Dr. Kudlow's Diagnosis

Monday, February 24, 2020
From https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/19/opinion/sunday/immigration-trump-refugees.html
"My Jewish mother fled Poland in 1933.  My Christian father fled Syria two years earlier.  They met and married in Argentina, whose right-wing dictatorship imprisoned and almost killed my sister.  By giving us a home, the United States saved our lives.  Would it do the same today?"

. . .

An essay this weekend warned the Democrats against "a brokered convention, in which the votes of uncommitted 'superdelegates' or alliances formed among certain candidates are necessary to put someone over the top.  And it would be a nightmare scenario for the Democratic Party, which is deep into a bad dream already, because it would invite further cynicism, second-guessing, cries of illegitimacy and irresolution in a country that’s paralyzed by all of that."  

I think that this is upside down, since the alternative is a candidate favored only by a minority of primary voters and caucus-goers (Caucasians?) getting the nomination.  Imagine the "second-guessing, cries of illegitimacy and irresolution" that would result in that case.
. . .

How can you concentrate when you go to the theater Saturday night to see a revival of "Mack & Mabel," a failed musical from 1974, that co-starred Bernadette Peters, pronounced "a major Broadway star" in the New York Times review and who is sitting right in front of you but Bernadette Peters? 
. . .

There is apparently a presidential election in November.  The choice boils down to Him or Not Him.  The real estate section this weekend offered help in (worst) case it's Him, by providing price information on home values in more than 70 countries.
https://nyti.ms/3bTwg28

The results are all over the map, literally and figuratively.  Hong Kong saw the greatest appreciation in home values in the last 10 years ending in the third quarter of 2019.  Of course, this was before the local police had finished creasing the skulls of protestors and coronavirus became a household term. 

If you are looking for a safe haven, property values are only one factor to consider along with the political climate and the number of cable channels.
. . .

I met Max, the retired Wonder Boy, for lunch at Pelicana Premium Chicken, 47-08 Greenpoint Avenue, Sunnyside, Korean fried chicken specialists.  I didn't know about this joint (and it really looks like a joint inside and outside) until I made this date with Max, but I learned that Pelicana has thousands of outlets in Korea and 10 local spots.  

The menu offers white meat or dark meat chicken, fried, crispy fried or broiled, bone-in or boneless, with 10 sauces.  I had a crispy fried chicken sandwich, topped with lettuce, pickle, ranch dressing and a fried egg ($10).  It was wonderful, messy, gooey, but skip spending $3 extra for a handful of potato chips. 

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Jeffrey Heller is a true warrior for human rights, particularly the rights of immigrants and refugees.  As a lawyer, he provides pro bono services and, more dramatically, he takes long, cross-country fund-raising bike rides for the cause.  At lunch today, he told me that his next ride will take him from Seattle, Washington to Provo, Utah starting in mid-April.  He blogs along the way and you can follow him at rideforhumanrights.com.

We met for lunch at Miznon North, 161 West 72nd Street, which has a variety of vegetarian dishes, as Jeffrey prefers.  Actually, we shared the first course that Miznon requires, the beet carpaccio that I tout on anyone's first visit and the most delicious baked sweet potato that I've ever tasted.  We diverged on the main course, Jeff having a salad and I the "minute steak," slivers of grilled beef over a pool of tahini ($25).  Remember to ask for bread if not served with your dish.  It's outstanding. 

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

“'There’s a very good chance you’re not going to die,' Mr. Trump said about the [coronavirus] outbreak at a news conference in India on Tuesday."

. . .

I visited Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law this afternoon, where I received my law degree in 2001 (yes, that late in life).  I was the guest of Katherine Gillette, a Director of Institutional Advancement and Alumni Affairs, who was probably expecting to meet some ganzer knocker, rather than this pisher.  Nevertheless, she was attentive to me and gave me valuable information about the Ruth Gotthelf Scholarship at Cardozo, established in 2000, when I was a 3L and my mother was alive and kicking at age 91.  Since then it has made grants averaging just under $3,500 to 10 students over 40-years old, several repeating.  And, I am thrilled to report that, thanks to the generosity of many of you and wise investing that I had absolutely nothing to do with, the principal has grown over the years. 

