Arthur On My Mind

Saturday, April 22, 2023

A couple of weeks ago, in an article about a woman who was among the first parents to support her gay child publicly, The New Yorker wrote that she was “[b]orn and raised in one of the more conservative quarters of New York City (not by accident was Flushing the fictional home of Archie Bunker).”  

 

My letter of correction went out to the magazine quickly, but it is apparently unwilling to admit error in this instance.  The exterior of the house that appears as Archie’s on television is at 89-70 Cooper Avenue, in the Rego Park neighborhood.  While the northeastern corner of Rego Park isn’t very far from the southwestern corner of Flushing, 89-70 Cooper Avenue sits at the opposite end of Rego Park, far removed from Flushing.  

 

Archie himself gave his address as 704 Hauser Street in Astoria, a complete fiction.  The only apparent 704 Hauser Street in North America is in Middletown, New Jersey, a bit north of Red Bank, the birthplace of Count Basie.  There are other Hauser Streets out there, Bohemia, NY; Waterbury, CT; Milford, CT; Shawnee, KS; La Crosse, WI; Sumter, SC.  But, sorry, wrong number.

. . .

 

My loooongtime friend Arthur Dobrin sent me a message about selling the names on university buildings by noting that the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University has a Kushner Hall, a gift from Charles Kushner, Donald Trump's machatunim, disbarred attorney and convicted criminal.    

https://www.thehofstrachronicle.com/archive-2010/hofstra-myths-debunked-campus-buildings-named-after-criminalsbr

 

Maybe if Jared kicks in some more money, the building will get a first name.

. . . 

 

Later in the day, we drove out to Long Island to have dinner with Arthur and his talented wife Lyn.  They accompanied us to O Mandarin Restaurant, 600 West Old Country Road, Hicksville.  It resembles a rich Chinese family's villa, decorated with genuine-looking furniture and fixtures.  The food was at least as attractive as the setting.  

 

We shared scallion bubble (puffed up) pancake with red curry dip ($8); Dan Dan noodles with ground beef and Sichuan spicy sauce ($13); Yu Xing eggplant in spicy ginger garlic sauce ($20); twice cooked pork belly ($20); tea smoked duck ($28); Cheng Du fried rice with Sichuan pickled bean sprouts and scallions ($15).  Everything was really good, including the service.  

. . .

 

Speaking of food, the British monarchy has announced the official dish of King George III's coronation, Coronation Quiche.  It not only sounds plebeian, the ingredients do not evoke elegance or delicacy -- flour, butter, lard, eggs, cream, tarragon, spinach, cheddar cheese and beans (yes, beans).  https://www.royal.uk/the-coronation-quiche

 

Sunday, April 23, 2023

On this the Lord's day for some, let's look at two major conflicting trends.  The United States Supreme Court, some lower courts and the governors and legislatures of many American states have been steadily inflating the role of religion in American life.  Holy rolling underlies the opposition to contraception, abortion, gay rights in all arenas and freedom of inquiry generally.  Linda Greenhouse does an excellent job of examining piety where it doesn't belong, the federal courts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/opinion/supreme-court-religion.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

 

At the same time, religion is retreating across the country at large.  "Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or 'nothing in particular.'"  https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/modeling-the-future-of-religion-in-america/

 

This shift in attitudes has a visible component.  "In the United States somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 churches close down every year, either to be repurposed as apartments, laundries, laser-tag arenas, or skate parks, or to simply be demolished.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/opinion/religion-america.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=highlightShare

. . .

 

We went to see a matinee performance of "Parade" today.  This Broadway musical sticks fairly closely to the tragic story of Leo Frank, a Brooklyn Jew transplanted to Atlanta who was lynched after being charged with the murder of a factory girl in his employ.  This difficult story was handled very effectively, not sentimentally, not cynically, not argumentatively.  Ben Platt, as Frank, did a brilliant job.  The full house was very receptive, although very few Hadassah members were present. 

Monday, April 24, 2023

Ken Klein and I visited a shut-in in the Bronx which allowed us to have lunch at Liebman’s Delicatessen Restaurant, 552 West 235th Street, an old line Kosher delicatessen, apparently the only one remaining in the Bronx.  It has 12 booths and four two-tops, most of them occupied at lunchtime.

I ordered the Liebman Favorite, an open sandwich of pastrami and corned beef, with French fries and a piece of kishke, stuffed derma among the polite ($26.95).  Generous portions of coleslaw and pickles were gratis.  Even as I write this eight hours later, I wonder when I will want to eat again.

