Category: Profiles and Interviews With Interesting New Yorkers

Interviews and profiles of New Yorkers who make the city an interesting and exciting place to live and visit. We find chefs, entertainers, writers, dancers, artists, musicians and let all of them share their incredible work and stories.

Jerry Middleton: Working With Wood

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Look beyond Wall Street and Midtown’s financial firms, Madison Avenue ad agencies and Silicon Alley in the FlatIron District.  Instead look around at the thousands of individuals and smaller companies who make our bread, artisanal pickles, jewelry, hats and any other number of items we give as gifts or use in our daily lives.

There are all manner of interesting professions and niche industries in the city and I was fortunate to be able to speak with Jerry Middleton owner and operator of Wood Essentials, a company that specializes in making wood medicine cabinets.

Lady Long Long: Multi-talented Asian Performer Taking The US By Storm

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She can sing, dance, act, paint and even write. What else can China native Lady Long Long do? Coming from an artistic family Lady Long Long was raised to appreciate and master the arts. At first she needed to travel to Europe and learn proper English as many Chinese families do. She spent time in England, France, Germany and Holland. She had a culture shock in Europe. Yet she made the best of it.

Marlena: Transplanted Artist Creating Music From Her Roots

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By Nick Christophers The saying goes you can take a New Yorker out of New York, but you can’t take New York out of a New Yorker. This is evident with recording artist Marlena who was raised in Queens, New York only to later move to the sunny […]

NYC Comic Con Keeps Getting Bigger and Better

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By Nick Christophers The geeks were out in force Day 1 of the blockbuster NYC Comic Con.  There was a line to get in, tickets or not, a mile long across 11th Avenue. Passersby who were not aware of the event were shaking their heads “hey it’s not Halloween yet”. […]

Modern Chocolates at Chocolat Moderne

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“I started with more classic looking bonbons. I describe my line as kind of a combination of Belgian and French. Molded bonbons are more visually the Belgian style, versus the French style we call enrobed. But recipe-wise, ingredient-wise, it’s more in the French style.” – Joan Coukos Todd

Mob Comedy “Good Friday”

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Even though it has been a bit quiet on the “street” and on the screen with the mob that doesn’t mean the subject is dead. Just when you thought that was true a certain Long Island director resurrects it with a good dose of comedy. Award winning director / producer Sal Rinella is on the verge of completing his film affectionately titled “Good Friday”. He has been in the entertainment business for over twenty years.

Lillo Brancato: Reformed Actor on the Road to Redemption

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By Nick Christophers There is no one who has not gone through life without making idiotic decisions. Sometimes we are given a second chance and sometimes we are not. For Lillo Brancato who was  released after serving ten years for attempted burglary has been given that priceless second […]

Joe Gawalis: Producer and Director Growing with Each Take

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“It was an amazing experience, interning for a small company that works with public access television allows you to really get hands on experience in television production. I was the one operating the cameras, setting up the lighting, helping with the editing and learning how a production is formed from concept to distribution. Being a part of each of those stages taught me the fundamentals that still help me to this day.” Joe Gawalis

Mezzobit: Working in a World of Big Data

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By Elissa Gilbert Information wants to be free, the saying goes, and sharing online happens automatically many times. Sometimes that sharing is unintentional or undesirable. For businesses, customer information is usually tightly held—but on websites, that control is lost. Every website has third party “tags” embedded in pages […]

Cecily Trenka: Baptized Into The World Of Entertainment

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By Nick Christophers From her first baby steps Cecily Trenka was surrounded by talent whether it be her parents or fellow siblings. Both film and theatre have been a strong influence in her younger years which she followed with much fervor. Even though acting never fit her well, […]