Freedom From Speech

Monday, October 21, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg meet Mark Zuckerberg
“In a democracy, I believe people should decide what is credible, not tech companies.”  October 17, 2019

“Elections have changed significantly since 2016, but Facebook has changed too.  We’ve gone from being on our back foot to now proactively going after some of the biggest threats that are out there.”  October 20, 2019

I must admit that I am stymied by this issue.  I grew up with an absolutist position on political speech, rooted in the First Amendment and skepticism of authority.  However, we seem to have abandoned the marketplace of ideas for the brothel of lies.

. . .

Until a few days ago, the Commonwealth of Virginia required racial identification of people applying for a marriage license.  Responding to a suit in federal court, Virginia's Attorney General lifted the requirement.  Each county was apparently allowed to establish its own reporting system.  One county in a rural part of the state had over 200 “approved races,” including French Canadian, Aryan, Blanc, Hebrew, Islamic, Israelite, Jew, Mestizo, Mulatto, Nordic, Octaroon, Quadroon, Red, Scotch, Teutonic, Cosmopolitan, Amish and White American.  Here is the complete list if you are having an identity crisis.  http://www.robinhoodesq.com/filings/read/2_Rockbridge_Races.pdf

. . .

My first apartment in the Holy Land was a tiny studio in Greenwich Village.  It was in a great location enjoyed by me and dozens of cockroaches, lending it authenticity.  I've not been pressed for space ever since, but a studio apartment remains the first step towards independence for many people.  A recent study found that the average studio apartment was 530 square feet.  It also identifies the locations with the smallest and largest average studios.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/realestate/the-tiniest-tiny-apartments.html

New York City tied with Grand Rapids, Michigan at 6th place on the small side at 444 square feet, although the average rent per square foot in New York was three times that of Grand Rapids.  I wouldn't have guessed it, but Jersey City offered the largest average space and it rented for about $1,000 per month less than the nearly identical space in San Francisco. 

. . .

A letter to the New York Times asks us/you/me not "to further alienate his [Trump's] supporters.  Let's bridge this empathy chasm and heal our nation."  OK, as soon as I hear the same from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh or the New York Post.
. . .

I took Stony Brook Steve to Miznon North, 161 West 72nd Street, hoping that he would appreciate it as much as I do.  I ordered "Hummus Basar, plancha roasted rack of lamb and hummus" ($28).  Basar may be one of three locations in India, the Spanish verb to base on or the Hebrew noun flesh.  Given Miznon's origins in Israel, take the last one. 

I didn't know what to expect, but I got thin slivers of lamb and sauteed onions sat in a pool of silky hummus.  Verdict = delicious.  "Beetroot Carpaccio olive oil,salt, grated horseradish and sour cream" was my choice of appetizer and, in spite of the detailed description, it was still a surprise.  It also turned out to be wonderful, a dozen or more thin slices of beets covered with olive oil and spices.  Very inventive, but very simple.

Steve had avocado bruschetta, chunks of avocado on thick bread, drizzled with olive oil.  His main course was "Rotisserie Broken Chicken," stuffed into a pita, the dish that I delighted me a couple of weeks ago.  In sum, I believe that Steve now shares my high opinion of Miznon.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The 2020 Michelin guide to New York restaurants was just announced.

https://ny.eater.com/2019/10/21/20924026/michelin-restaurants-nyc-stars-2020

It doesn't read like my diary.  No sesame noodles, no bagels, no chicken schnitzels, no ice cream.  But, there has to be room for wretched excess in this world and, if you have it, flaunt it at some of these joints.
. . .

I may be the second greatest political deal maker in contemporary politics, behind Mr. Tangerine.  To solve a couple of near-intractable impasses, I am arranging for Bibi Netanyahu to move to London and Boris Johnson to Jerusalem. 
. . .

Tonight, I went to my first Rangers game of the season.  To look on the bright side, they did not lose in regulation time.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Golden Unicorn, 18 East Broadway, hosted a hearty gathering of the Boyz Club today for dim sum.  I counted 23 dishes coming and going, costing $25 a person.  As usual, I lost track of exactly how much of what we ate, but it all went down very well. 

. . .

The Open Syllabus Project has collected seven million English-language syllabi from over 80 countries in order to provide a picture of modern higher education.  https://opensyllabus.org/results-list/titles?size=50

The most assigned author in the collection is William Shakespeare, who appears nearly 50,000 times among the 1.4 million authors assigned in the syllabi.  Second place is Plato with more than 27,000 mentions; third is Diana Hacker, an author of books on how to write, whose works appear on more than 25,500 syllabi.  Of the top 10 individual works assigned, three are writing manuals, so why is there so much gibberish out there? 

Thursday, October 24, 2019
Back to the fabled marketplace of ideas.  Market research shows that the Psychic Services Industry in the United States, consisting primarily of (in the language of the industry) Palmistry, Cartomancy, Mediumship, Aura reading, Astrology, Lithomancy, Numerology and Psychometry, took in $2.2 billion in 2018.  https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-trends/specialized-market-research-reports/consumer-goods-services/personal/psychic-services.html

FDR spelled out the Four Freedoms in 1941, freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear.  Sadly, I suggest that we add freedom from intelligence.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Madam and I had lunch today with Alan Silverman, the only other surviving member of the All-Alan Chorus, accompanied by his charming friend Paula.  We met at Gazala's, 447 Amsterdam Avenue, one of only two Druze restaurants in the Holy Land, both owned by Gazala Halabi, an Israeli Druze.  Druze are an Arabic-speaking non-Muslim sect concentrated in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, where they serve in the military and police. 

