New York Times: The Paparazzi Don'tCome Around Anymore: She Used to Polish Liz Taylor's Image, Now She Combs Mayor Healy's Hair

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New York Times: The Paparazzi Don'tCome Around Anymore: She Used to Polish Liz Taylor's Image, Now She Combs Mayor Healy's Hair

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Posted by GET NJ on September 19, 2005 at 05:31:29:

The Paparazzi Don'tCome Around Anymore
She Used to Polish Liz Taylor's Image, Now She Combs Mayor Healy's Hair

By John Holl

New York Times
New Jersey Section

September 18, 2005

Maria Pignataro has been the spokeswoman for Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy since helping win election in 2004.

JERSEY CITY
ON a routine workday five years ago, Maria Pignataro might have dined in view of the Eiffel Tower, traveled across the Atlantic on a private jet and made her way home in a limo hired by her client, Elizabeth Taylor. Yes, that Elizabeth Taylor.

These days, Ms. Pignataro's main ride is a Ford Contour, and she sometimes ends her: day with a short walk for drinks, just across the street from the white stone City Hall building here where she has served as the spokeswoman for Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy of Jersey City since helping him win election in 2004.

So much for the glamorous world of show business.

"The jump from Bel Air to Jersey City has, certainly been an adjustment on many levels," Ms. Pignataro said recently. But, she added: "I work hard, I always have. It's just the location, and the amenities that are different." Uh-huh.

Having little familiarity with the bare-knuckles world of politics here - aside from a longtime friendship with the Healy family - she enlisted in Mr. Healy's campaign in 2,004, soon after he entered the race to replace Glenn D. Cunningham, who had died of a heart attack.

Just as she was getting started, one of Mr. Healy's opponents took a photograph of her client, naked and slumped over on his front porch after too many drinks. It was posted on the Internet. Welcome to Hudson County, Ms. Pignataro.

"It was one of the biggest p.r. challenges I've faced," she said. "We just approached it With the truth, and got through it. But it was amazing how crazy politics in this county can get."

Mr. Healy admitted to drinking several beers that night, but could not recount exactly how he got to the porch. Several weeks later, he won the special election late last year to fill out Mr. Cunningham's term, and then won a full term earlier this year. Ms. Pignataro, who is 39, moved from campaign spokeswoman to director of communications, a post that pays $76,500 a year.

The world of Hudson County politics isn't quite the celebrity-land of California, where Ms. Pignataro served as the spokeswoman for Ms. Taylor for five years. She was quoted on topics from Ms. Taylor's recovery from a hip injury to the flu that prevented the actress from attending the birth of her godson, the child of Michael Jackson.

"Dealing with the tabloids, dealing with her brain surgery, being chased by paparazzi, it was a really weird period in my life," Ms. Pignataro said.

Oh, the stories she could tell - if she were allowed. She could not give specific details about her time with Ms. Taylor, citing confidentiality agreements she had signed with the actress.

These days, Ms. Pignataro works with a staff of five who help her sort through news clippings, field calls and make sure Mr. Healy appears immaculately groomed at certain events.

She has also learned the inner workings of a city of 240,000 that has recently faced problems ranging from chromium contamination to religious tensions inflamed by the murder of a Coptic family.

Though Ms. Pignataro says that her role in shaping the mayor's response to issues and his agenda is minimal, she does write releases, often cited as coming from the mayor's office, promoting initiatives like the city's gun amnesty program, its pothole repair project and the hiring of new police officers.

"Maria is great because she always jots down notes for me to read as I'm heading from one event to the next," Mr. Healy said. "I don't have the time to always know where I'm going or who I'm speaking with. Maria is around to make sure I have a heads up."

Still, Jerramiah Healy isn't quite Elizabeth Taylor - first of all, he was never married to Richard Burton, not even once.

Ms. Pignataro described Ms. Taylor as "awe inspiring." The respect is mutual. In a statement Ms. Taylor said Ms. Pignataro "brings an enthusiastic flair and creative energy to her craft, marked by years of training."

She got the job after being hired by an agency that handled a range of celebrity accounts.