So, in order to make the good news (what a rarity) better, allow me to make a pitch for donations to the scholarship fund.  In Hebrew, chai is the number 18, the 18th letter of the alphabet and the word for Life, not a flavored tea.  Accordingly, cash gifts are often given in multiples of chai and that would be most appropriate.

Katherine Gillette
Ruth Gotthelf Scholarship

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

55 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10003

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Stony Brook Steve and I went to lunch at La Salle Dumpling Room, 35 West End Avenue, which holds no more than 30 people.  Today, the walls were bursting with Sarah's ninth birthday party, but the two grandfathers found room to squeeze in. 

Given the noise level of the little darlings, we has to order by pointing to the menu.  I enjoyed cold sesame noodles ($9.50) and popcorn chicken with peanuts ($12.95), while Steve disliked his shredded pork with tofu ($15.95), but we were both ignored when the cupcakes were given out. 

Friday, February 28, 2020

Larry Kudlow, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said that the coronavirus outbreak "is not going to last forever.”  Neither, for that matter, will Larry Kudlow.

 

 

From Generation To Generation

Monday, February 17, 2020

As we we do every year on this day, we celebrate the birthday of Michael Jordan, another superstar.  Since his branded steakhouse in Manhattan closed over one year ago, we went for a good time to The Palm West Side, 250  West 50th Street, where I relished an 18 oz. sirloin.  I had a glass of very well matched wine to go with it.

I can't wait until next year. 
. . .

If you are feeling romantic wherever you are, the New York Times offers one novel "that explores matters of the heart" in each of our United States.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/10/books/50-states-50-love-stories.html

It's an interesting collection.  I have to admit reluctantly that New Jersey was my favorite.
. . .

If it's too late for romance, the real estate section lists the best and worst places to recover from a divorce, based on economics and "relationship-based" factors, such as gender balance and percentage of single people by location.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/realestate/wheres-the-best-place-to-recover-from-divorce.html

When I cut the cord, Minneapolis (#1, best) never came to mind.  Instead, I headed to the Holy Land (#50, worst) in a hurry. 
. . .

One might characterize the story of Fairway Market being battered economically as a tale of misplaced love.   https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/how-private-equity-ruined-fairway/606625/   (Thanks to my brother for this.)

In brief, the MBA hotshots loved making money more than running a business.  "At Fairway, the growing weight of its debt load—almost $280 million by 2016—limited the grocery chain’s ability to compete." 

 

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Yes, I'd like to come over for dinner, but I don't want you to be too inconvenienced.  So, please consider this collection of one-dish meals published by the New York Times.  I am not endorsing each and every concoction, but there are enough alternatives to satisfy even me. 

https://nyti.ms/2w7dXWB
. . .

“The pace of the average New Yorker is not only too fast, it is deadly,” according to a diagnosis of "Newyorkitis" that emerged in 1901.  https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/inflammation-place

The "physical symptoms [include] such as nearsightedness caused by looming buildings limiting vision in every direction, irritated ears from the constant noise in the streets, and a 'rapidity and nervousness and lack of deliberation in all muscular movements.'"

Keeping this peril in mind, we welcomed grandson Boaz to spend a couple of days with us.  While there are no prophylactic measures to ward off Newyorkitis, I intend to supply him with ample carbohydrates to keep his strength up.  We began his visit tonight with a performance of "Little Shop of Horrors," which contains just enough sadism to please an above-average 12-year old. 

Wednesday, February 19, 2020
According to the New York Times, "[t]he steady exodus of African-Americans has caused alarm and grief in Chicago, the nation’s third largest city, where black people have shaped the history, culture and political life."  I am not in a position to speak for African Americans or the city of Chicago, but I have a different reaction when substituting proper nouns, Jews for African Americans and New York for Chicago. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/16/us/black-families-leaving-chicago.html

This mobility is as American as apple pie.  I am a New Yorker, a thorough urbanite, and have chosen to remain such, even while almost every relative of mine, however connected, is scattered from Englewood, New Jersey to Shanghai, China.  I don't believe that the motivations differ group to group.  "Many black Chicagoans have taken only small steps away from the city, resettling in nearby suburbs in Illinois or Indiana that offer more highly rated schools and a lower cost of living." 