Tuesday, April 26, 2023

My uncle Arthur, my mother's youngest brother, was very indulgent to his children.  For my cousin Barbara's Sweet Sixteen Party in 1957, he took a large group of teenagers to Ben Maksik's Town & Country Club in Brooklyn to see Harry Belafonte, then reigning over show business.  His 1956 recording "Calypso" was #1 for 31 weeks, the first album to sell one million copies.  May his memory be for a blessing.

Maksik's, which went bankrupt the following year, was a roadhouse, a term unknown to anyone born after 1943.  For more information, watch an Ida Lupino movie.

Wednesday, April 27, 2023

You know how "The Great British Baking Show" has Phyllo Dough Week, I seem to be in the middle of Arthur Dobrin Week.  It was just announced that he won his suit against Hofstra University. 

https://longisland.news12.com/hofstra-university-professor-wins-age-discrimination-lawsuit-filed-against-school

The story was more complicated than presented in this account.  Hofstra ignored Arthur’s cardiologist’s guidance when it ordered him to return to in-person teaching at the height of the pandemic while many other classes remained virtual.

. . .

So many guys showed up for lunch at 456 New Shanghai Restaurant, 69 Mott Street, that they moved the eight of us to the largest table in the house.  And, we managed to cover that table with lots of delicious food: Scallion pancakes ($3.25, 2 portions); soup dumplings ($5.95, 2 portions); cold noodles in sesame sauce, $4.50, 2 portions); spicy orange flavored chicken ($15.95); beef with spicy cumin sauce ($18.95); sautéed fish fillet in wine sauce ($17.95); beef chow fun ($9.25); string beans, eggplant, broccoli in basil garlic sauce ($12.95); egg fried rice ($8.25).

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Copyright protection for music can be very difficult.  This article gives several examples from court cases trying to draw the line between art and imitation.  Test your jurisprudential skills.  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/27/arts/music/music-copyright-lawsuits-ed-sheeran-blurred-lines.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

 

Created Content

Saturday, April 15, 2023 

I got a copy of Mimi Sheraton’s book “1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die" from the library.  It is much less of a guidebook than an encyclopedia.  While it tells you where to find exceptional Sicilian Blood Orange Sorbet (in New York no less), it also includes detailed recipes (Waterzooi à la Gantoise -- Belgian chicken stew) and basic definitions (the difference between chocolate mousse and pots de crème au chocolat is the latter only will keep a spoon standing upright unassisted).  

It’s not a book to borrow from the library, able to keep for only three weeks, but one to own and keep close at hand -- hint, hint. 

. . .

So this guy gets a job as school superintendent and sends a thank you e-mail to the school board.  He addresses the all-female group as "Dear Ladies" and now he's looking for a job.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/04/10/easthampton-superintendent-search-microaggression-ladies

. . .

June 29, 2022 - Miles Bridges, a National Basketball Association player, arrested on felony domestic violence and child abuse charges.  

November 3, 2022 - He pleads no contest to the charges.  

April 1, 2023 - The league suspended him for 30 games.

. . .

While time seemed to move slowly for Miles Bridges, consider the accelerated pace experienced by South Dakota's Republican governor's two-year-old grandchild.  "Kristi Noem tells audience at NRA forum toddler has a shotgun, a rifle and a pony."  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/15/south-dakota-governor-kristi-noem-grandchild-guns-nra

Sunday, April 16, 2023

If I ruled the world, no one would have $400 million available under the mattress to get their name chiseled onto the halls of Ivy.   

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/4/13/ken-griffin-gsas-reaction/

But, that regime seems to be permanently forestalled and, instead, we have Ken Griffin, billionaire reactionary or simply cynic, buying his way onto a facade at Harvard University.  Should we deny him the pleasure of this massive ego stroke, because he is no more likable than the average billionaire thereby giving him the opportunity to use this money instead to further pollute our political processes? 

. . .

An article about apartment renovations featured a young woman who is “a content creator and a lifestyle blogger.”   I wonder, is Grandpa Alan a content creator and a lifestyle blogger?

Monday, April 17, 2023

Are you happy?  Do you want to be happier?  Is it worth moving to Fremont, California?

https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-to-live/32619

. . .

The headline reads “Are Crumbl Cookies the Best or the Worst?  It Doesn’t Matter.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/dining/crumbl-cookies.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

That was sufficient to arouse the curiosity of Ken Klein and me out on our stroll, which happened to place us on Columbus Avenue opposite the new Crumbl cookie store at the corner of West 74th Street.  We knew nothing of this business before seeing this article.  While there are only two stores newly opened in the Holy Land, we learned that there are hundreds of Crumbls all over the country.