"We were at the top, we just had access to all these incredible people," she said. She spent weekends at Donald Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, where she worked with the photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The route that Ms. Pignataro took to such high-profile clients was not a straight one. A native of the South Bronx, she received a bachelor's degree in journalism from New York University. Just before graduation, she was hired as a production assistant for Geraldo Rivera's syndicated daytime talk show (during which time his nose was broken by a folding chair that someone had thrown), working there with Judith Regan, who was a producer before entering book publishing.

After graduation, she began working at a public relations firm. Her first account was Jockey, the men's underwear brand, and she also worked for the Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim Palmer, traveling the country for his public appearances in shopping malls.

After a year, she briefly joined a technology company as a consultant. "But it was so boring," she said. "I was going to all these shows and it just wasn't my thing at all. It just wasn't glamorous."

So she went back to public relations and moved to Princeton for several years, where she worked on a range of advertising campaigns. She soon began to miss the creature comforts of Manhattan, growing frustrated that she could not buy a bagel that was not covered in Saran Wrap.
"It was before Princeton became hip," Ms. Pignataro said.

From there, Chen Sam's firm hired her, and assigned her to assist in working for Ms. Taylor. Ms. Pignataro stayed on as Ms. Taylor's publicist after Ms. Sam died, and she and another publicist started a firm. When Ms. Taylor's lawyers decided to consolidate her staff, Ms. Pignataro and her partner parted company with the actress.

Ms. Pignataro then spent three years managing the kitchen of a bed-and-breakfast opened with several friends (modeling the fare on food from her grandparents' native Italy). Afterward, she spent time down the Shore. It was then that she spoke with Mr. Healy, a newly minted candidate and councilman.

Ms. Pignataro says there are a lot of similarities between working for celebrities and working on a political campaign and for a mayor.

"I treat the mayor like I treated Elizabeth Taylor," Ms. Pignataro said. "I'm not sure he realizes it, but I dote on him, always talking to him about his hair and clothes and making sure he's aware of his surroundings."

At his inaugural, even, she had to remind him to comb his hair.

And last Sunday, she blocked the mayor from public view when he arrived at a Sept. 11 memorial service and finished getting dressed next to his car.

These days, Ms. Pignataro lives in an apartment in the Hamilton Park section of Jersey City and says that working in City Hall lets her do something that she couldn't do while working for celebrities: help people.

"It's important for me to give something back and make a difference, even if it's on a small scale," she said. "I think there are a lot of amazing things happening here, and for me at this point in time this is a good place to be."

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: The Paparazzi Don'tCome Around Anymore
: She Used to Polish Liz Taylor's Image, Now She Combs Mayor Healy's Hair

: By John Holl

: New York Times
: New Jersey Section

: September 18, 2005

: Maria Pignataro has been the spokeswoman for Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy since helping win election in 2004.

: JERSEY CITY
: ON a routine workday five years ago, Maria Pignataro might have dined in view of the Eiffel Tower, traveled across the Atlantic on a private jet and made her way home in a limo hired by her client, Elizabeth Taylor. Yes, that Elizabeth Taylor.

: These days, Ms. Pignataro's main ride is a Ford Contour, and she sometimes ends her: day with a short walk for drinks, just across the street from the white stone City Hall building here where she has served as the spokeswoman for Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy of Jersey City since helping him win election in 2004.

: So much for the glamorous world of show business.

: "The jump from Bel Air to Jersey City has, certainly been an adjustment on many levels," Ms. Pignataro said recently. But, she added: "I work hard, I always have. It's just the location, and the amenities that are different." Uh-huh.

: Having little familiarity with the bare-knuckles world of politics here - aside from a longtime friendship with the Healy family - she enlisted in Mr. Healy's campaign in 2,004, soon after he entered the race to replace Glenn D. Cunningham, who had died of a heart attack.

: Just as she was getting started, one of Mr. Healy's opponents took a photograph of her client, naked and slumped over on his front porch after too many drinks. It was posted on the Internet. Welcome to Hudson County, Ms. Pignataro.

: "It was one of the biggest p.r. challenges I've faced," she said. "We just approached it With the truth, and got through it. But it was amazing how crazy politics in this county can get."

: Mr. Healy admitted to drinking several beers that night, but could not recount exactly how he got to the porch. Several weeks later, he won the special election late last year to fill out Mr. Cunningham's term, and then won a full term earlier this year. Ms. Pignataro, who is 39, moved from campaign spokeswoman to director of communications, a post that pays $76,500 a year.