Indeed, Chicago and New York have to find ways to keep ordinary folks at home, those who work and shop at Fairway, not just those who gut it financially.  But, why fault those people who seek their little patch of green?

Thursday, February 20, 2020

Thank you, Boaz; if not for you my first visit to the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, would still be in the future.  Instead, we spent a couple of hours in this marvelous place, which seems to incorporate every aspect of motion picture and television production, cameras and projectors and television sets and makeup and sound effects and set design and costumes.  Also, a major exhibition of Jim Henson's work with Muppets, video clips, drawings, early unrealized projects and late unrealized projects.  And, the current exhibit -- Envisioning 2001: Stanley Kubrick's Space Odyssey.  Grandfather and grandson alike were enchanted.  

As if it couldn't get any better, directly across the street sits Tacuba, 35-01 36th Street, an excellent Mexican restaurant.  It occupies a large space, gaily decorated, not crowded at lunch time.  I had Enchiladas de Pollo -- two rolled tortillas with shredded roasted chicken, salsa verde, Mexican cheeses, crema, avocado and radish salad ($18), not cheap but superb.  

To end the afternoon, we drove over to the house in Astoria where Boaz spent his first 2-1/2 years.  He was thrilled to see it and we were happy to take him there as part of our intergenerational adventure.

You First

Monday, February 10, 2020

An ancillary benefit of our trip to India was the chance to leave the nutsiness and craziness of our domestic politics far away.  However, one piece of news, although non-political, evoked concern among the six of us from the New York metropolitan area, the bankruptcy of the Fairway Market chain.  I, for one, shop there 5 or 6 times a week and was comforted to learn that some of the stores were surviving, being purchased by a supermarket chain, including "my" store.  However, my experience yesterday has unquieted me.

With company expected for brunch, I went shopping for the judicious that we typically serve and found some yawning gaps.  Missing were mini-bagels, Fairway's house-cured smoked salmon, whitefish salad, all but a handful of Fairway's rugelach, and most Coca-Cola products.  I did not intend to take inventory, simply shopping for our needs.  I am not panicking yet, no need to organize airlifts or food drives.  Just watchful waiting.
. . .

The real estate section this weekend ranked cities according to sitzfleisch, homeowners staying put. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/realestate/here-are-the-cities-homeowners-never-leave.html     

It's hard to make sense of the information.  Detroit and Cleveland were first and third of the stay-puts, although they are cities that have experienced hard time and shrinking populations.  They also have noticeably low property values in contrast to almost all others on the list.  Stubborn, defeated, lazy?  Content to remain where there are four (Detroit) or three (Cleveland) teams in the major professional sports, something only two other of the 20 cities listed can boast?

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

"You first" is the title of a sermon that I have been planning to deliver some future Saturday morning at West End Synagogue, the home of anarchic Jews.  I'm not sure whether it is ultimately aimed at Palestinian Arabs or American Republicans, or both.  In both cases, my folks seems to worry about reaching out to, empathizing with, understanding the folks on the other side to effect some sort of rapprochement.  We must come together is the repeated refrain.  

I'm getting tired of being so humane.  What has it gotten us?  Here's a headline from the Washington Post that sums it up: "Democrats constantly ‘reach out’ to the other side.  Republicans don’t."  If it seems petty to expect reciprocity, consider the practical side.  "Persuasive studies show that if you take people who are deeply into their political identities and make them watch, listen to and read those who have opposite views, it causes them to dig even more deeply into their core identities, not alter them or soften their views of the enemy."  Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute. 

You first.  I am not suggesting that my side in either conflict is flawless, but we ain't as flawed as the other side.  We don't go hunting for civilians to kill on the streets of Jerusalem; we don't accuse pizzerias of fronting pedophile rings; we don't bestow martyrdom on suicide bombers; we don't excuse criminality whimsically.  We tolerate dissent, but I see no reason to indulge ignorance, mendacity or sadism.

