There is no arguing that actor Paul Rudd is everyone’s favorite celebrity, and to celebrate the actor who was named the “Sexiest Man Alive” by People Magazine in 2021, Park Sloper Lauren Devens hosted a Paul Rudd look-a-like contest in his honor at Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, on Dec. 21. 

The “dedicated” Paul Rudd fan,  who runs an X account titled “Paul Rudd Bot,” told Brooklyn Paper she was inspired by a recent Jeremy Allen White look-alike contest. 

“Someone said that one of the contestants looked a lot like Paul Rudd, and he should enter a Paul Rudd look-alike contest. So I was like, I haven’t seen one happen, so I’m just gonna run one,” Devens explained. 

Devens chose Brooklyn because she hadn’t seen many doppelgänger contests in the borough and described Rudd as funny, talented, and “very” attractive.

“I met him at Comic-Con in New York in 2019, and he was incredibly kind, so I just thought that this would be a nice way to show some appreciation,” Devens told Brooklyn Paper.  

While the crowd was on the smaller side, most likely due to the freezing temps, the group of about 15 Paul Rudd fans and his three doppelgangers were very enthusiastic.  

One of the contestants, Jeremy Levy, an actor in his own right, was dressed as Ant-Man, a fictional character portrayed by Rudd in “Ant-Man” and most recently in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”  He said he’s a huge Paul Rudd fan, and that Rudd should be duly celebrated.

“He’s one of the biggest celebrities in the world, and I hear he’s a very nice guy,” said Levy, who lives in Hells Kitchen. 

Another Paul Rudd clone, Nick Matta from New Rochelle, described Rudd as “hilarious and extremely handsome.” 

A few have told Matta that he’s Rudd’s spitting image.

“I’m not claiming that I [look like him.] I’m not saying I do, but my friends are like, ‘You have to do it,” Matta told Brooklyn Paper. 

Jared Mandel lives in the West Village and saw a poster about the contest while strolling through Manhattan. Mandel entered the contest because he had been told from “time to time” that he looked like Rudd. 

“[Rudd] is just easygoing, doesn’t take himself too seriously, and a good guy,” Mandel said.

Spectators Matt Johnson and his partner Meredith learned about the contest through social media. They thought Rudd seemed like a “good guy” and loved that Rudd handed out cookies to voters in Brooklyn in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“He just seems like an overall good person. When you have a lot of celebrities who get canceled and stuff, if I found out bad information about him, I would be heartbroken,” Johnson said.

Alex Rosalbo from Staten Island sported with Paul Rudd’s image and described the actor, who has starred in blockbuster movies like Clueless and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, as a “really fantastic guy.”

“The one thing you hear about him is how nice he is, and then also, he’s a fantastic actor,” Rosalbo told Brooklyn Paper. 

The three contestants posed for the crowd, and the winner was chosen based on the volume of the spectators’ cheers. Levy was awarded first place, and received a trophy, $50, and bragging rights.

The winner said that he often gets mistaken for Rudd. He has met the actor several times. 

“I have told Paul that if I’ve ever signed an autograph on his behalf, it’s only because I know that he, like Santa Claus, can’t be everywhere, so I’m really just taking up the slack,” Levy shared during his victory speech. “I also know for a fact that Paul, on three occasions, has been mistaken for me, and I have told him that he is most certainly getting the short end of the stick.”

FIREFIGHTERS HELD AN EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE Monday morning, Dec. 23, to demand the restoration of health care funding.

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Two separate residential fires left 24 people displaced in East Flatbush over the weekend.

On Friday, Dec. 20, shortly before 8 p.m., a two-alarm fire broke out at a single-family home on the 800 block of New York Avenue, near Linden Boulevard. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the flames had spread through the first and second floors and the attic of the wood-framed home.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene, and were able to bring the fire under control by 9:15 p.m. All residents escaped safely, and none were harmed, per the FDNY.

But seven people — four adults and three children — were displaced by the home and sought emergency housing and financial assistance from the American Red Cross, according to the organization.

“You hate to see this situation around the holidays,” a neighbor told Brooklyn Paper. “I hope those impacted get housing quickly.”

Just two days later and roughly two miles away, firefighters battled bitter cold and gusty winds as they responded to an apartment fire at 642 East 96th St.

The FDNY arrived on the scene shortly after 12:30 p.m. to thick smoke in a second-floor unit and hallway, and roughly sixty firefighters used two hose-lines to knock down the main body of the fire as others searched for trapped residents inside. 

All tenants had escaped the blaze, and none were injured. Five households, including 11 adults and six children, were displaced and are being housed temporarily by the Red Cross.

“Over the next few days, these residents will have the opportunity to meet with our casework team, to discuss their longer-term recovery needs and be connected with government agencies or other nonprofits that may be able to assist them,” a Red Cross spokesperson told Brooklyn Paper.

The East 96th Street apartment building has a number of open violations from the city agencies, records show. 

In 2019, inspectors found an illegally-constructed unit, with an unlawful gas stove, kitchen sink, and full bathroom, in the building’s basement, according to the Department of Buildings.

The building also has 164 open violations from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, ranging from broken locks to blocked public hallways and a leaking roof. 

The FDNY’s fire marshal is working to determine the cause of both fires.