The bigger-than-average space was formerly home to The Meatball Shop.  It is bright and open, with a rustic feel.  I can't readily explain the differences between Druze food and Israeli food or Lebanese food, but I recall an excellent Druze meal in Haifa, Israel that had distinct flavors.  Our lunch was not unique in that regard, but we ate abundantly and well.

 

We ordered four lunch plates ($14.50 each) and mixed them up.  There were two "Veggie platters," a combination of hummus, babaganoush, falafel, labane (thick-textured yogurt) and cheese cigars, and two bourekas, flaky crusted knishes, one spinach and one cheese, served with hummus and salad.  The bread alongside was not pita, as you might expect, but the deceptively named "Saag bread," rolled out thin, akin to Indian roti or French crêpe.  I say deceptive, because saag is typically "a leaf-based dish eaten in the Indian subcontinent . . . made from spinach, mustard leaves, finely chopped broccoli, or other greens," as in saag paneer or lamb saag, omnipresent on Indian menus.

. . .

A line by Dawn Powell, an under-appreciated satirist of mid-20

th-century America, made me squirm a little.  Describing an impromptu cocktail party of mutually-uncomfortable guests, one man "talked so instructively of current events, that Vicky concluded he must have no job; such vastly informed men usually had their time to themselves."

Language Arts

Monday, October 14, 2019

Last night began the 8-day Jewish harvest festival, Sukkot, likely a carryover from earlier, pre-Hebraic celebrations.  On Pitkin Avenue, it was an excuse for two more days off from school, with only a vague awareness of some deeper meaning.  These days, I have learned a bit more about the holiday and have not been entirely pleased with the additional information. 

A key part of Sukkot observance is the fetishizing of the etrog, a citrus fruit, otherwise so obscure that Jelly Belly does not use it as a flavor.  Religious Jews do more than admire the etrog as fruit of the earth, part of God's bounty.  They go to great lengths to acquire a perfect etrog, free of blemish, asymmetry or any flaw, the ideal work of the Creator. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/25/business/the-once-a-year-search-for-the-perfect-citron.html

This rankles me, because Jews, if anyone, are well aware of the imperfections of the world.  And, even if you wish to honor the work of the Creator, recognize that the imperfect are as much the Big One's product as the perfect.  In fact, the Big One seems to produce the imperfect in far greater volume, which is a good reason to pay attention.
. . .

If you are thinking of investing in real estate instead of fruit, consider the recent history of appreciation in home values.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/10/realestate/home-equity-winners.html

In this period 2012 to the present, there has been some phenomenal growth figures, Tacoma, Washington, 1,453%; Greeley, Colorado, 1,067%.  I am somewhat dubious, however.  Where were these properties in 2008, their value supported by the lying, cheating and stealing in the the real estate market that almost destroyed the world's economy?
. . .

If you are into breathing, you might be concerned about air quality wherever you choose to settle down.  The New York Times has done a great job graphically illustrating the role of vehicle emissions in polluting the air.  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/10/climate/driving-emissions-map.html

"Even as the United States has reduced carbon dioxide emissions from its electric grid, largely by switching from coal power to less-polluting natural gas, emissions from transportation have remained stubbornly high."  People like to drive and the more people the more air pollution.  Therefore, New York seems to be the worst polluter.  However, the critical role of rapid transit locally brings down our per capita poisoning noticeably.  But, don't breathe easy even for a moment.  "The Trump administration is expected to finalize a rollback of efficiency standards for passenger vehicles this month, a move that could significantly increase future emissions from America’s cars and trucks."

. . .

Money talks or maybe its sings.  Many major companies have hear the seductive tones of the vast Chinese market and rush to comfort the Chinese regime even as it vigorously represses tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents.   https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/technology/china-apple-minefield.htm

While the National Basketball Association tries to dodge the bullets ricocheting from the comments of some of its players and staff about basic civil liberties in Hong Kong, other uber-capitalists have pasted themselves to the floor of the Forbidden City in abject surrender.  If they were around at the time, would Apple, Nike, Marriott, Zara and Delta have resisted an economic carrot waved by Hitler?

Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Forget red state/blue state; Russia/Ukraine; seashore/mountains.  We now have a way of focusing on real rivalries.  New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders; Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants; Dallas Cowboys vs. Anybody.   https://knowrivalry.com/

This website surveyed over 10,000 sports fans, seeking the range and depth of their passions.  What I particularly appreciate is the recognition of the two sides of the fan loyalty coin.  The survey includes: "Schadenfreude - How much joy do fans take in the misfortune of the rival team?"

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

I better get my hearing checked.  I don't doubt that the calls to Boycott, Divest and Sanction Turkey for its murderous campaign against the Kurds are ringing loud and clear, coast-to-coast, from one bastion of ethnic studies to another.  I just haven't heard them.
. . .

Over the years, I made fumbling attempts to learn several foreign languages, with no success.  I never even made an organized attempt to learn Spanish, maybe because of or maybe in spite of its widespread use in the United States.  In any case, when I heard ¡malecon!, I thought it was a taunt, even an insult.  Instead, it is a busy Dominican restaurant at 764 Amsterdam Avenue.  Its front window held dozens of chickens on rotisseries and that's what drew me in.

I had half a chicken (medium-small), with a huge mound of mashed potatoes ($13.50).  The skin was mahogany brown, but did not taste of any spices, as I usually expect from a Latino/Latina/Latinx chicken.  A small tray on each table held hot sauce, steak sauce, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, if you wanted to goose up the chicken, so to speak.  Service was very good; the background music at the right decibel level; the seating comfortable.  Bueno but not muy bueno.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Paul Hecht, Thespian-At-Large, has sent me this cartographic exercise. 