I'm here, ready, willing and able to offer goodwill gestures galore, but you first.  I admit that this runs counter to some standards of common and Jewish morality.  There is a wonderful tale about Nachshon ben Aminadav, a son-in-law of Aaron, Moses's brother.  When the Israelites found themselves trapped between the Sea of Reeds and the pursuing Egyptian army, Nachshon stepped into the waters, which parted to allow the Israelites to flee into the Sinai Desert.  There is a time to move into the unknown; boldness is rewarded.  Next time.

. . .

The members of the Boyz Club have many strengths -- education, wit, loquaciousness, sophistication -- all needed to qualify.  They also read newspapers and, as a result, did not hesitate to take our periodic Chinatown lunch to John's Pizzeria, 278 Bleecker Street, which famously advertises "No slices." 

John's is one of New York's oldest pizzerias.  It claims to been founded in 1929 on nearby Sullivan Street and moved to its present location in 1934, but an earlier origin story has emerged.
https://uspizzamuseum.com/2019/02/05/lost-forefathers-of-pizza-in-america-discovered/

I moved around the corner in 1968 and ate there regularly for several years.  Alas, I was exiled to California and, after liberation, I never lived south of 46th Street again.  So, lunch today with six companions was especially satisfying.  Our three pizzas were deliciously adorned with mushrooms, pepperoni, onions, anchovies, olives and sliced meatballs. 

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

I have been reading a book with the intriguing title The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti, with the even more intriguing subtitle IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut Down Production of the World's First Desktop Computer.  However, I am 2/3 through the book without a clue what the "Affair" was.  Instead, I have read about the lives, loves, philanthropies, residences, hobbies, physical appearance and philosophies of the Olivettis, probably the most prominent Italian Jewish family of the 20th Century.  But so far, niente about a desktop computer.  

Nevertheless, he persisted.

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Fordham University is a Jesuit institution, but it offers a rich program of Jewish subjects.  Tonight, I went to hear Ayelet Brinn, a post-doctoral fellow (!) at Columbia University and Fordham University, speak about "Dear Editor: Advice Columns and the Making of the American Yiddish Press."   

The huge influx of Eastern European Jews early in the 20th Century to the United States was met with very little support.  Language and cultural barriers were high.  Friends and family often remained thousands of miles away, public institutions offered no safety net, private resources were stretched thin. 

Yiddish newspapers "printed countless letters from readers asking editors to help them navigate personal tribulations, American political infrastructures, and Jewish communal life."  They "became so successful at marketing themselves as fountains of advice that they had to create open office hours and hire staff members whose job it was to correspond or meet with readers eager to receive personal counsel from their favorite papers."

A Bintel Brief is a wonderful collection of letters from Der Forverts (The Forward), the leading Yiddish newspaper in a very crowded field, which introduced the personal advice column to the Yiddish press.  The appropriate term for this material is bubbe meise, grandmother's tale.  Should you read it, you'll find yourself exclaiming "Oy vey" at regular intervals.  Here is a favorite of mine, as translated:

 

Dear Editor,

I am a Russian revolutionist and a freethinker.  Here in America I became acquainted with a girl who is also a freethinker.  We decided to marry, but the problem is that she has Orthodox parents, and for their sake we must have a religious ceremony.  If we refuse the ceremony we will be cut off from them forever.  Her parents also want me to go to the synagogue with them before the wedding, and I don't know what to do.  Therefore I ask you to advise me how to act.

 

One interesting factoid from Brinn: Yiddish newspapers appeared in America 20 years before Europe.

. . .

