Read Any Good Books Lately?

Monday, August 27, 2018
"Whenever things sound easy, it turns out there's one part you didn't hear."  John Dortmunder.
. . .

The New York City Department of Buildings has developed a fascinating tool to examine construction in the city, based on building permits filed. 
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/html/nyc-active-major-construction.html

It appears to be updated on a daily basis, which is an accomplishment in itself.  There are over 5,600 active permits, about 60% for new buildings with almost 106,000 dwelling units, 40% for renovations affecting over 122,000 dwelling units.  The map has a dot for every project and allows you to interrogate each one, although in many parts of the city the dots meld into a big blob. 

If you are primarily interested in superlatives, in the tradition of our fearless leader in the White House, lists of the most expensive, tallest, and biggest projects are provided, among others.  Queens, particularly Long Island City and Astoria, is the site of 5 of the 10 biggest projects, promising 4,600 dwelling units.  A good view of this activity is available from the # 7 train between the Court Sq[uare] and Queensboro Plaza, the third and fourth stops after Grand Central. 

Not too long ago, this area was almost entirely industrial, anchored by Eagle Electric Manufacturing Company, with about 2,000 workers in several large factory buildings, a client of mine in my waning days of computer consulting.  It had the wonderful slogan, "Perfection is not an accident."  Eagle is no longer in business and I'm not sure that any of its buildings are still standing as new residential towers are popping up all over the place.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Senator Lindsey Graham gave a touching speech about his friend and fellow senator John McCain, on the Senate floor today.  I never liked the politics of either, but I feel that McCain has to be honored for the torture and agony he endured as a prisoner-of-war in Hanoi.  McCain also demonstrated a sense of humor and irreverence that is rarely displayed in public by a politician.  The sound quality is  poor, but you might enjoy his "conversion to Judaism" announced at a tribute to Senator Joseph Lieberman.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwyLW8LYUdA&feature=youtu.be

Graham's grief seemed genuine as he lauded McCain's independence.  Now, I await Graham's course correction, separating himself from the president whom he described in 2016 as "a kook.  I think he’s crazy.  I think he’s unfit for office.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-trump-kook_us_5a20bf36e4b03c44072c68d5

 

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

We joined the Brothers Poloner at ETC Steakhouse, 1409 Palisade Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey.  It's a Kosher restaurant that serves very good beef, which is hard to pull off, since Kosher beef has to be essentially bloodless.  Maybe they cheat; I don't know.  I'm not going to ask.  I had the rib eye steak ($51), 12 oz., rare, and it compared favorably with traditional steakhouses.  ETC has two other virtues:  its suburban location brings menu prices down to an almost reasonable level and its BYOB policy allows the emptying of several wine bottles without commensurate emptying of the wallet. 

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Sala Thai Restaurant, 307 Amsterdam Avenue, has just opened where a branch of Grand Sichuan used to be.  This is a net benefit for the Upper West Side.  I've enjoyed the original Grand Sichuan on Ninth Avenue and its Chinatown branch on Canal Street, but a couple of visits to the location in my neighborhood were very disappointing.

The new owner has entirely redecorated the premises.  A large bright mural wraps around the rear of the restaurant, which has a long, narrow footprint.  There is also a generous use of teak or teak-looking wood.  There was a pretty good crowd at lunch today, something of a surprise because my fellow West Siders tend to prefer having their Asian food delivered.  It might be agoraphobia or just a shortage of sun block that keeps them at home indoors. 

In any case, Stony Brook Steve and I ventured forth with good results.  We both ordered from the lunch menu, which features 11 different combinations of spices and sauces applied to chicken, pork, shrimp, beef or squid, priced from $12 to $14.  Included is a choice of soup or salad, choice of appetizer and a bowl of white rice.  I had a small bowl of a tasty chicken soup, two small deep-fried shrimp and crab meat rolls, and chicken praram, deep-fried chicken strips in peanut sauce, with steamed baby bok choy.  Very good and filling enough that I walked right by the Jacques Torres Chocolate Shop, 285 Amsterdam Avenue, without stopping for an ice cream sandwich made with its world-class chocolate chip cookies.  On sale, no less. 
. . .

The unpopularly-elected president today refuted allegations of irregularities in the White House.  "We do everything by the book," he said.  Immediate bibliographic suggestions included Madlibs and A Confederacy of Dunces. 

 

Friday, August 31, 2018

I'm bothered by an article today about mental health treatment on college campuses.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/us/college-suicide-stanford-leaves.html

 

The article recounts a few anecdotes about students who displayed or expressed mental distress.  While the drift is that these students were ill-served by how their institutions handled their situations, the failures seemed to be particular to each case.  Some students were asked to leave campus, while others were deterred from returning home.  Of course, there are lawsuits, some charging over-treatment and some charging under-treatment.  

 

In general, I don't believe that a college administration can or should cope with students' mental health issues.  Accommodations for depression, suicidal ideation, or a variety of traumas are of a different order of magnitude than accommodations for physical limitations.  Most colleges and universities long abandoned the policy of in loco parentis.  It is unwise for them to try to act now in loco autem medicus.  Returning the student to the family home may be harsh, but the dormitory or sorority/fraternity house is hardly a therapeutic environment.