Celebs in the City

I have lived in NY all my life, so it would be weird if I did not meet/see some celebrities along the way.

James Brown:
I saw him when I was 16 outside the Plaza Hotel. There was a huge crowd, so my friend and I rushed over to see what the hype was all about. Someone shouted "It's Tom Cruise", and my friend practically ran everyone over. It was not 1/2 of future TomKat, but The Godfather of Soul himself. He was entering his white stretch limo, wearing a glittery, purple suit. "Who the man" he asked, and then he said he loved us all and blew kisses. My friend got a pic of the back of his head. He really appreciated his fans.

Mr. Cheeks (The Lost Boyz):
I was near The Colosseum in Jamaica, walking towards Jamaica Ave. Some random guy was asking for my number, and he kept running into people, so I wasn't really paying attention. All of a sudden his "friend" said "Shorty you know who I am"? I was like "Yes!" Then Mr. Cheeks asked the guy if I was his "shorty", and told me peace out. I had a bit of trouble recognizing him, he is pretty fugly in person.

Baby Gerry of Full Force/Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam:
I was with my friend Nadia Ali *see next listing* in Forest Hills. We were walking around, deciding what movie to see. A car passes by and Nadia just decides to wave. They come over. I was a bit apprehensive as they pulled over- we didn't know these guys! Unbeknown to us, it was Gerry and Shy, from Full Force AKA the "Cult Jam" part of Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. Although their studio was in Brooklyn, they were living in Queens, in Lefrak City with Shy's mom. We became really good friends and hung out a lot of times. There are even pictures of us someplace! We eventually lost touch when I moved.

Nadia Ali:
Nadia Ali was (one of my) best friends. She was 2 years younger than me, but we really clicked. We hung out all the time, and had a blast together going clubbing, watching movies, you name it. She was always singing and loved R&B songs. When I was about 20 or 21, she got a job at Versace. This was around the time we lost touch, we were both working, had boyfriends, and she got insulted when I didn't go to a barbecue her family was having. She got discovered at Versace, and the rest is history. She has the hit single "rapture". I wish her all the best! I never knew she was so talented, but she sounds amazing! Can't believe she is the same girl I went to Francis Lewis High School with! Go Hazel!

Phil Donahue:
My friend and I attended one of the last tapings of his show. He had the cast of "Frasier" on, minus the guy that plays Niles. Even Eddie the dog was there. After the show, Phil personally shook everyones hands, and thanked us for coming to the taping.

Kelsey Grammer:
While the rest of the cast ran outta there, Kelsey stuck around and shook everyones hand. He apologized for not giving out autographs, as he had another taping to attend right after this one.

Ghostface Killah:
I was walking on 34th and Broadway, and all of a sudden see Ghostface, walking with his crew. He was high as a kite. I knew it was him from his trademark thin beard and unique voice. He turned to his friends and said "I'm hungry..what are we gonna eat? I want some Indian food". Then they went into McDonald's! And he just sat right by the window where everyone was!

DJ Polo:
Dj Polo used to hang out at 78th Street Park in Jackson Heights, AKA Travers Park or (sorry Hub- the REAL 78th Street park). He would hang out by the handball courts, where I hung out, and occasionally by the B ball courts.

Crazy Sam (Video Music Box):
IDK where Crazy lived exactly, but when we would hang out on 74th Street(J. Heights), we would see him walking from the train station, walking towards 37th Avenue. We would all say Whats up to him, and he would smile and say whats up! back to us.

Madonna:
I was hanging out the day of the MTV Music awards with a friend, her friend came along and said he knew where Madonna lived, it was Midtown, somewhere on the West side. We waited, and before long some other people joined us. In an hour there were about 35 people. She came out of her apartment with her assistant, everyone shouted "Madonna!" She just covered her face with her hands and ran off to her car. She didn't even LOOK at anyone. I know we were basically stalking her, but she could have at least smiled.

Cynthia Nixon:
Recently, my coworker and I were on a coffee break. We were crossing 32nd and Park Avenue, and she said "Look, that's Cynthia Nixon". I looked and sure enough it was! I would have asked for her autograph, but she was with a group of people. She looked rather plain, which is surprising, and she was wearing a HUGE hat, I am sure so people wouldn't recognize her. She looked as if she was just hanging with her friends.

John Leguizamo, Carson Daly, Peter Boyle, Walt Clyde Frasier:
My coworker and I went to a Knicks game, since our Execs have courtside seats and couldn't use them one day. We were in the front center, Walt Frasier was sitting right in front of us. My coworker was fascinated, I had no idea who the guy was. I was thrilled to see in the left front row (what I call the celebrity section), John Leguizamo with his wife (he is REALLY short and ULTRA skinny in person), Carson Daly (before he was anorexic- he looked much better then), Peter Boyle and even the little annoying creepy-looking curly haired girl from the Pepsi commercials. I kept trying to get up to get their autographs, but there was a ramp separating the 2 sections, and everytime I tried they would already be gone. Only some lucky teenage girls got a chance because they were in the same section.

Sanjay Kumar (Former CEO of Computer Associates, Part owner of the Islanders):
Some of us from my firm, myself included, went out to dinner with Sanjay, along with a lot of other people. We had dinner at a place called PJ's Steakhouse on the Island. He was very nice, and later we met once again when we went to a benefit where he was being honored at Cipriani. Then they found out he cooked the books, so now he is serving 12 years!! I went to dinner with a Corporate Criminal....how awesome is that?

Additionally:
I saw CeCe Peniston perform at Queens fest in Flushing Meadow Park, Saw Voyce on Bell Boulevard, met some people from Hot 97 in Bang Bang on 82nd St, Saw Conan O'Bryan and Sally Jessie Raphael, met the guy who played "Larry" On Three's Company, and Mr. G. (The weather guy) at my Junior High School, saw one of Liberace's last performances, and saw Marla Maples in a limo.