Nancy Ruhling's Astoria Characters

Minnie Daddario places a plate of pizzelle on the table. There aren’t many people who make the Italian snowflake-shaped cookies any more. Minnie thinks that’s a shame. Minnie is a very young 89. Because it’s so easy. All you do is mix the ingredients — flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, butter and anise — and spoon the pancake-like batter into an electric press that is similar to a waffle iron. Close the lid, count to 30 and, presto, you have a pair of pizzelle. With…

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It’s not as easy as it looks. Tony Loupakis, who stands a mere 5 feet 4, grabs the bar of the parallel baam, spreads his legs in a V and hooks his feet, like eagle talons, onto the smooth, bare wood. Tony bets you can’t do this. From this unlikely perch, he zips his legs and shoots his trim torso straight into the air like a torpedo. He and his 126 pounds of muscle could stay like this, if not forever, then at least for a very long time. But he comes down because he wants me to try…

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“My house is like a zoo on Saturday mornings,” says Erin Black. Erin is an Emmy-winning costume designer. So consider yourself warned and enter at your own risk to meet her husband, Eric, who is trying to feed Emmett, the nearly 12-month-old baby, who thinks food is something that should not go into his mouth today or ever. Introduce yourself to Tessa (3), Quinn (6) and Lyla (she says she’s 113, but Quinn declares that she’s actually 8) who are playing at putting on their…

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Even when he’s not raising his furious fist to the sky, Mickey Z. is outstanding in the crowd. That’s something to say because as a political activist, he’s in so many. Mickey Z. playing the protester. He’s not a big guy so he’s not easy to spot at first glance. He stands just 5 feet 7 and weighs in at 150, all of it body and brain muscle, none of it head hair. What makes him different is his dimpled defiance. With his villainous arched eyebrows, he’s fierce…

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Predrag Grncarski‘s a cappuccino guy; his wife, Giselle, favors cortados. Not that they ever have time for a coffee break. Predrag and Giselle are the owners of the OK Cafe. Which is ironic because they are the owners of the OK Café, a down-home shop that pays homage to the brewed bean. It’s hard enough running a business when it’s all you do, but Predrag and Giselle are also full-time employees in the events-management business and more-than-full-time parents of 9-year-old Sofia…

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