Jews Gotta Eat

Monday, March 16, 2020

Palazzo di Gotthelf looms large over Amsterdam Avenue, but looming 11 floors above us someone has come down with the coronavirus.  No information has been provided about who, what, when, where and how, but the elevator suddenly seems too small for two people.

. . .

With all modesty, I take note of another example of the Upper West Side's Power Couple being ahead of the curve.  Last week, when we went to the Bronx's Little Italy after a totally benign visit to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, we had a late breakfast at M&G Restaurant, 2390 Arthur Avenue, before shopping for pastry and pasta. 

It was a bustling place, operated and populated by Hispanic folk in the main, serving quintessential breakfast fare quickly and at reasonable prices.  Madam had pancakes and I had a bacon and cheddar omelet, with mashed potatoes as a welcome substitute for home fries.  I also got an English muffin instead of toast; we both had orange juice gratis and coffee.  The tab came to just over $16, a steal. 

And, what is on the front page of this weekend's Metropolitan section in an article about the Bronx's Little Italy, but a picture of M&G Restaurant. 
. . .

We had Italian food later in the week, but in our own neighborhood, at Tavola Della Nonna (Grandma's Table), 208 West 70th Street, open one month.  The two most interesting things about the restaurant were not what was being served.  First is the history of the location -- at least four other restaurants flopped on this site in recent memory, including Compass, Loi Restaurant and Lincoln Square Steak.  The space is large and attractively furnished; little changed with each iteration except the menu.  It sits next to Café Luxembourg, which, by contrast, has operated successfully since 1983, although whether anything survives the Trump Virus (branding is his specialty, after all) is uncertain. 

The second notable aspect of this new venture is its claim to have installed three “virus killing machines,” the Hextio Black Edition (https://youtu.be/803XZrfoMMk), which may each cost £144 (https://hextio.net/cartflows_step/checkout-page/) or $4,000 (https://ilovetheupperwestside.com/upper-west-side-restaurant-installs-virus-killing-machines/). 

Grandma claims to be the first American user, so it would be interesting to see what she has to say.  However, even if the site were not jinxed, the future has to be dim for a restaurant open only one month forced to close for an indefinite period whether or not it could promise its patrons a virus-free environment. 

. . .

Just in case you felt that everything was peachy keen before you knew what "social distancing" meant, the New York Times informs us that "Five percent of Americans live in counties where the economy was worse off in 2019 than in 2016, on at least two of three key economic measures."  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/upshot/american-counties-left-behind-trump.html

As for the rest of us, wash your hands and stop complaining.
. . .

The 2016 electoral college victory and the rabid loyalty of many Americans to the present regime are usually attributed to a surge of populism, a revolt against the elite(s).  So, I found this information particularly interesting.  In contrast to his 5 predecessors, Trump has notably appointed more graduates of elite law schools to the federal circuit courts of appeals, one step below the United States Supreme Court.  Clinton and Obama, who attended law school at Yale and Harvard respectively, each turned to graduates of top 10 law schools 51% of the time, while Trump has picked 69% from this pool.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/us/trump-appeals-court-takeaways.html?searchResultPosition=2 

A victory for the "deplorables"?

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

"What a revolting development this is," to quote Chester A. Riley.
. . .

It's not all bad being cooped up with nowhere to go.  MSG, the cable network owned by the deplorable Dolan family along with Madison Square Garden, is replaying full-length New York Ranger games from the immediate past, victories of course. 

. . .

I've been paying attention to Kosher delicatessens in the last few weeks and if I were not grounded, I would be visiting a few more.  But, there is another side to the Kosher coin, dairy restaurants serving "milchigs" as opposed to "fleischigs," reflecting the basic divide of Kashrut, the Kosher laws. 

