John Maniec
Class of 1964
Spouse/Partner…ex-wife, Anne Caryl died in
2003. Girlfriend now, Meg Battle
Were you classmates at HHS?
No. Ex-wife grew up/graduated from Plainview High School
Where did you meet? How long ago? I met my
future wife at a democratic party fund raiser in 1973.
Married How Long? Date
Married: We got married on August 30, 1975 and it lasted over 25 years.
Children/Grandchildren: I have
four grown children and two granddaughters. My 2nd oldest daughter
(Laura) is the youngest master sommelier in the world and only the 18th
woman out of 170 master sommeliers worldwide. A sommelier or wine steward, is a trained and knowledgeable wine professional,
normally working in fine restaurants,
who specializes in all aspects of wine service as well as wine
and food pairing. The
role is much more specialized and informed than that of a wine waiter in fine
dining today. It is opined by Sommeliers Australia that the role is
strategically on a par with that of the executive chef or chef
de cuisine.
Employer/Affiliation |
||||
New York |
NY |
Corkbuzz Wine Studio |
2009 |
Where do you currently live?:
I live in Oakland Gardens, New York (part of Bayside, Northeast Queens County,
NYC
Favorite Subject in High
School: History and English
Name of my Favorite Teacher:
Paul Benyei
Favorite Place to meet Friends
Outside of School: Sweet Shop or Broadway Shopping Plaza
Favorite Non-Academic School
Club or Activity: golf
Occupation/Trade/Profession:
retired high school social studies teacher. Currently, still a licensed real
estate associate broker
Education Beyond High School:
Nassau Community College, State University College at Oneonta (B.A. degree), New
York & New York University (MPA degree)
Military Service: none
Hobbies/Pastimes: 54 years
playing golf; dance lessons (still two left feet)
One thing that no one knows
about me is: strong Christian beliefs makes me extremely conscious of how I try
to deal with everyone I do business with.
Now the hard one.
Tell us what we need to know…50 years in the space below: I taught junior high
school history at Selden JHS in Centereach, Long Island from 1968 to 1972. I
left teaching then to become the first Executive Director of Hicksville Against
Drugs, Inc. (H.A.D., Inc.) aka Help-Aid-Direction, Inc. from 1972 to 1978. From
1983 to 1986, I ran first a senior citizen center in Ridgewood, Queens and a
social service program in Maspeth, Queens. Returned to teaching in 1986 and
finished my teaching at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens in July
2004. I have also been continuously licensed in NYS first as a real estate
salesperson, associate broker and for 6 years even had my own independent real
estate firm. Today, I’m an associate real estate broker with Long Island’s
largest real estate firm, Charles Rutenberg Realty, Inc. I’m also an
entrepreneur with a great health, wellness, and green product company based in
Idaho and am excited with that residual income opportunity.
I have four grown children.
Elina is 37 years old; Laura is 35 ; Katrina is 33 and Michael is 31. My oldest
daughter has two daughters (my granddaughters) Mia who is almost two years old
and Isabel who is just recently turned one years old. They live in Chicago so I
don’t see them very often.