Saturday, May 10, 2025
The president has revived the idea of a statue garden of 250 American heroes that he proposed during his first term. There are familiar names, such as Benjamin Franklin and Ray Charles (truly worthy of such an honor), and some folks that I wouldn’t want to be stuck in an elevator with, such as Whittaker Chambers.
Maybe the most intriguing choice is Hannah Arendt, the German émigré political philosopher. Best known for her reporting of the Adolf Eichmann trial, I think that it was another work that caught the president‘s attention. She published “On Lying and Politics” in 1972, recently republished by the Library of America, not originally named the Library of Mexico contrary to rumor. I won’t speculate on the president’s reading habits, but I think that he thought it was an instruction manual.
. . .
Meanwhile, Yeshiva University has rescinded approval for a LGBTQ+ student club on campus.
The school claims doctrinal reasons for its decision, but I think it was intimidated by the prospect of a wild profusion of colors on “those people.”
Sunday, May 11, 2025
“Everybody gotta be somewhere” is the punchline to a classic joke. Well, here is a look at where youngish people are choosing to be. https://www.evernest.co/
Minnesota, Michigan and Alabama have the highest rate of under-35 home ownership determined by the interplay of home prices and annual income.
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We headed downtown on this beautiful Mother’s Day. We had lunch at the legendary Shopsin’s General Store, 88 Essex Street in the Essex Street Market. This business grew out of a grocery store at the corner of Morton Street and Bedford Street in Greenwich Village that opened soon after I moved from the middle of the block. Calvin Trillin described it very well.
The owner is now deceased, many of his quirks abandoned, but the eclectic dense menu remains. I had the Egg Bomb, a hollowed out ciabatta roll stuffed with bacon, egg and cheese ($15.95). Very satisfying and very filling. Madam had a pecan pancake and cinnamon pancake, both "specials," which she reported as delicious ($8 each).
Afterwards, we walked over to the Greek Jewish Festival, a block party in front of Kehila Kedosha Janina, 280 Broome Street, the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1927, when many Jews fled Greece as a harsh Orthodox Christian regime replaced more tolerant Ottoman control. Romaniotes, neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi, date back 2,300 years. Roots aside, I haven’t seen so many happy Jews in a long time.
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Amazing Coincidence Department
Early last year, we took a surprisingly pleasant trip to Madeira, the Portuguese territory off the coast of Africa. Carolyn B. was one of the nice people we befriended and have remained in contact with. She wrote of her New York friend Tara F., a granddaughter of Russ, as in Russ & Daughters, the world class appetizing store on the Lower East Side. (“Appetizing” is a Jewish euphemism for lox, whitefish and pickled herring.)
“You mean Tara F. who lived at West 13th Street and Sixth Avenue, who taught art in public school and whom I dated in 1968?” Exactly.
Monday, May 12, 2025
Stony Brook Steve bravely accompanied me on a short road trip, visiting automobile dealers in the Bronx and Englewood, New Jersey. Of course, we ate, stopping about halfway in time at Brownstone Pancake Factory, 717 East Palisade Avenue, Englewood Cliffs. The name does not quite fit the setting, a very spread out diner. Although pancakes figure prominently, many other good choices are available.
I had Vanessa’s Famous Grilled Cheese, roasted turkey (real turkey, not some glued together concoction), imported Swiss cheese, sliced Kosher dill pickles and Thousand Island dressing, pressed on artisanal multigrain bread ($18); add $2 for waffle fries and you got a hearty, tasty meal. Thank you, Vanessa.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine now has 11 locations around the Holy Land, but I think that today was the first time that I had ever eaten in one, at 401 East 68th Street. It sits on the edge of the collection of buildings that constitute the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, a small city in itself. For all that was going on around it, Sophie’s was relatively quiet, not all the ten two-tops were occupied.
All of its food was arrayed on steam tables, either to be plated or put in sandwiches or wraps. I chose a combo, a baked chicken sandwich, a bag of potato chips and a can of soda ($12.99). The sandwich was very good, the chicken taken right off the bone (I watched), a six inch roll, a dab of mayonnaise and some lightly marinated onions.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
How to make a Jew crazy:
"[A] Queens community garden . . . required prospective members to sign a 'statement of values' that included a commitment to opposing Zionism, homophobia and transphobic behavior."
. . .
I went to the funeral of Henry Saltzman this afternoon. He had a very full 95 years. I had the pleasure of interviewing him on a broadcast dealing with his memoir of teaching in an ultra-orthodox Yeshiva soon after his graduation from college, "Oy! Oy! Oy!: The Teacher is a Goy."
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Madam and I retraced the steps that Stony Brook Steve and I had taken on Monday, even having lunch at Brownstone Pancake Factory, 717 East Palisade Avenue, Englewood Cliffs. This time, madam actually had pancakes, two fluffy buttermilk pancakes covering a whole dinner plate ($8). I had the Firecracker Chicken Sandwich, two thick pieces of crispy chicken in spicy buffalo sauce & pepperjack cheese, topped with coleslaw, lettuce & pickles on a King's Hawaiian roll ($18). Even without the side of twice-fried French fries, this was as bulky to eat and hold as you could manage and as good to eat as it sounds. I'm two for two now at BPF.
Friday, May 16, 2025
- “Trump Administration Fires Hundreds of Voice of America Employees”
- “Gabbard fires two senior intelligence officials focused on assessing threats to US”
Reading a couple of random headlines indicates that the enemy takeover of the U.S. government is nearly complete.
. . .
I served as shomer (watchman) for the body of Volker W., a member of our community. It's an interesting custom, whether to protect the body from interference or to keep the soul company. I see it as recognition of the person we are losing.
A few things. First of all, there are few things Trump does that make me happy but honoring Hannah Arendt is one of them. She inspires me. Unfortunately people remember her in connection with Eichmann .She was a very sophisticated thinker who lived a fascinating life and very devoted to the Jewish people although not a zionist.
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