When appeals are issued for opposing idealogues to come together, the commonality of humankind is often cited.  Well, some of us aren't like the rest of us.  "American conservatives stand out.  Only 26 percent of Americans who approve of Mr. Trump say income differences between rich and poor are unfair.  That’s lower than the country average for all 60 nations.  Only Japanese supporters of [Prime Minister] Abe hold similar views: 23 percent say inequality is unfair.  By contrast, most supporters of conservative governments in other countries such as Israel, India and Britain say inequality is unfair."  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/upshot/trump-supporters-experiment-inequality.html?te=1&nl=the-upshot&emc=edit_up_20200213&campaign_id=29&instance_id=15949&segment_id=21248&user_id=1353d3a345e55ff509b5cbb17ed36984&regi_id=59975620200213

The Guy Was Isadore Greenbaum

Monday, February 3, 2020
Frank Bruni, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote as a gay man about Pete Buttigieg's campaign for the presidency.  https://nyti.ms/37PeZoh

I thought that it was an intelligent appraisal, but the accompanying illustration particularly caught my attention from a wholly non-political perspective.  It is meant to be the Roy G. Biv spectrum, the rainbow now inextricably linked to LGBTQ issues.  But, it is not.  

There are only six colors, the bottom one maybe indigo maybe violet.  Which is it has been a concern of mine for a while.  I can't tell the difference.  It might as well be Roy G. Bvi, except that wouldn't come rolling off your tongue. 

I like rainbows and I don't think much would be lost resorting to Roy G. Bi, an appellation more in tune with the contemporary sexualization of the color scheme.
. . .

"Wilbur Ross says Coronavirus could boost US jobs"
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51276323

Good old Wilbur, the dedicated public servant, must have been speaking to a gathering of undertakers.
. . .

I've always admitted my attraction to lists.  The real estate section this weekend offered me an intriguing example.   https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/realestate/cities-people-want-to-leave-and-go-to.html  

Examining millions of on-line searches to identify the U.S. cities that people most want to leave (the ones from which the highest share of searches for out-of-town properties originated), and the cities people most want to move to (the ones for which the highest share of rental searches originated out of town), yielded perfectly ambiguous results.  People in Washington looked to Baltimore, while those in Baltimore looked to Washington, for instance.  The same yin and yang (or would it be yin and yin?) results pertained to Tampa and Orlando. 

. . .

Derided by limousine liberals as spineless, fearful of the wrath of the White House and its petty, cruel, unhinged occupant, on a path to being recognized as the worst president in U.S. history, I see something different in the conduct of Republican senators.  I see courage, courage of an order that warrants a new edition of "Profiles in Courage," the Pulitzer Prize-winning book attributed to John F. Kennedy, while he sat in the United States Senate. 

These men and women have avoided the easy way when sitting in judgment of the president.  Instead, they have acted contrary to their oath of office, logic, morality, common sense and ethics.  That, my friends, takes courage.
 

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

The coronavirus continues to spread, with now hundreds of deaths reported in China.  The city of Wuhan is apparently the epicenter of this terrible scourge.  Long before this, though, Wuhan had an important place in my personal history, not Wuhan, China, but Wuhan Chinese Restaurant in working class Brownsville.

This Wuhan was just over 2 1/2 miles straight down Pitkin Avenue from where we lived from 1942 to 1955.  It was upstairs, above a cafeteria.  

My parents were reluctant to dispose of any of their limited disposable income, so we ate out rarely, maybe once a month.  When we did, we went to Wuhan, more often than not, for the classic choice of 1 from Column A, 2 from Column B.  At first, I would have none of it, having to be fed at the cafeteria downstairs at street level. 

I began my blissful encounter with Chinese food with spoonfuls of lobster sauce from the lobster Cantonese, always ordered by my parents, in contrast to the strict Kosher observance in our home.  While I have many things to be thankful to my parents for, lobster sauce is certainly one of the most important.
 

Wednesday, January 5, 2020

When I was in graduate school, I took a seminar with the brilliant, but delightfully eccentric, Mulford Q. Sibley on Anarchism.  I chose to write about the Catholic Worker movement, known to me because it was the first group to publicly challenge New York's civil defense drills in the 1950s.  Dedicated to pacifism, several dozen members, led by Dorothy Day, were arrested year after year for sitting exposed in City Hall Park, while the air raid sirens blared.

