Author: ruhlwrite

The afternoon of December 6, 2013 was cold and rainy. Victoria Hoffman was only going to take her 12-year-old Bichon Frisé, a snowy powder puff called Mimi, around the block. She put her 1.39-carat diamond wedding ring on her finger, grabbed her umbrella and walked out the door without gloves or a care in the world. What did she have to worry about? She had just married the longtime love of her life, Scott, and every time she looked at her ring, it made her feel close to him while he was working…

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The glass door to Astoria Carpet stands wide open in welcome. Eleanor Kazas is watching the people pass by, but she won’t be doing this for long. Today, and every day, she has a lot of orders to tend to. Eleanor joined the family business 27 years ago. Her husband, Sotiris Constantinou, is the one who runs this store, but he’s a little late. Once he arrives, she’ll go to her post at Carpet Time, their other Astoria store. “We’re a real mom-and-pop business,”…

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It’s hard for Samantha Darche to keep a straight face. Every time she sees the camera, she cracks up. No matter what she does, she can’t subpoena her solemn face. Samantha’s the chief of staff for Assemb. Simotas. As the chief of staff and legislative counsel for Assemb. Aravella Simotas, Samantha’s used to being on the other side of the lens. And while she has prepped her boss for countless interviews, she has no clue what to do or say when the story is all about her. Take…

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In the bowels of the boiler room of P.S. 122, Tommy Gawiak sits solo. The sun hasn’t rubbed the sleep out of its eyes yet, and the 1,368 elementary school kids won’t start skipping in for an hour or so. Tommy has been at P.S. 122 since 1979. Tommy, the big guy in the little room; he doesn’t mind the solitude, which is broken only by the creaks of his aging body. He’s the school’s fireman, a title that was conferred on maintenance workers back in the days when coal…

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Everybody else in the house is still asleep. That’s why Tommy Capezza is waiting at the front door. It’s not only about being quiet. Tommy, a bulldog with an accordion-fold face and a prizefighter’s rosy cauliflower nose, has a lot to say, private stuff to get off his chest, and he might not want his wife or his grandson to hear some of it. At least not from his own lips. For Tommy, every year has been an adventure. Tommy — they used to call him Tommy Red when his hair was…

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