 

It's well worth pulling out your magnifying glass to see the connection between women and places throughout the Holy Land.  There are some empty spots, especially in East New York, my home turf.  We need to assign Esther Malka Goldenberg to the Euclid Avenue station of the A train.  She was, after all, a pillar of the community, operating a grocery store one block south and one block west of the subway station, while serving as the matriarchal center of gravity for numerous relatives up and down our family tree. 

Friday, October 18, 2019

Sometimes you want to stand out and sometimes you want to blend in.  Take a look at the most popular Netflix movies and series to determine how close you are to the cultural norm. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/business/media/netflix-top-ten-movies-tv-shows.html

 

Have you even heard of all of them before deciding to skip them?

. . .

 

Paul Hecht, Canadian-In-Exile, informs me, and thereby you, that today is Persons Day in Canada.  https://cfc-swc.gc.ca/commemoration/whm-mhf/persons-personne-en.html

"It marks the day in 1929 when the historic decision to include women in the legal definition of 'persons' was handed down by Canada’s highest court of appeal."  So, Happy Person.

. . .

Almost two weeks ago, madam and I had the pleasure of eating a lot of good Indian food together with "cousins" Eli and Hana Gothelf, something rare around their home in Israel.  Today, with my bride on the road to Massachusetts, I took Eli and Hana to eat more food that is hard to get in Israel, good pastrami and corned beef.  Our natural destination was Pastrami Queen, 1125 Lexington Avenue, tiny, crowded, bustling and usually delicious.  And, so it was this afternoon.  Unfortunately, I am as unfamiliar with Hebrew as I am with Spanish, yet I think that some some superlatives were uttered at the table by my dear companions.

Is There Somebody Out There?

Monday, October 7, 2019

It's fair to characterize my religious belief as Jewish existentialism, focusing entirely on human behavior here and now.  However, I can't help but notice that Bernie Sanders campaigned on Monday, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the second holiest day on the Jewish calendar, and then he had a heart attack on Tuesday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/us/politics/bernie-sanders-hospital.html

Was somebody or something watching?

. . .

Thanks to the intervention of maître David Goldfarb, we saw the new Metropolitan Opera production of "Porgy & Bess" on Saturday, which the New York Times described as "splendid."  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/24/arts/music/porgy-bess-met-opera-review.html

I thought that there was too much of a good thing.  There are over 20 identified roles, 6 dancers, several children and a 60-person chorus making the usually vast Metropolitan Opera stage resemble a subway car at rush hour.  The number of voices generated wonderful sound, but I doubt that Catfish Row could actually be that crowded.

Leaving the opera house as the tumultuous cheers and applause faded, I thought of college football -- some college football, at least.  Except for three police officers, all 90 or so members of the cast are "black," a very imprecise term, which I use because "African American" presumes knowledge of nationality.

The audience had almost the exact opposite racial ratio.  Thousands of white people were cheering several dozen black people, just what you see when the frequent national champion University of Alabama football team plays on its home field.
. . .

We ended the first weekend of 5780 in fine fashion.  We had dinner with "cousins" Eli & Hana Gothelf (one consonant away), residents of suburban Tel Aviv, who like to vacation in the Holy Land.  We agreed on Indian food, difficult to find in Israel, proceeded to Sahib, 104 Lexington Avenue, and ate up a storm.  As the only carnivore, I had lamb biryani to myself ($19.95).  Otherwise, we shared aloo tikki chaat ($7.95), a potato latke without grating the potato; bhel puri ($7.95), Indian rice krispies; baigan bhaji ($7.50), pan-fried eggplant; achari mushrooms ($10.95), spicy mushrooms grilled in the tandoor oven; malai kofta ($15.50), vegetable knaidels in a sweet curry sauce; saag paneer ($15.50), cheese cubes in pureed spinach.  There was also naan, mango chutney, peas pulau (rice), and raita (yogurt sauce to cut the heat).  The bonds of American-Israeli-Indian solidarity were substantially advanced.

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Help me.  One of the most galvanizing  stories recently in the news and its accompanying photographs concern the conclusion of the trial of Amber Guyger, the white, off-duty Dallas police officer, who murdered a black man in his apartment when she entered it by mistake.  After sentencing, the victim's brother was allowed, at his request, to hug Guyger, followed by the trial judge, a black woman, responding to Guyger's request for a hug.  

Put aside for a moment the emotional, psychological and jurisprudential issues raised, can you think of any similar display where the colors were reversed?

. . .

Speaking of forgiveness, starting tonight, for the next 26+ hours, Jews are supposed to enter a period of reflection and atonement.  In the days leading up to this, some have approached family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances apologizing for any transgressions in the preceding year. 

I'm not so good in this regard.  Whether due to insensitivity, obtuseness or stubbornness, I don't readily recognize my errors or am unwilling to let them go.  And, sometimes I am waiting for the other guy to go first.  Mostly, I'm too embarrassed to admit that I actually said or did that.

There are other people who are more profoundly engaged in these High Holy Days.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/10/08/768007748/yom-kippur-in-uganda-an-easier-fast-this-year

I am somewhat familiar with Jewish tribes in Africa through the good works of Harriet Bograd, a member of West End Synagogue, president of Kulanu, Inc., an organization that reaches out to isolated, third-world Jewish communities (www.kulanu.org).  I have met several young Abayudaya (Ugandan Jews) as a result. 

While this article offers hope for a vibrant Judaism, it also demonstrates a critical failure in Jewish practice.  The Abayudaya, among others, are "not fully recognized as Jewish by the state of Israel's Orthodox rabbinate," which has a stranglehold on issues of family law and Jewish identity.  Israel willfully abuses its own citizens and Jews around the world by retaining strictures long out of date. 

