Author: ruhlwrite

It is while peering through the smoke that Ibrahim Amer sees things clearly. His cigar, resting in an ashtray like a sunbather in a lounge chair, is smoldering when he picks it up for a puff. Ebi is the owner of Havana Puff. Ibrahim, who is known as Ebi, is the owner of Havana Puff, Astoria’s only cigar lounge. He started smoking on the sly when he was 10, but that was cigarettes. He’s from Alexandria, Egypt, and at that time, the tobacco’s flame was such hot stuff that it made…

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When Nick Pavlou shakes hands, he offers his right one. But he can’t let it let go of his cane, so the most he can manage is a feeble three-finger touch. For nearly two decades, his left arm has hung, useless, at his side. If you don’t recognize his face — there’s a wicked scar that runs from his left eyebrow and over his forehead to the back of his head — you may recall his name. Nick is the guy who made headlines as the Hard-Hat Hero in October 1996 when he risked…

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The door opens and Roscoe, a kitten who looks like a black and white cookie, sticks his head out and watches Tiffany Schleigh pad down the hallway. Roscoe’s a rescue. Curiosity overcomes caution, and he springs after her only to be scooped up into her arms, which is where he wanted to be all along. It’s not surprising that Roscoe is a rescue; Tiffany, whose new-penny copper curls coil down her back, spends her free time helping others. She produces big-time events featuring child actors…

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She followed her heart. Manuela Rana never had dreams of the American dream, but when she found the man of her dreams, she didn’t hesitate to cross the Atlantic to be with him. Love led Manuela here. This was not an impulsive move. Manuela had known Enrico de Trizio since they were teenagers growing up in Molfetta, Italy. He and his brother, Giancarlo, had moved to the Big Apple to pursue musical careers, and in that respect, they were hitting all the right notes. She didn’t pay him…

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It’s a windy day, and the four flags of Casa Galicia are flapping like a flock of geese flying south for the winter. The stately wedding-cake white building on 31st Avenue, wedged between a burger joint and a supermarket crowned by barbed wire, looks like a foreign embassy. Casa Galicia is a commanding presence on 31st Avenue. Inside the private club, where old-timers from the old country play cards and dominoes on square marble-topped tables, President Marcos Roel is standing in the bar watching…

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