Month: August 2012

The drapes are blocking the sun, but the darkness doesn’t dim Charlene Lite‘s optimism. Yes, she’s had good times and bad times just like the rest of us, but she’s made it her mantra to see the bright side of everything. She wears her positive view not on her sleeve but around her neck on a round, silver charm the size of a quarter that is inscribed with the motto “Never give up on your dreams.” Charlene wants to be a pop singer. Ah, her dreams, they are big…

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“I’ve got a lot of stuff cooking.” As Mark Rinaldi says this, he places a plate of pão de queijo on the rustic wooden dining table, long as a church pew, that dominates his apartment. He baked the Brazilian cheese bread, which is shaped like billiard balls, this morning. He says the recipe’s a cinch — cheese, oil, milk and yuca flour. Next he brings out the tripe, the foul-smelling fillet whose innards look like an air conditioner filter. He’s fixing to fix it…

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You don’t see this very often. Eric Mathews is sitting on a park bench at the Astoria Houses promenade watching the fog roll off the East River. Eric, trim, taut and poised to spring like a rubber band, isn’t used to sitting still with his hands, creased like the distressed leather of his jacket, lying idly in his lap. He’s worked far too hard in his 47 years to rest, even for a minute. He grew up in the projects. He’s come a long way since then, which is why he’s…

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It’s the dog days of summer, and Zora is sitting on the front porch watching the people pass by. She’s a puppy — my puppy — and she thinks the world is her bone and that every person is dying to pet and play with her. That’s why her bobbed tail snakes back and forth at every footfall. A new immigrant, Zora is seeing everything in Astoria for the first time. She’s lived here half her life — three of her six months — but she knows she’s sure not…

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