They feature a changing menu of large cookies, mostly thickly iced or decorated, selling for $5 each.  Only the chocolate chip is constantly available.  In fact, Ken bought this one for me. 

Verdict: A very large cookie, generously loaded with milk chocolate chips.  Slightly underbaked, leaving the center a bit soft.  I might choose it over a Levain cookie, because it is less greasy, but it does not displace Jacques Torres in my affection.

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

I navigated the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law far more successfully than any other educational institution that I attended, even including grades 1-6 at P.S. 159 Brooklyn.  Therefore, I am pleased to donate to the  school periodically.  That’s what got me invited to a reception at the school tonight.  

It was a serious affair -- they served meat.  You see, as a division of Yeshiva University, Cardozo strictly obeys Jewish dietary laws, making it easier to serve vegetarian meals on a large scale.  Tonight, though, expecting a roomful of benefactors, they served meat.  Without being too critical, I will just say that next time I am going to recommend that Aunt Judi be in charge of the food.  She has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to offer delicious Kosher fleischig food to large numbers of people.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

While many of my favorites are missing from the list of the best New York City restaurants compiled by Pete Wells, restaurant critic of the New York Times, I respect his choices. 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html

His tastes range far and wide, geographically, economically and ethnically.  Of course, attempting such a compilation in the Land of the Gourmets, Gourmands, Fressers and Foodies puts a target on your back.  I will not fault Pete even for his notorious oversights.

. . . 

Billy S. is a good guy.  He resells me hockey tickets from his subscription at face value.  His seats in Madison Square Garden (MSG) during the regular season are in section 224, row 20, at $89 each. 

The New York Rangers, in a fit of optimism after winning the first game of the first round of the playoffs, have put tickets on sale for the second round.  Billy forwarded me the notice from MSG asking $495 to sit in section 225, row 22. 

. . .

Tonight, Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center presented Daniel Gordis discussing the ideas in his latest book "Impossible Takes Longer: 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders' Dreams?"  Gordis, an observant Jew with centrist politics, moved from the United States to Israel 25 years ago.  He was articulate and thoughtful and I encourage you to access the recording at:  https://streicker.nyc/past-event-recordings

Thursday April 20, 2023

Today’s euphemism?  This week’s euphemism?   This year’s euphemism?  Starship, the tallest and most powerful rocket ever built, and the first intended to be fully reusable, experienced “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

. . .

 

For the second night in a row, Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center had an excellent program,
"The Devil’s Confession - The Lost Eichmann Tapes."  This new documentary covers the trial of Adolf Eichmann and its domestic and international implications.  Most significantly, the film contrasts Eichmann's trial testimony with the recorded conversations he had had with a Dutch Nazi who had also fled to Argentina.  While the tapes were known to exist, they were never produced for the trial and a transcript was rejected as lacking authentication.  Make every effort to watch this documentary.  It is available on Prime Video and possibly some other platforms.  

 

Friday, April 21, 2023

Wonder, 2030 Broadway, is a new and risky venture, in my eyes.  It is a small store with wide horizons.  It has the abbreviated menus and recipes of 10 restaurants from all over the country -- Middle Eastern, BBQ, Mexican, Italian, Greek, Indian, steaks.  You order on a tablet or, more likely, the nice guy behind the counter keys in your choices and brings your meal to one of the half dozen small tables.  In fact, most of Wonder's business is delivery or takeout.  Eating in is marginally comfortable.

 

I ordered a pastrami sandwich from the menu of Tejas Barbecue, Tomball, Texas ($18).  I was not being disloyal.  This was different pastrami, spicy brisket, cured with black pepper, Kosher salt, white sugar, garlic, rice wine vinegar, curing salt, yellow mustard seeds, coriander seeds, honey, ground coriander, allspice, crushed red pepper flakes, cinnamon, ground ginger and dried bay leaf.  It was carved thick and piled high on marble rye, which I favor less than Seinfeld does.  East/west, the good sandwich could have been bigger. 

. . .

 

Another Holocaust related program is "Transatlantic," seven episodes on Netflix.  The subject matter is fascinating and important, the rescue of Jewish intellectual and cultural figures from Europe by Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee in 1940-41, a completely private enterprise at odds with official American policy.  The series is true to life in most regards, using the real identities of key figures.  

So?  The acting stinks. 

The H Is Silent

Saturday, April 8, 2023

Mimi Sheraton, the New York Times food and restaurant critic from 1976 to 1983, died Thursday at age 97, far older than I thought she was.  She was also the author of 16 books, including "1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die," which I just reserved at the library.  I found her very relatable, maybe because she came from Brooklyn and let it show. 