I learned that Catholic Workers took the Sermon on the Mount seriously, pursuing good works -- feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, comforting the sick -- without pious trappings.  Which brings me to the danger of the Internet.  

An article the other day discussed a young man who belonged to Su Casa Catholic Worker Community in Chicago, a house of hospitality, the focus of the movement's activities.  I had long been out of touch, so I went to Google and first found out that "there are over 185 local Catholic Worker communities providing social services, each with its own mission, goals and means," a number that surprised and encouraged me.  Su Casa, one of three Chicago houses of hospitality, had its own nicely-designed website.   https://new.sucasacw.org/  

The problem was the Google reviews, giving Su Casa a 3.9 star rating.  It seems absurd, in the first place, to rate a charity, "a community of hospitality and healing for families in crisis," that asks nothing in return, relying on volunteer efforts.  Then, I read a terse one-star review, which helped drive the score down: "Nasty food."  It's a soup kitchen, you idiot.  Put away your Michelin guide and look around.  Just about everything is donated.  Or, are you even dumber in posting a review of Su Casa Catholic Worker Community, 5045 South Laflin Street, intended for Su Casa Mexican Restaurant, 49 East Ontario Street.  And, don't ask me to understand the plight of this fool.  

Thursday, February 6, 2020
Speaking of Mexican food, last week I noted that Mexico has apparently taken over the March Air Force Reserve Base in Riverside, California, evidenced by the food served those Americans held there after being airlifted from Wuhan, China.  This week, I encountered another troubling erosion of our sovereignty.  

Leaving midtown Manhattan with my young bride after accompanying her on an errand, I turned on CityMapper, an app that dopes out urban transportation alternatives.  Not only does it show alternate routes, it reports on arrivals of transit vehicles in the vicinity, allowing you to plot your course based on time, footsteps or scenery.  Wait for a northbound M7 bus on Sixth Avenue, take a B or D train to Columbus Circle and change for the #1, walk over to Seventh Avenue and take the #1 directly?   

Of course, CityMapper recognizes where you are as a starting point, or it is supposed to.  However, standing on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 47th Street, CityMapper showed me this screen.

Three days later, I am still in downtown Moscow.  Putin, you couldn't stop with mucking up our elections, now you are trying to put the City That Never Sleeps into a coma of confusion?  According to the New York Times, "the New York region generates 10 percent of the [U.S.] gross domestic product.  Mass transit makes it possible, almost in spite of itself."  Clearly, the enemy is within our gates.
. . .

After an absence of several weeks, I had lunch at Miznon North, 161 West 72nd Street, with gentlemanly Irwin Berg.  I was not only lucky in my choice of companion, Irwin being informed, articulate and insightful, but getting to the restaurant when it was serving Queen Malka Schnitzel for lunch ($33).  A boneless chicken breast is pounded real thin, folded over creamy mashed potatoes, breaded and deep-fried.  Yummy.  It takes up most of the plate, leaving little room for little dabs of mustard, chrain (grated horseradish mixed with beets), coleslaw and cubed pears.

Remember, go for lunch, not dinner, and tell Zee that you're a friend of mine.

Friday, February 7, 2020
None of us were in a position to witness personally what happened on February 20, 1939 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  Fortunately, a young filmmaker has gathered available footage of the Nazi rally held there, attended by more than 20,000 people, and offers it for all to see.   https://anightatthegarden.com/
 

The film is brief and self-explanatory.  Sinclair Lewis has been quoted as saying: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."

Food For Thought

Monday, January 27, 2020
Why do American houses have so many bathrooms?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/why-do-american-houses-have-so-many-bathrooms/605338/
. . . 

Naz forwards this collection of New York's Chinatowns, now 11 in number within the city limits according to the author.   https://untappedcities.com/2020/01/24/the-definitive-food-guide-to-new-yorks-many-chinatowns/5/?displayall=true

The article offers a list of restaurants in the various locations, so it can serve as a starting point for your exploration of a neighborhood.  Judging by those restaurants that I am familiar with, they are sound choices.

. . .

