Nancy Ruhling's Astoria Characters

When Gerri Domenikos was growing up, she always figured that she would go into the family’s commercial heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration business. After all, she had been involved with Bayside Refrigeration (now AirLogix) since she was 5. Her father, a Greek immigrant, had founded the company in their home in Bayside in 1984 two years after she was born. To make it a success, he had to work all the time, and the only way he could see Gerri was to take her with…

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When Adam B. Shapiro introduces himself, he makes a big point of emphasizing his middle initial, B. You see, Adam’s an actor, and there’s another fellow on the New York stage who has the same name; it is the all-important B that clarifies the confusion. You can see Adam in . (For the record, the two Adams recently met, and Adam B says that Adam No B, who is starring in on Broadway, is, indeed, a very nice guy.) While explaining all this, Adam, a benevolent bearded behemoth, is sitting in his…

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Ah, comfort food. Whether it’s mac and cheese or mashed potatoes, it’s what gets Nick Testa’s culinary juices flowing like fine wine. Nick is the executive chef at The Bonnie and Sweet Afton. “It reminds me of my childhood,” says Nick, who is the executive chef of the Astoria gastropubs The Bonnie and Sweet Afton. “It makes me think of home. And of my mother.” Which is why he put zucchini fritters on Sweet Afton’s menu. “It’s her recipe,” he says as he places a plate of them…

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In Annie Mascia’s life, things don’t simply happen. Rather, she gets interested in one thing, and it leads to another and another and another. Annie, a licensed massage therapist and certified aromatherapist and aromatherapy teacher, remarks that it’s quiet in the co-op today – her husband and two young daughters are out. Annie is a licensed massage therapist and a certified aromatherapist and teacher. She and Rusty, her 2-year-old orange and white cat, are hanging out for a while until…

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Saneun Hwang rummages through her tote bag until she finds a thick white book. She places it on the coffee table and begins flipping through its image-heavy pages, which she likens to birds’ wings flying freely through the sky. Saneun is from South Korea. There is a story – her story – behind the tome she has titled ; in fact, it will tell you pretty much everything you want and need to know about who she is. Saneun, who is from Seoul, South Korea, made the so-called artist book while she…

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