: The world of Hudson County politics isn't quite the celebrity-land of California, where Ms. Pignataro served as the spokeswoman for Ms. Taylor for five years. She was quoted on topics from Ms. Taylor's recovery from a hip injury to the flu that prevented the actress from attending the birth of her godson, the child of Michael Jackson.

: "Dealing with the tabloids, dealing with her brain surgery, being chased by paparazzi, it was a really weird period in my life," Ms. Pignataro said.

: Oh, the stories she could tell - if she were allowed. She could not give specific details about her time with Ms. Taylor, citing confidentiality agreements she had signed with the actress.

: These days, Ms. Pignataro works with a staff of five who help her sort through news clippings, field calls and make sure Mr. Healy appears immaculately groomed at certain events.

: She has also learned the inner workings of a city of 240,000 that has recently faced problems ranging from chromium contamination to religious tensions inflamed by the murder of a Coptic family.

: Though Ms. Pignataro says that her role in shaping the mayor's response to issues and his agenda is minimal, she does write releases, often cited as coming from the mayor's office, promoting initiatives like the city's gun amnesty program, its pothole repair project and the hiring of new police officers.

: "Maria is great because she always jots down notes for me to read as I'm heading from one event to the next," Mr. Healy said. "I don't have the time to always know where I'm going or who I'm speaking with. Maria is around to make sure I have a heads up."

: Still, Jerramiah Healy isn't quite Elizabeth Taylor - first of all, he was never married to Richard Burton, not even once.

: Ms. Pignataro described Ms. Taylor as "awe inspiring." The respect is mutual. In a statement Ms. Taylor said Ms. Pignataro "brings an enthusiastic flair and creative energy to her craft, marked by years of training."

: She got the job after being hired by an agency that handled a range of celebrity accounts.

: "We were at the top, we just had access to all these incredible people," she said. She spent weekends at Donald Trump's Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, where she worked with the photographer Annie Leibovitz.

: The route that Ms. Pignataro took to such high-profile clients was not a straight one. A native of the South Bronx, she received a bachelor's degree in journalism from New York University. Just before graduation, she was hired as a production assistant for Geraldo Rivera's syndicated daytime talk show (during which time his nose was broken by a folding chair that someone had thrown), working there with Judith Regan, who was a producer before entering book publishing.

: After graduation, she began working at a public relations firm. Her first account was Jockey, the men's underwear brand, and she also worked for the Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim Palmer, traveling the country for his public appearances in shopping malls.

: After a year, she briefly joined a technology company as a consultant. "But it was so boring," she said. "I was going to all these shows and it just wasn't my thing at all. It just wasn't glamorous."

: So she went back to public relations and moved to Princeton for several years, where she worked on a range of advertising campaigns. She soon began to miss the creature comforts of Manhattan, growing frustrated that she could not buy a bagel that was not covered in Saran Wrap.
: "It was before Princeton became hip," Ms. Pignataro said.

: From there, Chen Sam's firm hired her, and assigned her to assist in working for Ms. Taylor. Ms. Pignataro stayed on as Ms. Taylor's publicist after Ms. Sam died, and she and another publicist started a firm. When Ms. Taylor's lawyers decided to consolidate her staff, Ms. Pignataro and her partner parted company with the actress.

: Ms. Pignataro then spent three years managing the kitchen of a bed-and-breakfast opened with several friends (modeling the fare on food from her grandparents' native Italy). Afterward, she spent time down the Shore. It was then that she spoke with Mr. Healy, a newly minted candidate and councilman.

: Ms. Pignataro says there are a lot of similarities between working for celebrities and working on a political campaign and for a mayor.

: "I treat the mayor like I treated Elizabeth Taylor," Ms. Pignataro said. "I'm not sure he realizes it, but I dote on him, always talking to him about his hair and clothes and making sure he's aware of his surroundings."

: At his inaugural, even, she had to remind him to comb his hair.

: And last Sunday, she blocked the mayor from public view when he arrived at a Sept. 11 memorial service and finished getting dressed next to his car.

: These days, Ms. Pignataro lives in an apartment in the Hamilton Park section of Jersey City and says that working in City Hall lets her do something that she couldn't do while working for celebrities: help people.

: "It's important for me to give something back and make a difference, even if it's on a small scale," she said. "I think there are a lot of amazing things happening here, and for me at this point in time this is a good place to be."

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