Thursday, October 10, 2019

It seems that Bernie Sanders was not the only prominent Jew who defied the rules of our road and paid the price.  https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/292472/the-koufax-curse

Three major league baseball playoff games were played during Yom Kippur, and the Jewish ballplayers who chose to play, unlike Sandy Koufax in the past, did not fare well.  Good! 

. . .

Last week, we found that a typical school teacher cannot afford typical urban rents.  Here, we look at how much any of us needs to earn to afford the principal, interest, tax and insurance payments on a median-priced home in the largest American markets.  https://www.hsh.com/finance/mortgage/salary-home-buying-25-cities.html

California has the first 4 of the 7 cities where an income of over $100,000 is needed to finance the median home purchase.  Boston and Seattle then come before New York.  In 12 cities, ascending from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, you can get into the median home with an income of less than $50,000.  I think that this is a healthy reminder that the economic standards of the costal elites are not commonplace.  

. . .

Except for marriage, most things aren't better the second time around.  However, lunch at Miznon North, West 72nd Street, certainly was.  While I thoroughly enjoyed a variety of Mediterranean dips and pita stuffed with chicken on September 18, 2019, I moved around the menu today with superb results.  A choice of appetizer comes with every main course.  I started with a thick slice of very fresh, very crusty bread to be dipped into a dish of crème fraîche with tomato seeds and olive oil, smooth as silk and delicious. 

My main course was originally a problem.  It was called Queen Malka Schnitzel.  My beloved maternal grandmother was Esther Malka, which everyone knows means Queen Esther.  Queen Malka is the redundant Queen Queen.  The genial Israeli host acknowledged this, but explained that it was an example of Mr. Miznon's silly streak.  In the spirit of the new year, I ceased to demur and how well rewarded I was.  I was served a 10" slab of what appeared to be a thick breaded chicken cutlet, a normal schnitzel, but with the first slice I found that a chicken paillard had been folded over creamy mashed potatoes, breaded and fried.  A wonderful invention.

It shared the plate with two different mustards, diced pears, cole slaw and chrein, finely grated horseradish and beets put on earth to go with gefilte fish.  It was even more than Grandpa Alan could finish, but he felt privileged to have been given the opportunity to eat as much as he did.
. . .

Tonight, my young bride and I went over to Fordham University for showing of "Little White Lie," a documentary about and by Lacey Schwartz, a girl from a "nice" Jewish home, who realizes in her middle teen years that her tan skin and very curly hair were more than a genetic throwback.  After her parents divorce, her mother admits to a long-term affair with a black co-worker, the filmmaker's biological father. 

I found two things most interesting: 1) family and friends never spoke of this fact or even hinted at it, although strangers were less inhibited at times; 2) Ms. Schwartz, now in her 30s, got her mother and father to look into the camera and discuss her background, although with varying degrees of candor.  All I can say is it wouldn't have happened on Pitkin Avenue.

Friday, October 11, 2019

David Mervin befriended me when we were in graduate school school together.  He returned to England with his distinguished American bride.  More than 40 years later, their son John married a nice Jewish girl from Long Island and settled in Brooklyn.  Karmic justice, poetic justice, Hebraic justice?

John met me for lunch at Ruchi Indian Cuisine, 120 Cedar Street, a small, crowded joint, adjacent to the World Trade Center memorial site.  We shared chicken tikka masala ($8.99) and lamb saag ($9.49).  While the food came nowhere near the quality of John's company, in all, it was time well spent. 

Welcome 5780

Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Where do you find the underlying philosophic basis of this presidency?  Plato or Aristotle?  Locke or Hobbes?  Nietzsche or Marx?  No, Richard Pryor.  "Who you gonna believe, bitch?  Me?  or your lying eyes?"
. . .

If you were in the vicinity of Palazzo di Gotthelf in recent days, you wouldn't have missed the warm glow emanating from it.  We were graced by the presence of America's Loveliest Nephrologist and the Oakland Heartthrob for the onset of the Jewish New Year of 5780.  I hope that the next new year that you celebrate  arrives in such a joyful fashion.
. . .

The weekend's real estate section had a chart with disturbing data, comparing a school teacher's starting salary to "typical" local rents.  https://nyti.ms/2lkymCy

The numbers are intimidating up and down the scale.  In San Jose and San Francisco, rents exceed salary.  The best ratio is found in Pittsburgh (30% of salary needed for rent), the only location that does not exceed the 30% "rule of thumb" for rent vs. income.  https://www.lendkey.com/blog/personal-finance/how-much-of-your-income-should-you-spend-on-housing/ 

Teachers deserve better pay, but many, many renters deserve a better deal as well.
. . .

Which state has the highest percentage of advanced degrees among its population, 19.5%? 
https://www.workandmoney.com/s/most-highly-educated-states-ad9348de8897441f

New York is sixth, with 15.8% of the population holding an advanced degree.  Did you say Massachusetts?  District of Columbia actually does better, if that means having a larger number of over-educated people misapplying their skills, at 33.4%, but Congress has made sure that the District of Columbia is not a state, only a state of mind.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

I got a D in the last Latin class that I took at CCNY, lo those many years ago.  But, that was adequate for me to understand the term quid pro quo, which has been thrown about in discussing the president's appeal for "a favor" from the president of Ukraine.  Republicans claim the alleged absence of an explicit quid pro quo as inoculating the president's conduct, choosing to be obtuse about withholding American aid from Ukraine, considering it purely coincidental.  Republican senators seem to regard the incident as the political equivalent of one hand clapping.