Just as the Holy Land once had hundreds of Kosher delicatessens, dairy restaurants, featuring eggs, cheese, sour cream, but no meat, were commonplace in Jewish neighborhoods.  A new book The Dairy Restaurant by Ben Katchor addresses this peculiar institution.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/books/review-dairy-restaurant-ben-katchor.html?searchResultPosition=1

Now, very few remain; a count is impossible since the word "dairy" appears randomly over so many portals.  In the past, I patronized Ratner's (138 Delancey Street and 111 Second Avenue), Rappaport's (somewhere on lower Second Avenue), and the Garden Cafeteria (165 East Broadway), where the leading writers in the Yiddish press came to argue from their workplaces at the competing newspapers down the block.

My longtime favorite is B&H Dairy Restaurant, 127 Second Avenue, not to be confused with B&H Camera, 420 Ninth Avenue, distinguished in its own right.  A line of stools at the counter, a very small number of very small tables, serving excellent soups and superb French toast made with thick slices of the challah baked on the premises.  The guy at the griddle is usually Dominican, probably with ancestors banished from Spain in 1492.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

The New York Times offers a graphic illustration of the coronavirus risk by job or position.  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/15/business/economy/coronavirus-worker-risk.html

I could not find Blogger anywhere on the diagram.
. . .

Frank Bruni made a thoughtful comment about the coronavirus outbreak, comparing it to the immediate aftermath of 9/11.  "At the very moment when many of us hunger most for the reassurance of company and the solace of community, we’re hustled into isolation."  Indeed, I recall how a few days into that fateful week almost 19 years ago, I sat down with two lovely people, Charlotte Stanley from Riverside, California and David Brodie from London, England, at Ess-A-Bagel, 831 Third Avenue, my "office" while I was a "freelance consultant," that is unemployed.  The two never met before, but we were all so comforting to and comfortable with each other that I remember those special hours to this day.

Fortunately, America's Favorite Epidemiologist is close by now, so I have the rare combination of emotional support and scientific analysis.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Progressives are agonizing over Bernie Sanders's woeful primary performance and the concomitant resurrection of Joe Biden.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/us/politics/bernie-sanders-progressives-elizabeth-warren.html

Maybe two quotations from this article illustrate the progressive dilemma.  The founder of a progressive think tank said: "For progressives to have a seat at the table, we have to start speaking in the language that people are actually thinking in.”  Meanwhile, dynamic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: "Intersectionality isn’t about virtue-signaling or wokeness."  I don't know about you, but that phrase never came to my mind.

Friday, March 20, 2020

It's reasonable to foresee the day when coronavirus is only a memory, at least for those survive it.  However, I fear that another problem will continue to prove more intractable.  Yesterday, acceptance to New York City's specialized high schools was announced.  If I were specious, I would crow about the 43% increase in black student admissions to Stuyvesant High School, my old school.  However, that translates into 10 students in 2020 compared to 7 in 2019, tragic numbers. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/nyregion/nyc-schools-numbers-black-students-diversity-specialized.html

 

A single test determines access to eight high schools, with Stuyvesant requiring the highest marks based on student preference.  "Just over 3 percent of black students who took the schools’ entrance exam scored high enough to receive an offer this year. . . . The percentage of Hispanic test-takers who received an offer dropped by about a percentage point compared to last year, to 4 percent.  By contrast, 26 percent of Asian students and 23 percent of white students who took the exam got into one of the eight schools."

 

I continue to support use of the test, because I believe that there should be a Stuyvesant, a school that operates at an elevated level, making demands on its students to get in and stay in.  I also believe in the value of diversity, having myself benefited from proximity to many "others," that is Gentiles not from New York.  And, I haven't heard of a plan that accommodates both of these values.  

 

This is not the Ivy League where preference is given to legacies, athletes, faculty children and the spawn of the rich and famous, squeezing the number of slots for the rest of the world.  In this century, the typical Stuyvesant kid lived below the poverty level in a household where English was a foreign language.  I can't abide pushing him or her aside.

. . .

 

You don't have to be a self-proclaimed progressive to believe that Mitch McConnell is least deserving of being called a Public Servant.  Consider aiding his opponent.

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mcgrath2020-em-mar