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Eric N. Gioia was elected to the city council four years ago, at age 28, from some of New York's most ethnically and economically diverse neighborhoods.

His Queens district includes African-Americans and recent arrivals from the Dominican Republic, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Korea, Mexico, and Peru, as well as the children and grandchildren of earlier European immigrants. Gioia's father, uncle, and 86-year-old grandmother still operate the flower shop that the family opened in 1901, soon after emigrating from Sicily.

The epiphany for Gioia arrived in junior high in the form of then Governor Mario Cuomo. He reminded the students that he was an Italian kid from Queens who grew up in the back of a grocery store and went on to become governor.

"I didn't know this was a career option," says Gioia. "I thought you just went into the flower shop."

"I'm allergic to flowers. We often say this was God's way of pushing me out the door and into public service."

Instead, he worked his way through college, attended Georgetown Law School, won an internship in the Clinton White House, and spent several years in corporate law before launching his political career.

"I visit every public school in my district every year and speak. There could be some kid sitting there who goes on to do something great."