However, it doesn't take two to tango (not quite resorting to a foreign language) for a president to violate his oath of office and betray the trust of the American people. 

. . .

Today, the president and I both turned to the same source of support -- the Chinese.  He asked the reliably lawless Chinese government to go after Joe Biden and son as an extension of his campaign for reelection or is that only my imagination?  While the president was making his appeal, I was joining the Boyz Club at Jing Fong, 20 Elizabeth Street, for our first group fueling of 5780. 

We four shared 13 items, including only two duplicates, adding up to $21 each, with a generous tip.  I can't speak for the president, but I was thoroughly pleased by how I was treated by the Chinese.

Friday, October 4, 2019

Keeping the momentum of the New Year going, I met Max, the retired Wonder Boy, for lunch at Spy C Chinese Cuisine, 72-06 Austin Street, Forest Hills, near Max's lair.  It occupies a long, narrow space, wider at the front than the back, the opposite of the layout of many other places.  The menu has two distinct identities, a conventional collection of familiar dishes and, consistent with its name, an array of spicy dishes, rife with Sichuan peppercorns.  

 

Both of us were in a bland mood and stuck to the ordinary choices.  From the lunch menu of 21 items, I ordered baby shrimp with scrambled eggs ($8.95), accompanied by brown rice and particularly good hot and sour soup.  Max had chicken lo mein ($10.95) and we shared Beef in Pancakes ($6.95), a scallion pancake wrapped around sliced beef, hoisin sauce and scallion threads, cut into four pieces.  All good, nothing great. 

. . .

Starting a new year with Chinese food is the proper course of action.  However, turning our attention to pizza is a constructive next step.  There is a new attempt to identify the country's best pizza.  https://www.thedailymeal.com/101-best-pizzas-america-2019

It cites 101 pizzas, allegedly culled from almost 1,000 possibilities.  New York State may not be saturated with advanced degrees, but it leads with 28 outstanding pizzerias, far outdistancing Illinois (9) and California (7).  Another publication has aided our curiosity by extracting the best New York joints from the master list.
https://patch.com/new-york/bronxville/here-are-best-pizza-places-new-york

Jews have 613 commandments to obey, not the measly 10 prescribed to the world at large.  Would it be easier to track down 101 superior pizzas than obey 613 commandments?

President Pinocchio

Monday, September 23, 2019

It's been more than 20 years since I last went to Serendipity 3, 225 East 60th Street, which is about to celebrate its 65th anniversary.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/t-magazine/serendipity-3-restaurant.html

This long absence is notable, because, when I returned to the Holy Land in 1980 from exile on the Left Coast, I ate at Serendipity 3 almost every Sunday for months.  And, I ordered the same thing -- a hamburger and frozen hot chocolate.  At that time, at three dollars and change, its hamburger was one of the most expensive around, but worth it to my mind.  I think that they lightly covered the patty with cracker crumbs before broiling, yielding a crunchy exterior.  The frozen hot chocolate was what Starbucks' frappuccino aspires to.  I never tired of the meal.

However, as I started living a normal life, I rarely returned alone, but continued to go to Serendipity with friends and that's what I want to tell you about.  One night, after work, I went with Cindy, Susan and Sylvia (the Sibilants?).  Standing on line, we couldn't help but stare at Andy Warhol, seated at a center table.  As I was telling the host/seater/greeter that we were the Nächst party, pronounced "next," Sylvester Stallone and entourage entered right behind us.  Under those circumstances, I pretty much represented the mean of masculinity.   

. . .

Not all newspaper headlines these days are depressing.  According to the business section: "Engineers Sprint Ahead, but Don't Underestimate the Poets"

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/business/liberal-arts-stem-salaries.html

Relying on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors initially draw much higher pay than liberal arts types.  However, the gap is closed over time as innovations in STEM fields leave many workers behind, while the "soft" skills developed (we pray) in liberal arts majors may help them rise to leadership and management positions.  It doesn't hurt the numbers, also, to go to law school and work for a Wall Street firm, not exactly what you anticipated when you registered at Yale for English 126 to study "the English literary tradition through close reading of select poems from the eighteenth century through the present."   

. . .

Allow me to introduce you to Alain Eigermann, proprietor-chef of Alain's Petit Bistro, 88 Main Street, Nyack.  We encountered him and his establishment yesterday, when the Upper West Side's Power Couple took a little jaunt out of town, on the gorgeous day that was the last day of Summer.  It was lunch time and the place seemed very French and inviting.  The deep carmine walls were covered with French posters, maps and Parisian street signs.  Proud roosters also appeared in various forms.  Edith Piaf sang.

Alain is Alsatian and started working in kitchens when he was 14 years old.  He progressed through increasingly prominent restaurants in France and then New York, eventually opening several of his own.  This bistro seems to an exercise in tranquility, after some of the ventures that he described to us.

The lunch menu was simple.  I had creamy scrambled eggs with chives, accompanied by a green salad and frites.  My young bride had the best looking salade Niçoise that I have ever seen, many thick slices of grilled tuna sitting amid fresh greens, hard-boiled eggs, olives and haricots verts (French green beans).  Ooh-la-la.. . .

This puzzle defeated me: What comes next?

D1  N1  O1  S1  A2  M2  F1

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

"But if the government takes an ax to the political convention and there are no rules, then there is a complete void in which the executive can act however it likes.”  Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. 

