Monday, June 14, 2021
In an odd response to the Republican Flu, rents have been falling and home prices rising in urban America. The result is that it is cheaper to rent than buy residential real estate in all of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. https://www.
This got me to thinking about my own involvement with real estate. We occupy a parking space by the same logic that we occupy, but not own, our apartment. We purchased the right to occupy the parking space and continue to pay a monthly fee of $191.75 in support. My first apartment at 55 Morton Street, in a classic portion of Greenwich Village, cost $105 monthly, rising to $115 within a year.
"You've come a long way, baby" was the slogan introduced in 1968 for a cigarette intended to poison women. That was also the year that I moved into 55 Morton Street, appropriately enough. The building is now a co-op, a form of real estate holding more or less exclusive to the Holy Land. Pictures of several apartments for sale or rent in that building are displayed on-line, but none even faintly resemble the dark hovel that I occupied on the second floor (first floor European-style), in the back. $ to $ comparisons are meaningless, therefore, but rents there currently seem to start at $2,495, with purchase prices near $700,000.
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Typos will be found in any daily newspaper; production problems garble words, sentences, paragraphs. But, I caught the New York Times flat out using the wrong word when it awkwardly described a start-up business that "makes Canadian toque hats made from old cashmere sweaters." A toque is the traditional white chef's hat, now often made of paper instead of cotton. I just couldn't imagine cashmere chef's hats. How could they stand up tall made of such material?
Google edified me and I shared my findings with the editor of the newspaper. A touque is the Canadian word for a knitted or crocheted hat, a ski cap typically with that cute pompom on top. Let's tighten up, New York Times.
. . .
Heartwarming sub-headline: "The gap between workers and C.E.O.s widened during the pandemic as public companies granted top executives some of the richest pay packages ever."
. . .
Here's a paragraph that should be regarded carefully as local politicians craft their campaign rhetoric. "There was much more violent crime in New York in earlier decades than there is today. But the city has been experiencing a spike in gun violence, along with jarring crimes on the subway and in bias attacks against Asians, Asian-Americans and Jews."
. . .
You get what you pay for? New York City's public schools "account for 37 percent of the city’s yearly expenses, more than any other line item." https://www.nytimes.
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Last night, we had the pleasure of dining with Judy and Dr. Roger P. at Bodrum Mediterranean Restaurant, 584 Amsterdam Avenue. There are no doubt subtle differences among Turkish, Lebanese, Palestinian, Greek, Druze and Israeli cuisines, but it would take a more sophisticated palate than mine to discern them.
Bodrum is a city in Turkey, so it is reasonable to identify the restaurant as Turkish and leave it at that. We ate outside, something that is becoming commonplace even as pandemic precautions diminish. We started with a sample plate of mezze, a collection of dips, spreads and vegetables eaten with ekmek, a Turkish bread, much closer to focaccia than pita ($18.50).
Each of us then ordered a main course, although some swapping followed. I had lamb shish kebab ($22.95), while others had moussaka ($18.95), lamb tagine ($22.95) and imam bayildi, eggplant stuffed with onion, garlic and tomatoes ($11.95). The food earned a B+, on the whole, but note that their wines are 50% off on Mondays, leaving aside how overpriced they may have been in the first place.
. . .
"Last year, . . . the Harris Poll [surveyed] roughly 2,000 American adults and found that 22 percent of the respondents said they had lost money to a phone scam in the past 12 months."
Assuming this survey is accurate, it is rather shocking. However, if you have a telephone, you have undoubtedly received dire warnings from Social Security, Amazon or Microsoft which may be resolved by pressing 1 on your keyboard, leading you to a young man with a South Asian accent. Actually, I don't think that you, my typical sophisticated, cosmopolitan, worldly, hip reader, ever bothered to hang on that long, instead cancelling the call immediately. Of course, my sense of responsibility and curiosity have often kept me on the line to engage the chap on the other end. Typically, I tell him (invariably a him not a her) that I spoke to his mother that morning and she expressed her disappointment in what he does for a living.
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
I shop corrected: (not so) spicy cucumber soup and gazpacho are back at Fairway Market, 2131 Broadway ($7.99 each).
. . .
Republicans are apparently standing firm against legislation proposed by the Biden administration. However, they should not be faulted for ignoring the panoply of problems plaguing our country. I have seen this draft of legislation being offered in Republican-led jurisdictions throughout the country.
Persons professing a gender identity other than that assigned at conception:
- shall not use any public toilet facilities inconsistent with that identity, or
- shall not be employed in or around any enterprise engaged in the solicitation, entry or tabulation of votes for any public office, or
- shall not compete in any competitive event or contest restricted to members of the other gender, or
- apply for or collect any public funds while employment opportunities exist within 100 miles of that person's residence, or
- shall not assist any person attempting to effect entry upon the territory of the United States of America who is not certifiably a citizen of the United States, or
- shall not teach persons who have not reached their twenty-first birthday any purported historical precepts or concepts that dismiss or discount the fairness shown by any public authority, national, state or local, to its citizens, individually or collectively at any time.
Violation of any section of this legislation shall result in a fine of up to $1,000 and/or confinement in a correctional institution for no more than one year.
This legislation is being promoted throughout the country under the common title: Fighting the Greatest Threat to American Freedom Act.
Thursday, June 17, 2021
It's a birthday,
For a wife,
Of mine.
. . .
Speaking of telephone scams, today I encountered an oldie but goodie. The quality of the reception was poor, but I heard "Hello, grandpa." I knew that it was not 13-year-old Boaz, but it sounded like B****, a young friend with whom I have long had an avuncular relationship. I said his name and the line went dead.
A moment later, the telephone rang again and, in spite of the bad connection, I heard "Hello, grandpa. This is B****." Since my friend has an international position, I asked whether he was here or there. He said that he was downtown, had been in a serious automobile accident and was being held on a DWI charge.
I was immediately concerned and distressed, until he asked if I could post bail for him. While I still thought that I recognized his voice under the bad connection, my empathy (rarely in abundant supply) evaporated. Giving my caller one last thread of legitimacy, I asked if he had reached his wife, an exemplary human being. With that, the call ended abruptly.
So, grandpas and grandmas, tell your friends not to drink and drive.
Friday, June 18, 2021
Given the proximity of my young bride's birthday and Father's Day, we decided to combine celebrations in the presence of our second and third generations. So, we hit the road to Eastern Massachusetts for the weekend. I observed an interesting message from a hospital group on a billboard just outside Hartford, Connecticut, while driving on I-84. "Our ERs: Clean and safe." Great! You can go ahead and have your accident now.
The last time I paid a monthly parking fee at a commercial garage in NYC was 2004, and the fee was $350 per month. Friends have told me it would be laughable to find a rate that low today in Greenwich Village (where I lived). Consider your $191 money well-spent.
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