Paul Simon’s farewell concert among boro’s best moments
BY TAMMY SCILEPPI
‘Tis the season to party!
And, while you’re getting
ready to ring in 2019, why not
take a moment to look back
and reflect.
Here in Queens, we’ve been
privileged to host some topnotch
events featuring stars
from different generations.
Paul Simon wrapped up
his historic farewell concert
at Flushing Meadows Corona
Park, a Bayside actress made
her silver screen debut, and a
nostalgic indie film brought
back memories for many
TimesLedger readers.
“The holiday season is
a special time and Queens
is a special place,” said
QEDC Tourism Director
Rob MacKay.
Like “American Graffiti,”
“Cruise” — which made its
New York City debut at the
Kew Gardens Cinemas recently
– may have reminded
folks that you can’t stay 17
forever.
A coming of age story set
in Whitestone during the
summer of 1987, the indie
film centers around Italian-
American family values and
teen Gio Fortunato’s (Spencer
Boldman) mostly sexual
escapades. His character is
loosely based on executive
producer Gino Cafarelli,
who plays Gio’s dad opposite
Kathrine Narducci (HBO’s
“Wizard of Lies,” “The Sopranos”),
his screen wife. Emily
Ratajkowski (“We Are Your
Friends,” “Entourage,” “Gone
Girl) plays Gio’s girlfriend.
“The film was inspired by
me and my nights and days
cruising ‘Franny Lew’ —
Francis Lewis Boulevard. My
neighborhood back in the day
was like the nights of ‘American
Graffiti,’” said Cafarelli,
who grew up in Flushing.
“That was how many young
people connected with each
other in those days. Our social
media in the ‘80s and early
‘90s was Francis Lewis.”
You may have seen Cafarelli
on “Blue Bloods,”
“CSI,” “Dexter,” “Boardwalk
Empire,” and “Nurse Jackie,”
to name a few. He was cast as
Vinny Pitts in an episode of
“The Sopranos.”
Legendary songwriter, recording artist and performer Paul Simon,
a Queens native, performed the final concert of his Farewell Tour
at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Photo by Lester Cohen
The actor is featured
in Martin Scorsese’s “The
Irishman,” as Mayor Frank
Rizzo of Philadelphia, in a
scene in which he attends
an event thrown by Jimmy
Hoffa (Al Pacino) for Frank
Sheeran (Robert De Niro).
The movie is set for release
in 2019.
It was an amazing year for
Bayside actress Elyse Price.
She made her debut on the
silver screen after catching
director Usher Morgan’s eye
to play the lead in his new
neo-noir film, “Pickings,”
about the feud that develops
between a crime family and
an actual family.
As fate would have it, her
boyfriend Joel Bernard got a
leading role in the movie as
well.
“We both grew up in Bayside,
attended Queens College,
spent years all over the
place – California, Canada,
Ireland, Moscow – and after
all these years, we have the
privilege of returning to our
hometown. Talk about full
circle. It is surreal,” Price
said.
“Pickings” opened at
select theaters across the
country back in March. Did
you catch the premiere in
Whitestone?
A full moon shone in the
September sky when Queens
boy Paul Simon, 76, bid adieu
to his fans after performing
their favorite songs. He told
the cheering crowd:
“This is two miles from
where I played high school
baseball,” he told the crowd
at Forest Hills Stadium.
While these incredible
stories, along with countless
others that came through
Queens this year, are in the
past, we can expect more of
the same in our borough in
2019.
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