Food Street

Monday, April 29, 2019
There are a couple of interesting studies of how and where people are living in America today.  The first tells us about adults living with their parents, usually as a result of economic pressure. 
https://www.magnifymoney.com/blog/life-events/where-adults-still-live-with-their-parents/

The top 10 places where the nest remains occupied are an interesting mix, led by Riverside, California, known for a large university and little else.  It was followed by Miami, Los Angeles and New York, with high costs of living.  Notably missing are Rust Belt cities, where young adults seemed to have shown some initiative and got out of town as the industrial base shrunk.  Most curious is the gender profile of stay-at-homes, more men than women in most cities.

If you are finally ready to make a move and go out on your own, you might seek a congenial setting.  Another study sorts three basic population groups -- Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials -- into their most supportive locations.  There are some interesting flip-flops; Raleigh is reputedly the worst place for Baby Boomers, but among the best for Generation X; Las Vegas rates high for Baby Boomers, but is near the bottom for Millennials. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/realestate/the-best-cities-ranked-by-age-group.html
. . .

When I first read that the remains of 1,214 Nazi victims, surely almost entirely Jews, were discovered in Brest, Belarus, a former Soviet Socialist Republic, I forwarded the article to Grigoriy K., who left Grodno, Belarus, the capital, in 1993. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/world/europe/belarus-holocaust-mass-grave.html

A straight line between Berlin and Moscow slices right through Belarus, making it a killing field for its Jews.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Belarus

Grigoriy responded quickly and plaintively.  "In 40 years [in Grodno] I met only one Jewish man, was told his father survived with partisans." 
. . .

The annual Tony Awards for Broadway performances are approaching and the weekend arts section was full of full-page advertisements for all possible contending shows.  One of the biggest hits with excellent reviews has been To Kill A Mockingbird, the Broadway version of the fabulously successful novel published in 1960, which is why I never read it.  I was in colIege at the time and took only one literature class, satire with Edgar Johnson, chairman of the English Department.  Otherwise, we were too busy at CCNY reading Marx and Lenin to be reading Harper Lee.   

I had some recollection of the movie, though.  Gregory Peck standing as tall as Atticus Finch (Academy Award for Best Actor 1963) as he did earlier as Philip Schuyler Green in Gentleman's Agreement (Academy Award for Best Actor 1948).  Righteous gents. 

I left the play thoroughly underwhelmed.  Finch only departs from substituting gentility for conscience when his own children are threatened.  The death of Tom Robinson is almost taken for granted.  Maybe we were supposed to be satisfied that he was not lynched by a mob, merely shot to death in a supposed prison break. 

 

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Michael Ratner and I returned to our native land, going to the Brooklyn Public Library to see an exhibit on the Jewish refugees in Shanghai during WWII.  My original wife was born in Shanghai to a couple who fled Vienna after the Anschluss.  They were among 15,000 to 20,000 European Jews who had nowhere else to go, having been stripped of their citizenship wherever the Nazis reigned.  

The exhibit was thin, only still photographs and photocopies, but a good introduction for those unfamiliar with the plight of these people, living under the authority of the Japanese Army as the Germans pressured it to institute harsh, or worse, anti-Jewish policies. 

Before the exhibit we had lunch at Cheryl's Global Soul, 236 Underhill Avenue, less than half a block from the library.  It's a comfortable place and it emphasizes comfort food.  One wall is white-painted brick, opposite raw pine planks, which also cover much of the ceiling.  Color came from the portraits of, not by, Frida Kahlo on the white wall.  There are 15 two tops, which were all occupied at lunchtime. 

We both ordered the very good fried chicken sandwich on a brioche bun ($10.25).  Since we still react as teenagers to certain stimuli, we shared an order of French fries, as well ($5).  I was disappointed, however, that the iced tea ($3.25) was not replenished for free. 

Wednesday, May 1, 2019
One graphic in this article in the New York Times tells the story.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/01/upshot/all-white-neighborhoods-are-dwindling-as-america-grows-more-diverse.html

In 1980, more than 25% of the census tracts in the US were almost entirely non-Hispanic white, 97% or more of the residents.  By 2017, that percentage has shrunk to under 5%.  On the whole, this has resulted from minorities moving into neighborhoods, more often than not in the suburbs, that once rejected them implicitly or explicitly.  A counter-movement, but of a smaller dimension, has been the gentrification of urban neighborhoods, young white families looking for bargains and older white empty-nesters seeking the conveniences of a dense urban environment. 

So far, though, public education in New York City and similar locations has not seemed to benefit from these population shifts.  Arguably, minority families that can afford suburban living might have been the bulwarks of a stronger public school system.  However, their lack of confidence in the urban public school system may have driven them away in the first place.  A lot of money will be needed to attempt to break this cycle, with no certainty of success.

Thursday, May 2, 2019
When asked what New York has that Los Angeles lacks, Mark Kolber once answered concisely, "The Statue of Liberty."  While I can't improve on that response, I will offer an additional perspective. 

The distance between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue on East 53rd Street is 610 feet, shorter than some other crosstown blocks, such as 5th Avenue to 6th Avenue at 920 feet, or 6th Avenue to 7th Avenue at 800 feet.  What I observed there today, though, helps set the Holy Land far apart and above other cities, anywhere.

About 1/3 of the block on each side of the street is occupied by high-rise office and residential buildings.  So, roughly, there is about 800 feet of street-level space for rent, 400 on each side of East 53rd Street between 2nd Avenue and 3rd Avenue.  In that space, now operating are Hudson Malone Grill, Antico Noè Panini of Florence, Obao Noodles & BBQ, Angelo Bellini Italian Restaurant, Cello Wine, Cocktails  & Good Eats, La Gioconda Italian Restaurant, Lucky Cat [Japanese], Peking Duck House, Gotham Coffee [more of a candy and tobacco store], Hot Kichen [Chinese], Le Petit Parisien, Beard Papa's Fresh and Natural Cream Puffs, Insomnia Cookies, Go! Go! Curry, Shishi Ramen, Little Tong Noodle Shop, Souvlaki GR, Vote for Pedro, Little Thai Kitchen, Strangelove Cheap Beer Punk Rock, and The Kati Roll Company.  

That is 21 different places to get something to eat.  Not a food court, not a food hall under one roof.  There is also a bookstore, a frame shop, a center for Sikh prayer and meetings, and several empty storefronts scattered among them.  What do you have?

By the way, I ate at Antico Noè Panini of Florence, 220 East 53rd Street, the local branch of a long-established Florentine sandwich shop.  I had the #4, "Antico Noè’s Famous Stuffed Chicken with Prosciutto Cotto, Mortadella, Sautéed Mushrooms, Fresh Mozzarella & Antico Noè's Famous Rosé Sauce" ($13) on an 8" long Italian roll, pressed down and toasted, which makes a panini a panini.  It was good, but the pressure and the heat made distinguishing the ingredients near impossible without a scorecard.