Wednesday,  September 25, 2019

Gentleman Jerry accompanied me to Pho Vietnamese Sandwich Shop, 141 West 72nd Street, newly opened, replacing an undistinguished Japanese restaurant.  The place was very busy; almost all seats at its 10 two-tops, 3 booths and 2 tall tables were occupied.   The two long walls were white-painted brick, one side hung with indigenous objects, large green leaves painted on the other.

The name is misleading.  It's a full-scale Vietnamese restaurant; banh mi, the national sandwich, makes up only a small part of the menu.  More choices are offered of pho, the classic noodle soup, and bun, vermicelli/mei fun/angel hair, covered with stuff, beef, shrimp, pork, chicken.  Prices are reasonable, the same for lunch and dinner.  Everything in the teens except for two items at $20.

I had a beef bulgogi sandwich ($12), thin slices of beef dressed with kimchi, pickled shredded carrots, cucumber, cilantro and a fried egg ($1.50 extra), on a fresh baguette.  Jerry had bun bo cha gio ($14), fine noodles with grilled sesame beef and a spring roll.  Both of us were very pleased with our choices.

. . .

No, a Ukrainian has never won the Miss Universe pageant, contrary to what the president of the United States (who owned the Miss Universe pageant from 1996 to 2015) said while sitting next to the president of Ukraine today.  This will register as another lie on the Washington Post's presidential veracity scorecard, but I have a suggestion.    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/12/president-trump-has-made-false-or-misleading-claims-over-days/

Instead of trying to comprehend that the president of the United States has told 12,019 "false or misleading statements" out loud since taking office (as of August 12, 2019), why not list and enumerate the truths that he tells.  It will take far less time and space to record them.

Wedge Issue

Monday, September 16, 2019

Real estate is a preoccupation for many New Yorkers.  This weekend I read two stories that represented sort of the Yin and Yang of our local market.  "One in Four of New York’s New Luxury Apartments Are Unsold"  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/realestate/new-development-new-york.html
"The monthly median rent for a studio in Manhattan this summer hit an astonishing 11-year high"  https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-studio-in-manhattan-hits-eleven-year-high-2019-9

Rent for a Manhattan studio has risen to $2,700 monthly, while, "[f]rom January to late August, there was a 35 percent drop in the number of contracts signed for new development at or above $4 million."  So, I guess that those folks who couldn't pony up several million for their crib, are cramming into studios until their ship comes in or the tide goes out.
. . .

David Goldfarb is a connoisseur of wine, cheese, Hebrew texts and tomatoes.  In pursuit of the latter, I agreed to drive him to Wallkill View Farm Market, 15 Route 299, New Paltz, New York, 80 miles north of the Holy Land.  David has a longstanding relationship with the owner of the farm stand, who advised him that the San Marzano tomatoes were ready for a new home.  Earlier this summer, David traveled to the farm stand with his daughter to purchase 50 pounds of heritage tomatoes, which he cooked into soup.  Today, he went for San Marzano tomatoes to be made into sauce and I was his enabler.  After we loaded about 20 pounds of these Italianesque tomatoes into my car, we went further up the road to Jenkins-Lueken Orchards, 69 Yankee Folly Road (at route 299), for five pounds of Cortlandt apples.  Both of these operations stood in front of vast acres of fields yielding their produce.
 

I passed on tomatoes and apples, buying only a couple of jars of preserves and a bottle of hard cider.  While I couldn't take it home with me, the best purchase of the day was lunch.  We went to Gadaleto's Seafood Market and Restaurant, 246 Main Street, New Paltz.  Indeed, almost anything on the menu is taken from the refrigerated case in the retail section and cooked to order.

I had fish and chips Southern style, cod with a very crispy, spicy cornmeal crust.  Gadaleto's offers two other versions of fish and chips, traditional flour-coated and British beer-battered.  I was very pleased with my choice, accompanied by a large portion of Cajun-spiced French fries.  The place stands right off exit 18 of the New York State Thruway and is worth a stop on your way to or from Albany or other points north.  Tell them the two old guys from New York sent you.

Tuesday, September 15, 2019

Except if you live in the Boston suburbs, you are probably unaware of Natick, a town bearing the Native American name for "a suburb of Boston."  We visit regularly in order to mingle with our second and third generations.  What I just learned is that the New York Times has enunciated the "NATICK Principle" as part of its crossword puzzle canon.  "If you include a proper noun in your [crossword] grid that you cannot reasonably expect more than 1/4 of the solving public to have heard of, you must cross that noun with reasonably common words and phrases or very common names.”

Wednesday, September 18, 2019
I'm excited.  Miznon is a chain of restaurants that started in Israel in 2011, offering non-Kosher Israeli/Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food.  It is now on four continents, a counter in Manhattan's Chelsea Market its initial American outing.  Recently, it opened Miznon - North at 161 West 72nd Street, a short catapult hurl from Palazzo di Gotthelf.

I went there today and first noted the extensive renovations from its former occupant, Aroma Espresso Bar, another Israeli enterprise.  There is exposed brick on one wall and greenish subway tile opposite.  Left of the entrance, there is a high wall covered with Hebrew graffiti, at least, it looks like Hebrew and it looks like graffiti.  One third of the ground floor is an open kitchen bordered by a counter with 10 stools.  There are additional tables and chairs upstairs and on a back terrace.

In spite of the attractive physical setting, I was initially apprehensive at the sight of raw vegetables sitting on every table.  Admittedly, the sight of raw meat on every table would have been more disconcerting, but I worried about the implication of the raw vegetables.  Fortunately, the kitchen cooks its vegetables and serves hearty proteins as well.

