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.
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/
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.
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.
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.
. . .
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.
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/
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