Astoria Characters: The Artist With Vast Bodies of Work

All is solemn, still and shrouded in the serenity of semi-darkness. In this surrealistic setting, you catch sight of a statue of a raven, regal, its beak wide open as if to cry out in warning. Tina’s a tattoo artist. A bouquet of dead red roses tied to a midnight-black diaphanous drape. Butterflies, wings unfurled in kaleidoscopic glory, entombed under glass. A skull gazing, eyeless, at a bunch of bottles of ink. She has a Goth aesthetic. And a black-clad woman with…

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Astoria Characters: The Big-Kid Toy Collectors

Right inside the front door, there’s a cutie-pie Strawberry Shortcake dollhouse displayed, like a rare jewel, in an acrylic case. It’s living next door to Skeletor’s creepy castle. Phebe with her pal Hulk Hogan. Down the aisle, there are a bunch of Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids and action figures and G.I. Joes just waiting for the next kid, or as is more often the case, the next adult to cherish. Look around – there’s a lot of playful stuff crammed into the floor-to-ceiling shelves…

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Astoria Characters: The Leash Leader

“Before you meet Kitana, shake my hand and give her a treat,” says Christopher Borew as he parks his purple bicycle right outside Astoria Park. Christopher and Kitana. He hands me a sliver of beef liver. Kitana, his17-month-old snow-white Shiba Inu, gives me a grin as she gobbles it up. Now pet her – not on the top of the head, she’s a dominant dog, just caress her under the chin, yes, like that, that’s perfect. OK, now that we’re chill, Christopher removes the canine’s…

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Astoria Characters: The Bowling Opera Singer

When the cream puffs and canelés at Pastries by Anne are served, soft-spoken Hyunsung Shin beams and bursts into song, his beautiful baritone booming through the bakery. Sung lives in Long Island City. In case you didn’t guess, Sung, the sing-song moniker he prefers to go by, is passionate about pastries. And bowling. And opera singing. And helping helm his family’s food-service supply business. Any and all of his favorite things will elicit a Sung song. If you think it’s…

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Astoria Characters: The Passionate Performer

Chrysa Petridou was working late and didn’t get home until 4 a.m. Her big blue eyes are hidden behind her designer shades, but it doesn’t help. Chrysa’s from Cyprus. She can feel sleep calling like an ambulance’s siren. So this star of the Greek stage and screen does what she always does: She acts as though she’s wide awake. After removing her sunglasses, she smiles radiantly, plants her hands on her hips and confidently tosses her long golden hair over her shoulders…

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