The lunch menu offers 11 main courses, $14-34, Ratatouille Plate to Roasted Branzino, and three stuffed pitas, $13-18, Lavan Cauliflower to Rib Eye Minute Steak.  Included with all these dishes is a choice of appetizer, such as, Beetroot Carpacio (olive oil, salt, grated horseradish and sour cream) and Grilled Leek.  I ordered Rotisserie Broken Chicken ($16), many small pieces of chicken in a subtle sauce (so subtle I couldn't identify it) stuffed into a fresh pita.  I started with Spicy Platter, 4 spicy dips with a chunk of fresh crusty bread to mop with.  Delicious on all accounts. 

Thursday, September 19, 2019

I hit the road again today, without America's Favorite Epidemiologist or even David Goldfarb as company.  I went to the University of Massachusetts - Amherst for the 15th Annual Dean Alfange Jr. Lecture in American Constitutionalism.  Generations of Dean's students established this series upon his retirement, a tribute to an exceptional teacher and a superb human being.  

 

Today's speaker  was Goodwin Liu, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California, discussing "State Courts and School Desegregation: New Perspectives on Judicial Federalism and the Myth of Parity."  Justice Liu clerked for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and taught at the University of California Berkeley School of Law before his appointment to the California Supreme Court.  His theme was that state courts, reaching back even before Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legitimatized "separate but equal," were ruling against segregation and may still have a role protecting civil rights in the future independent of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Justice Liu, the son of Taiwanese immigrants and a Rhodes Scholar, will have a sad footnote in American political history, because, as the Washington Post reported on May 19, 2011, "Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the nomination of President Obama’s nominee to a high-profile federal appellate court, the first time Republicans have ever united to successfully filibuster a judicial nomination.  On a 52 to 43 vote, law professor Goodwin Liu fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a GOP filibuster to his nomination.  All but one Republican, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, opposed ending debate on Liu’s nomination to the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit." 

Justice Liu's  presentation today demonstrated why the Republicans opposed him.  He was coherent, informed, reasoned and insightful.  Truly an enemy of the state.

. . .

Although public policy and jurisprudence were my primary motivations for the trip today, I have to admit that I welcomed the opportunity to have lunch on the way up at Nardelli's Grinder Shoppe, 540 Plank Road, Waterbury, Connecticut, at exit 25 of I-84, a longtime favorite.  Note that I have never called a hero sandwich a grinder and rarely a sub.  However, nomenclature plays little role in my dining choices.   

Nardelli's offers abundant choices, 19 cold and 21 hot sandwiches, but I knew what I was having before crossing the threshold, a roast beef sandwich ($6.99 for a half, about 4 1/2" long and 3 1/2" wide), with all the fixings, mayonnaise, lettuce, diced marinated vegetables, provolone, and olives, but no tomatoes, as they sometimes give me heartburn.  I also planned to have a bag of dill pickle-flavored potato chips, a staple at Nardelli's, as well as a bottle of their private label diet root beer. 

Delight did not follow, however.  The sandwich tasted dull, the meat tired.  They were out of dill pickle-flavored potato chips.  Only the root beer met my expectations.  Maybe I'll return tomorrow for a meatball parmigiana.

 

Friday, September 20, 2019

It was a gorgeous day and I made good time heading south from Amherst, so I was able to hit Nardelli's just about 12:30 P.M.  I had the meatball parmigiana ($5.99 a half), really a bargain, but not entirely a hit.  The tomato sauce was bland, barely tasting of of the herbs that characterize Italian seasoning, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil.  The cheese was also underrepresented; no strings of parmesan stretching down your chin as you bit into the sandwich.  

I'm not dismissing Nardelli's, mind you.  I've been pleased with them in the past and there are still 38 more sandwiches for me to try out. 

Cogitant Ergo Sunt

Monday, September 9, 2019
For years, in a futile attempt to deny the aging process, I avoided reading the death notices in the New York Times.  I've progressed beyond that phase of denial and yesterday I recognized the name of R.W.  More than 50 years ago, while teaching in a local junior high school, I taught her daughter and son, the girl in my ninth-grade algebra class and the boy in my (get ready) eighth-grade general science class.  The boy was also in my home room. 

At the time, I got to know some students' families fairly well and stayed friendly with these folks after the school year ended and I moved (was pushed) on.  I recall going to the boy's Bar Mitzvah party held at Cheetah, a very hot discotheque in Manhattan at the time, reflecting the parents' nonconformity, one reason that I found them interesting.  Not that they were refugees from a hippie commune or a Buddhist ashram.  The father owned a successful manufacturing (?) business and the mother herself was a teacher.  In fact, what first attracted me to them was how she praised my classroom shtick, reported back by her children. 

This family became a model for me.  It gave me hope that a middle-class Jewish household could be populated by engaged, articulate parents and teenagers resembling human beings, not what I was accustomed to.  Sometime in the following year, when I had moved to 55 Morton Street in Greenwich Village, previously the home of Wally Cox and his occasional overnight guest Marlon Brando, the kids called me.  They stunned me with the news that their parents were getting divorced. 

All I can remember is that I had to go somewhere, so I got into my VW Beetle parked on the street and partially ripped off my front bumper getting out of the parking space.  I don't think that I even left a note for the car that I vandalized.  "The dream was gone.  Something had been taken from him."  F. Scott Fitzgerald, Winter Dreams, 1926.

I had such a comedown before, although it arose from a work of fiction.  Frederico Fellini's great 1960 movie "La Dolce Vita" had many memorable scenes and themes.  While it was more than unlikely that I would ever cavort in a fountain with Anita Ekberg, I identified strongly with Marcello Mastroianni's friend Steiner, who, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "represents all that Marcello envies.  Steiner lives in an apartment filled with art.  He presides over a salon of poets, folk singers, intellectuals.  He has a beautiful wife and two perfect children."  And then, Steiner commits suicide.  That was it.  I only expected existential dread from then on, until I drew some temporary inspiration from the W family years later.  To quote the words of Ralph Cramden, "Pow!  Right in the kisser!"
. . .