. . .

Richard Pryor famously defended himself when his wife caught him with another woman, “Who are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes?”  Unfortunately, computer science has nullified that question by creating artificial images that are nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/08/business/media/ai-generated-images.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Sadly, seeing will no longer be believing.

Sunday, April 9, 2023

For Hank, Jay, John and Larry living in the Washington area, this article about your local bagels may be of interest.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/07/the-rise-of-the-dc-bagel-00089966

It contains one comment, however, that is near toxic: “He wanted to import to the beltway the satisfaction he would get from biting into his go to order: an everything bagel, toasted, with pork or Taylor ham, eggs (fried with a runny yolk), American cheese, with salt, pepper and ketchup.” Understandably or not, the guy originally came from New Jersey.

. . .

We went to see the latest production of "Sweeney Todd" this afternoon on Broadway.  It's the fifth time that I have seen the show, in versions large and small.  It got the full Broadway treatment today, the cast and the orchestra both with over two dozen members.  They all performed wonderfully, 

The audience in the packed house interested me.  It was surprisingly young and enthusiastic, the kind of crowd you might expect to see at “MJ” or “The Book of Mormon,” not at a cynical Sondheim near-opera.

Monday, April 10, 2023

Part of a message that I received read: “Thank you for being part of our 92NY community.”  If you don’t recognize the name, it’s a rebranding.  Until weeks ago, it had been the 92nd Street Y, founded in 1874 as the Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA).  In 1945, the YMHA merged with the Young Women's Hebrew Association and became the YM-YWHA.  In 1972, the name was changed to the 92nd Street Y and so it remained for 50 years.

Now, we all know, as Jesse Jackson once informed us, that New York is "Hymietown," which may have made the H in YM-YWHA unnecessary.  But, it is nice to retain some connection to our roots, especially when they are 5,783 years old. 

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

We went to see "Summer, 1976" in preview, a new play starring Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht, incidentally a member of our congregation and a very pleasant human being.  The story is simple, two young mothers become friendly, then friends before drifting apart.  

It's all dialogue, often witty without straining.  Both actors were splendid, Linney's character arch, Hecht's homespun.  By the way, unlike other events that we have attended lately, masks were required for entry.

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Jay Stanley, the ACLU’s policy expert on privacy, was available for lunch and we met at Aroy Dee Thai Kitchen, 20 John Street.  It’s a very small space with eight two-tops.  The interior is rather gloomy, the walls covered with bricks painted gray and wood planks.

There are no surprises on the somewhat narrow menu.  We shared a very good chive pancake, cut up into eight 1” cubes ($7).  Note that a chive pancake is totally unlike a scallion pancake, another of my favorites, or any other pancake.  It is spongy, close to a soufflé.

I had Panang chicken curry, mildly spicy, rich sauce, large portion ($14).  Jay had drunken noodles with chicken, also a large heap ($12).  This was well-prepared food, conventional for its type, at a fair price.

. . .

As a result of doing cyber security work, this outfit has come up with the “50 Most Popular Passwords in America.”  https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/most-popular-passwords-in-america

Ingenuity does not seem to go along with popularity.  The #1 choice to protect your vital secrets is “guest” edging out “123456.”  Internationally, "password" was the password.

 

Thursday, April 13, 2023 

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose except in North Dakota.  

On Tuesday, Doug Burgum, North Dakota's Republican Governor, signed a bill barring transgender girls from female teams from kindergarten through college.  In 2021, Burgum vetoed similar legislation, noting “there has not been a single recorded incident of a transgender girl attempting to play on a North Dakota girls’ sports team.”

Killed With Kindness?

Saturday, April 1, 2023 

Yesterday, I wished David a Happy Birthday.  But, David who?  I have what I consider cordial relations with:

David Baskin

David Brodie

David Friedman

David Goldfarb

David Goldfarb (Jr.)

David Grotell

David McMullen 

David Mervin

David Must

David Poloner 

David Prager

David Webber 

It was, in fact, David Webber, Professor of Law at Boston University, who celebrated his 50th birthday on March 31, although his mother demands a recount.

This reminds me of “Multitudes of Amys,” a Stephen Sondheim song that was cut from Company, his innovative Broadway show.

https://youtu.be/CAjcuVdOvE4

. . . 

We met Jill and Steve, our intrepid fellow travelers, for dinner at JaydSiri Thai Bistro, 23 South Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, although the sign over the door says Krung Tep Thai Bistro.  Whatever, the food was very good. 

