was 16, despite her first incident.

“Somebody stopped me in the mall and said that I looked like I had potential,” she said. “It was a scam, but I liked the whole taking pictures thing, so I wasn’t discouraged.”

What started as a hobby at first has grown into a full-time gig – that is, until motherhood happened just a few weeks ago.

But Daena, who is a combination of Dominican and Salvadoran, isn’t letting her little bundle of joy slow her down. Just three weeks since her Caesarean, and she already fits into her pre-pregnancy jeans. She also did a couple of shoots while she was pregnant.

Having moved from Freeport, Daena is thrilled about living in close proximity to good public transportation so she can go in and out of the City as she pleases.

When she’s not hanging out at the Queens Center Mall, or taking care of the little tyke, she and her baby’s father are enjoying the life of a young family in Queens, looking forward to beautiful weather – and counting the days til Daena can get back in front of the camera.
 
 
Box Office Buddy

Trying to learn how to be an aggressive Congressman, Ben Affleck studied his new friend for his role in "State of Play."
Although Mayor Mike Bloomberg may have billions available in his coffers for his bid as a third term mayor, less-than-certain- candidate, Queens Congressman Anthony Weiner has actor Ben Affleck.

Now, we’re not sure if Affleck is going to endorse Weiner’s mayoral candidacy, but the two have struck a curious friendship while Affleck was researching his role as an ambitious, young Congressman in the movie, “State of Play.”

Who is more likely to win an election, someone with billions or a friend of an Oscar winner?
Oh, Comptroller Bill Thompson and Councilman Tony Avella are in it too.
Meet The Mets

Johan Santana
Johan Santana has proven again that he is worth whatever dollar amount we are paying him.

The ace Mets pitcher responded last week to the news that he was listed as the National League pitcher of the month for April by going 7 strong innings and striking out 10 to gain a win in a 1-0 loss, thanks in part to the Mets newly redesigned bullpen.

This was the second month in a row that Santana won the award – he got it last September for going 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA. His 1.10 and 3-1 record for April wasn’t too shabby, and after Monday’s game, that ERA dropped to 0.78.

Starting pitching, a bullpen and Carlos Beltran, the best hitter in all of baseball this season – sounds like the formula for success, right?

So why are we just hovering at .500?
Chapey Stiff

Geraldine Chapey
Times may be hard, but no one wants to work for free – especially for a politician. Some 30 campaign staffers got a quick lesson in cynicism when Geraldine Chapey, a south Queens Democratic District Leader who lost a special election, stiffed her staff out of thousands of dollars in salary after losing her race for City Council to Republican upstart Eric Ulrich.

Seth Allen, a St. John’s honors student, said “We are getting stiffed - hard-core.” The staffers claim they are owed $14,000, which just might be less than the billable hours Chapey’s lawyers are gonna ring up sorting this out.
Mad Cow?

Our borough was treated to a strange sight last Wednesday when a bovine prowler hit the streets of Jamaica. A wayward cow turned what was supposed to be a rainy spring afternoon into a low-budget reenactment of Pamplona’s running of the bulls.

First reported at about 2 p.m., the angus cow escaped a slaughterhouse on 158th Street and Beaver Road. The cops corralled the wayward barnyard creature with the use of a Mounted Unit trailer, which is usually used for horses.

After temporarily being housed in a shelter in Brooklyn run by the City’s Animal Care and Control agency, the cow was transferred to a farm in Calverton, Long Island, where she should have few beefs.

She’s being introduced to a steer named Wexley with the hope of, y’know, finding the right moo-d.
Jet Blue Brawler Behind Bars

Christina Szele
Woodside’s violent-flyer Christina Szele is behind bars.

Szele was denied bail by a Denver judge after allegedly violating the terms of her probation two months ago.

The Queens air-brawler was arrested again March 8 for allegedly punching her sister-in-law in the face and pulling her hair, according to published reports.

Szele, 36, was sentenced to 5-years probation in February after attacking flight attendants aboard a Jet Blue flight last June, forcing the plane to make an unexpected stop in Denver. She allegedly punched the flight attendant in the face while shouting racial slurs after she was asked to stop smoking on the plane.

Szele was also arrested in September after she allegedly failed two drug tests and was involved in another assault in Queens.

She faces up to 20 months in prison if the judge decides that she violated her probation.
Gosling Moves

Ryan Gosling
Actor Ryan Gosling is new pals with the Steinway Moving and Storage crew, which is based in Long Island City. Gosling’s new movie, Blue Valentine, features Steinway moving crews and trucks trouncing around New York with the pretty leading man. The movie, which is about marital turbulence, also stars Michelle Williams, will be out for swooners in 2010.

Ladies: need a mover?

Confidentially New York . . .

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