Speaking of ethnicity and the often absurd concern about cultural appropriation, let's look at the fuss over "American Dirt," a novel by an apparently bourgeois Latina about Mexican immigrants/refugees.  The New York Times says that it "falls right into the roiling argument over art and cultural appropriation — how the stories of marginalized people should be told and who should be given the platforms to tell them."  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/25/arts/american-dirt-jeanine-cummins.html

The Los Angeles Times reports that it has evoked "angry charges of cultural appropriation, stereotyping, insensitivity, and even racism against [the] author."  https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-01-26/american-dirt-publishing-latino-representation

While critics of the book have raised concerns about the whiteness of the publishing industry generally and some allegedly tone deaf aspects of the book's publicity campaign, the real beef, as I see it, is that the author, who got a big advance, hasn't been sufficiently oppressed.  You mean that John Steinbeck wasn't from Oklahoma?
. . .

Only two members of our India tour group were not Americans (David and Heather, delightful Kiwis) and while we seemed to share a common angst about the state of our nation, we tacitly agreed to leave those concerns back home, for the most part.  However, one news item struck at the heart or at least the belly of the six of us from the New York metropolitan area.  We first read on-line that Fairway Market was going to be liquidated in bankruptcy.  Not surprisingly, that was wrong information since it came from a Rupert Murdoch publication.  

Actually, 5 of its stores, including the original on Broadway at West 74th Street, are being bought by the parent company of Shop-Rite supermarkets, the fate of 9 others uncertain.  If this store continues to operate more or less as-is, I will be greatly relieved, for I shop at this Fairway 5 or 6 times every week.  If not, I will be left with options, but not good alternatives. 

Trader Joe's, which has been the nemesis of my Fairway, is on Broadway at West 72nd Street.  While less comprehensive than Fairway, it has an excellent array of house-branded products at good prices.  But, everything is packaged; nothing is made on site or sized to order.  And the crowds.  At 8 AM Sunday, the cocktail hour in downtown India, as the doors were about to open, I can attest that about 200 people were waiting to get into Trader Joe's.  I kept walking. 

Zabar's, on Broadway at West 80th Street, is deservedly legendary, but adds more than a half-mile to my shopping trip, is more costly in the vital area of bagels and lox, and has a narrower choice of coffee beans and tea leaves.  There are other possibles, but not probables, around.  Citarella Gourmet Market, immediately adjoining Fairway, has an excellent fish counter and bakery, but is expensive and limited in other items.  Gourmet Garage, on West 66th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, is overpriced across the board, although it is only two doors from the Goldfarbs in case you want to bring them something on your next visit.  

Whole Foods Market is at Columbus Circle, a one-mile round trip, so I don't even know if its prices have come down to earth.  While Jubilee Marketplace, 180 Riverside Place, measures no further than Fairway from Palazzo di Gotthelf on the map, I've never set foot in it.  Additionally, there are the usual bodegas and "Korean" grocers, with good cut flowers, odd products and high prices, only to be sought out in an emergency.

It's worth reading what Adam Gopnik has to say about some of the broader issues raised by Fairway's plight. 

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/fairway-and-what-we-mourn-in-a-store

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Last night, defying our drooping eyelids, we went to a performance of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony by the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) Chamber Sinfonia, a very talented collection of undergraduate and graduate music students.  We sat at the front of the balcony, allowing me to see all the faces on stage, which made me think of Stuyvesant High School.  Cross-referencing the names in the program, I observed 22 Asians out of 41 musicians, 1 black and 1 Hispanic (sounding name).  The complexion (!) of the string section was striking, 19 out of 28 Asians (1 Japanese name and 18 Chinese/Korean names).  Ethnic domination was most evident among the violins, 14 of 17 Asians. 

The parallels with Stuyvesant can only go so far.  MSM is a private institution; tuition is more than $47,000 yearly.  Even though an audition is the critical factor for admission, the acceptance rate is a high 46%.  I called the school today to get some background.  MSM has three major orchestras, the Symphony, the Philharmonia, and the Chamber Sinfonia.  There is also the Wind Ensemble, the Jazz Philharmonic, the Jazz Orchestra, the Concert Jazz Band, the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and the Chamber Jazz Ensemble.  Crossover may be allowed; students choose which group(s) to audition for.  I was told that auditions were not blind, as they are now customarily for major classical orchestras.