My young bride brought to my attention an article in the New York Times about the rebellion within the British Conservative Party's parliamentary wing against the Brexit policy of Boris Johnson.   https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/us/politics/boris-johnson-trump.html

This contrasts with the docility of our Republican legislators, deferring to a "president [who] has thoroughly taken over the Republicans, remaking the party of Lincoln in his image and institutionalizing policies that, only a few years ago, would have seemed extreme to them."  As a defrocked political scientist, I found no sound rationale for the opposing scenarios.  In fact, the opposite should be true.  British political parties are centrally controlled, while there are 50 or more organizations making up each of our major political parties.  Parliamentary candidates are often assigned to a constituency by the party leadership, unlike an American office-seeker who typically emerges from the local soil, climbing up a ladder of contested positions. 

There is little room in British politics for the vaunted maverick.  Yet, now we see members of Parliament operating in classic "I'm all right, Jack" fashion, while Republicans in Washington are bowing to the president as deeply and frequently as the most devout Muslim bows to Allah.  Go figure.
. . .

Recently, I've provided data on the cost of home ownership and rentals to assist in determining where you might move to.  Below is information on sprucing up the nest rather than flying away from it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/realestate/top-home-improvement-projects-home-renovation-projects.html

It lists the most popular home improvements and their average cost on a national basis.  Having had some work done on Palazzo di Gotthelf over the years, I can only say that the indicated costs could only be discerned in our rear view mirror. 

. . .

I was in Midtown today and went to Urbanspace Vanderbilt, the busy food hall at East 45th Street & Vanderbilt Avenue.  It was less crowded than on my past visits, when it resembled fraternity row on the eve of the Big Game.  Today, it seemed more like the morning after. 

I chose Mian Kitchen from among the 20 or so vendors.  It features baos, spongy, doughy discs folded over its contents.  I had a combo, 2 baos, Peking duck -- roasted duck, scallion, cucumber, crushed peanut and hoisin sauce; shrimp tempura -- deep fried shrimp, red cabbage, red onion, cilantro, black sesame seeds and spicy mayo; and 8 pieces of popcorn chicken ($13).  I thought that the chicken had popped a bit too early before it was served, but it tasted good, as did the baos.  And, if you are still hungry, there's pizza, hamburgers, cookies, chicken sandwiches, lobster rolls, tacos, gumbo, poké bowls, ramen, doughnuts and sushi.  Maybe the crowds have left because they got exhausted having to make up their minds what to eat.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

"The One Thing No Israeli Wants to Discuss" is the misleading headline of an op-ed today that gets its argument wrong as well.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/opinion/israel-election-netanyahu.html

I don't entirely agree with the author's contention that "[n]o single episode has shaped Israel’s population and politics like the wave of suicide bombings perpetrated by Palestinians in the first years of the 21st century."  I would place the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, which opened the door to Benjamin Netanyahu and his repressive policies, as the turning point in contemporary Israeli history.  The author and I arrive at the same place, however.  "[T]hat period [of suicide bombings] explains the durability of Benjamin Netanyahu, which outsiders sometimes struggle to understand." 

The author confusedly claims that the population suffers a "repression of memory" of the violence, yet he recognizes that Netanyahu's electoral success is based on his emphasis of "the word 'security' [that] carries a kind of supernatural weight."  Looking at the record, the concern for security is perfectly reasonable.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_suicide_attacks

In the period 2000-2008 before Netanyahu took office, there were 147 suicide bombings in Israel, killing 634 people.  Since then, there have been 2 bombings, causing no deaths.  Of course, there have been other deadly attacks using trucks, cars, knives and guns, but I can understand the haunting specter raised by a suicide bombing, a fraction of a second separating life and death.  So, Netanyahu's campaign ad asserts that "in the stormy Mideastern sea we’ve proven that we can keep Israel an island of stability and safety" and the electorate has agreed in the last three elections, but by shrinking margins. 

Stay tuned.  The next election is September 17th.
. . .

Mark and Alex Dilman emigrated from Tbilisi, Georgia over 25 years ago.  Our then generous immigration policy allowed them to establish families and successful careers here.  However, neither one was available for dinner last night, so, with both of our wives preoccupied, Michael Ratner and I went to Old Tbilisi Garden, 174 Bleecker Street, advertising authentic Georgian cuisine.  It's a pleasant place with a covered garden at the back, fitting eight tables.  The rest of the space is long and narrow, with more than two dozen tables mostly in a straight line. 

The menu seemed authentic enough, given my limited exposure to Georgian cuisine, most memorably at a dinner cooked by Genya Dilman.  Michael and I shared hefty dumplings (khinkali), 3 meat and 3 cheese ($11 each plate); chicken makvalshi ($22.50), roasted chicken with blackberry sauce; and adjaruli khachapuri ($18), soft dough in the shape of a boat, baked with cheese with an egg stirred in when served.  A khachapuri and a cup of coffee should hold you until the weekend.  ისიამოვნეთ as they say in Tbilisi. 

Friday, September 13, 2019

Reading this interview with a Nigerian novelist, I have to play my Grumpy Old Man card.  “'I had a little bit of a crisis,' said [Akwaeke] Emezi, who uses the pronoun they.  'I stopped journaling.  I stopped writing for pleasure because I was just like, if I’m not getting paid for it, what’s the point?'”  While I should call them they, they call them I.  Why shouldn't they call them we?