Ask a New Yorker had a previous meeting with Ms. Jessica Eliasi, a marketing executive for NYC Marketing, and we met again at the Coffee Shop in Union Square at 8:30 am on a chilly fall morning.
AskaNewYorker: Good morning, Jessica! You’re looking very “uber” today, so early in the morning. My first question: is it snooze, or alarm?
Jessica: I just keep turning off the alarm, actually. I do. I have my blackberry to wake me up. My alarm rings twice and I still sleep through it.
AskaNewYorker: So it is fair to say that you are not a morning person?
Jessica: I have become one. But I’ve become more of a night person lately. I’ve been working pretty late, 1:00 or 2:00 am in the office.
AskaNewYorker: How late last night?
Jessica: I was in the office last night till 1:30 am. My late mornings still land me in by 8:30.
AskaNewYorker: What’s that about!?
Jessica: Well, you know, the city is calling. The muse. I’ve got to answer to the call to duty. And I’m starting a boot camp next week.
AskaNewYorker: We’ll talk about your “calling” in a bit, but boot camp?
Jessica: Run by a former Wall Street trader, only in New York. A one-hour class four times a week. It’s a fitness program instructed by army folks.
AskaNewYorker: That’s ambitious. Do you have any idea what your first mission will be?
Jessica: Probably push-ups. And actually, I don’t know how to do them. I’m a bit freaked out about doing this class. I figure it will be good for the old competitive edge.
AskaNewYorker: Are you in to sports?
Jessica: I like cycling and I’ve become a hiker as of late. It’s a good balance for living in the city.
AskaNewYorker: Boot camp? NYC is tough enough as it is.
Jessica: It’s kind of a big fad. I signed up about a month ago with a six week wait list to get in. Two days after I signed up there was a front page story in the Wall Street Journal about it.
AskaNewYorker: I’m just waking up. Alright, so where do you live in the city?
Jessica: In Curry Hill a couple blocks north of Gramercy Park.
AskaNewYorker: How did Curry Hill get its name?
Jessica: It’s a row of Indian restaurants between 27th and 29th Streets on Lexington Avenue.
AskaNewYorker: Which is your favorite Indian restaurant?
Jessica: For Indian I would definitely go to Saravanaa’s, the new Indian restaurant that just opened up on 26th and Lexington. It’s actually an import from India, a famous Indian chain.
AskaNewYorker: Other than Indian places, where would you go?
Jessica: Caracas Arepa at 91 E. 7th Street between First and A. Great arepas and empanadas. It’s this little tiny shop, 200 square feet run by these two women from Venezuela. They just make incredible food for really cheap.
AskaNewYorker: Inside info, this is great. Are you a native New Yorker?
Jessica: I am a born and bred New Yorker. I grew up in Queens; pretty much lived there all my life. First generation American.
AskaNewYorker: And your maiden name is…
Jessica: …Eliasi. I don’t go with the hyphenation. I’m a modern lady. I am legally hyphenated, but that’s just out of love for my in-laws. (laughter)
AskaNewYorker: What’s your husband’s last name?
Jessica: It’s quite a mouthful when you put it together. It’s Eliasi-Rakowitz!
AskaNewYorker: That’s a full, rich, ethnic, fantastic name. Where did the Eliasis come from?
Jessica: It’s a Persian name.
AskaNewYorker: There’s a lot of religion going on there!
Jessica: Imagine, I’m a Jewish Iranian. Believe me, it’s not such a small group of Jewish Iranians. But it always brings a raised eyebrow. I speak Spanish, Farsi and Hebrew…that always gets a lot of attention on my resume. I guess two of those languages together seem pretty contradictory.
AskaNewYorker: So how would you sum up your cultural, spiritual evolution?
Jessica: Ethnically Persian, religiously Jewish, partially spiritually Spanish, but at the heart of it all, a New Yorker.
AskaNewYorker: What a family! Share more.
Jessica: I’m one of two kids, my sister and I. But my extended family is really tribal. I am one of 52 cousins, and that’s first cousins, not including spouses and children, not all in New York.
AskaNewYorker: Another cup of coffee please.
Jessica: My mother is one of eight. My dad was one of ten. Multiply that by an average of 3.5 kids per family. It all adds up.
AskaNewYorker: Where did you meet your husband?
Jessica: On the internet, eight years ago, back in the days before Match.com. We met in a Jewish singles chat room in 1997. We joke around a lot. He is ethnically Iraqi. His mother was born in India, in fact to Iraqi parents. We are seemingly an absolute contradiction, but it works!
AskaNewYorker: One last question—and I’m going to sing it. Where in the world is Matt Lauer? Where’s your guess on where he’ll start his week of travels?
Jessica: (laughter) I’ve been watching this (feature on the Today Show) for a few years and I get very excited about it, because I have a bad case of wanderlust. I hope he goes to Patagonia, a pretty remote crazy place at the tip of South America. It’s closer to Antarctica than anyplace else.
AskaNewYorker: Well, Ms. Jessica P. Eliasi-Rakowitz, thank you for your time this morning!
