64 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MAY 29, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com Photo by Craig Blankenhorn/NBC 93-year-old strongman Mike “Mighty Atom Jr.” Greenstein pulls a car with his teeth during Madison Square Garden auditions for “America’s Got Talent.” FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! summer SAVINGS ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC QC $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends:7/19/14 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 7/19/14 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and EYE EXAM tting add’l. *See store for details. QC DISPOSABLE CONTACTS $99 Includes: •EYE EXAM •2 Boxes of Lenses Contact Lens Fitting additional. Clear Soft contacts brand clear spherical lenses.Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer ends: 7/19/14 DESIGNER SUNGLASSES st STARTING AT $99 Place of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Some Restrictions Apply. See Store For Details. In Stock Items Only. Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. QC Must present prior to purchase. Offer expires: 7/19/14 buzz 93-year-old Rockaway strongman appears on ‘America’s Got Talent’ BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA [email protected]/@CristabelleT Don’t let his age fool you. At 93 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 140 pounds, Rockaway resident Mike “Mighty Atom Jr.” Greenstein can pull a car with his teeth. He showed off his feats of strength on the season nine premiere of “America’s Got Talent,” where he earned enough approval from the judges to go on to the next round. It’s no surprise he impressed on the reality TV stage — the grandfather of three and great-grandfather of two is a second-generation strongman. His father, Joseph, the fi rst “Mighty Atom,” was a Polish immigrant who came to Texas in the early 20th century and started working in the oil fi elds, where Greenstein was born. Joseph later started performing as a strongman and became renowned for his act. Greenstein, along with his four brothers, trained with his father, but he didn’t perform himself until he joined the service during WWII. After his father performed for the men at a camp in North Carolina where Greenstein was teaching aviation, he was asked if he could do a strongman act. Remembering his father’s training and borrowing his equipment, Greenstein agreed and continued the shows at other camps and in area towns to raise money for war bonds. “I enjoyed entertaining and enjoyed the applause,” he said. Greenstein never made a career out of the act like his father, and went on to be a mechanic for Trans World Airlines and a wedding photographer, but continued to do strongman shows on the side. Part of his act would include putting chains around his chest and breaking them, lifting weights by hand and his teeth, and bending them across the bridge of his nose. One of the feats he still performs today is pulling cars and trucks with his teeth, which he says are “still his own.” In recent years, the senior citizen’s strongman abilities have garnered attention through the media. After fi nding out about his skills, “America’s Got Talent” came calling, and Greenstein went out for an audition. During the season premiere, on May 27, on NBC, he showed off his car-pulling skills in front of judges Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B and Howie Mandel. Hosted by Nick Cannon, the reality competition showcases a range of performers, from singers to dancers, to jugglers and magicians. The winner receives a $1 million prize. Greenstein brought his own vehicle, but the show, worried he may have rigged it, provided its own car, a Plymouth station wagon. The vehicle probably weighed about 3,500 pounds, and had three people inside of it, said Greenstein, who pulled it one car length. Klum, Mel B and Mandel all gave him a thumbs-up, but Stern was a no. But three out of four was enough to send him to Judgment Week, where he will audition again, and the judges will determine which 48 acts will compete in the live shows for America’s vote. Judgment Week will air in July. “As I grow older I enjoy it more that I can still do certain things,” Greenstein said. “There is nothing you can’t do if you put your mind to it.”
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