What does it all mean?  Harvard's class of 2023 is 25.4% Asian American, not as high as Stuyvesant or the violin section of the MSM Chamber Sinfonia, but still damn impressive.  I know that many Asian Americans resent being cited as the ideal minority, but there is a lot to be learned from their trajectory in American life.

By the way, I won't ask about Asian Americans playing Mitteleuropean music.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020
I had an errand in Queens this morning, the most polyglot area on earth outside the United Nations Delegates Dining Room.  Therefore, at lunchtime, I couldn't resist going to Nuevo Jardín de China, 32-05 Broadway, Astoria, hoping that food was as delightful as the name.  I was the only customer in the long narrow space, decorated simply without any distinguishing ethnic touches.

Its lunch menu offers 19 lunch specials, $12-14, Spanish, Chinese, mixed.  While I deliberated, the waiter put down a dish of fried noodles, the kind your mother bought, and the watered-down apricot jam that passes for duck sauce.  I ordered Crispy Fried Chicken, Spanish Style.  It came with fried rice (shrimp and meat) and a salad of shredded lettuce and a slice of tomato.  There was also unnecessary bread and butter.

The chicken had been cooked before, now dry.  Dipping in the duck sauce helped; the fried rice was good and I was full when I got up to leave.  In sum, the name on the door is the most delightful thing about Nuevo Jardín de China.

. . .

Henry Saltzman, retired from a career in secondary school teaching and educational policy development, spoke tonight about his his views of education to an audience at West End Synagogue, where we are fellow congregants.  I found one of his observations particularly interesting.  Throughout Jewish history, learning has been esteemed, the way a man distinguished himself, Henry noted.  While many other groups have honored scholarship, usually restricting it to men alone, Jews have regarded it as an essential characteristic of masculinity.  In fact, learning is held to be the peak embodiment of masculinity, above strength, swiftness or any other physical attribute.  Of course, this idea was furthered over the centuries by denying women the opportunity to study the holy books.  

Thursday, January 30, 2020

I went for my annual physical examination under the tender care of Michael Perskin, my doctor for a quarter century.  When we started out, he was a geriatrician.  Now, he's almost geriatric.  We both came out of the examination in fine shape.
 

Friday, January 31, 2020

If you are having a hard time deciding among the Democratic candidates, the New York Times has published a simple quiz to help you.   https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/30/us/politics/democratic-presidential-candidates-quiz.html
 

After answering 10 questions, your answers are matched to the positions of the leading candidates.  Policy is the focus, not that elusive electability.

. . .

A way to look at voter preference through the stomach, not the head, is found under the headline: "Bernie Sanders, and How Indian Food Can Predict Vote Choice."    

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/upshot/bernie-sanders-indian-food.html?te=1&nl=the-upshot&emc=edit_up_20200130&campaign_id=29&instance_id=15588&segment_id=20820&user_id=1353d3a345e55ff509b5cbb17ed36984&regi_id=59975620200130

. . .
 

Speaking of food choices, one little bit about those Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China in response to the deadly coronavirus epidemic intrigued me.  They are being held at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California, quarantined all but in name.  According to the New York Times: "On Thursday morning, their first full day back in the United States, the group downed breakfast burritos, juice and coffee.  For lunch, they received a hearty taco salad with chicken."  Got that?  Mexican food!  They return to the United States of America to be fed Mexican food.  No pancakes or cheeseburgers like real Americans.  Instead, the invasion that Stephen Miller fears has succeeded.  Will these folks be forced to listen to mariachi bands?  Couldn't they be served Fårikål - mutton stew: the national dish of Norway?  Cabbage and mutton are layered in a big pot along with black peppercorns, salt (and, in some recipes, wheat flour to thicken the sauce), covered with water and simmered until the meat is very tender.  Potatoes on the side.