I had three appetizers, duck spring rolls, four slim tubes ($10); grilled chicken satay, four skewers ($12); fried chive pancakes, delicious, but not what you would expect, green, wedge-shaped, spongy ($10).  I also enjoyed some of Steve’s sautéed broad, flat rice noodles.  In all, it was worth leaving the city.

Sunday, April 2, 2023

Ezra Klein writes a valuable essay about “Everything-Bagel Liberalism,” the crafting of public projects to include a variety of not-necessarily-intrinsic virtuous elements. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/02/opinion/democrats-liberalism.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Doing the right thing ain’t easy, cheap or fast.  Pick your folk wisdom.  Too many cooks spoil the broth.  Perfect is the enemy of good.  A camel is a horse designed by committee.

. . . 

The United States Chamber of Commerce released a report that claims that “[i]n 2020, tort costs — the cost of civil cases where one party incurs liability for harming another party — in America were around $3,621 per household.”   

https://instituteforlegalreform.com/research/tort-costs-in-america-an-empirical-analysis-of-costs-and-compensation-of-the-u-s-tort-system/

As a group that promotes business interests, the Chamber concluded that “[t]hese figures, and others found throughout the report, should send a clear signal to policymakers that America’s runaway lawsuit problem urgently needs fixing.”  Of course, one might alternatively conclude that America’s runaway negligence problem needs fixing.  How about manufacturers and property owners increasing their attention to safety?

Monday, April 3, 2023

Everything is beginning to blur as I write this, because I am in my eye doctor’s office getting a full work up.  They put drops in my eyes designed to have me walk into walls for the next hour.  I’ve already had the hated field vision test, sticking your head into a scooped out gourd to spot tiny pinpoints of light coming from all directions.  I hate it, because I am admittedly very competitive and I don’t want to miss anything.

Sometime later, the doctor said that whatever it is that they are looking at is pretty much the same as before and he sent me out into the street looking like I had escaped from a Walter Keane painting.  My eyesight returned to myopic normalcy when I caught up with Ken Klein for a cup of coffee at Shakespeare & Co., 2020 Broadway, the café with a bookstore attached.

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Gentleman Jerry and I had a choice, go downtown to the Trump indictment or have lunch at a Chinese restaurant.  No problem.  We went right to Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao, 24 West 33rd Street.  It moved into Manhattan last year after 16 successful years in Flushing and consistent recognition by the Michelin Guide.  

The new space is large and tastefully decorated, although in a non-ethnic manner appropriate to any just-below-deluxe hotel lobby.  On the other hand, the menu is pure Chinese.  Xiao Long Bao are soup dumplings and the restaurant offers 10 different soup dumplings instead of the usual two.  The rest of the menu is a combination of dim sum, soups, noodles and cold dishes, a broad variety.

We shared pan fried pork buns ($10.50 for 6); chicken siu mai ($7.50 for 4); scallion pancake with sliced beef ($11.50); seafood fried udon ($16); too much food, but so good that nothing remained.  All the portions were generously sized.  Note also that the prices are reasonable for a midtown location, at least for now.  The scallion pancake was brilliant, crispy outside, soft inside.  The udon noodles were loaded with shrimp, scallops and fish.  

I usually speak only for myself, reluctant to embarrass or compromise my companions, but Gentleman Jerry firmly agrees with my endorsement of this place.

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Columbia University has been extending its territorial reach abroad just as it has been colonizing swathes of Manhattan Island.  Close to 100 faculty members are publicly objecting to its latest destination.  From a spokesperson: “There are problems in other places where Columbia has global centers,” he said, citing China, Turkey and Jordan. “Those considerations may not have been thought about before the other centers were established, but if we establish a new one, then we have a chance now to think about those things.”  

 

What woke these faculty members up?  Israel, of course.  Their human rights radar failed to notice other malefactors until now, because, while their oppression and brutality were discernible, they lacked a vital element — Jews.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/05/nyregion/columbia-university-tel-aviv-campus.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

. . .

The Upper West Side’s Power Couple began their journey from slavery to freedom, from Egypt to the Promised Land, from building pyramids to joining country clubs with a drive up to Eastern Massachusetts, where 50-year old David Webber will be leading Passover services for the next two nights.  

On our way, we picked up a fellow sojourner, Dani Poloner, our grandnephew, a junior at Brown University.  He is not only a bright young man, but, unlike so many other people in so many other circumstances, he actually enjoys what he is doing.  It was a pleasure to hear his enthusiasm for his studies.

Thursday, April 6, 2023

I am intrigued by this advertisement that popped up on my smartyphone.

 

Just how much tender loving care did this cow experience?