Saturday, April 27, 2024

The Z Word

Saturday, April 20, 2024 
Hyderabadi Zaiqa, 366 West 52nd Street, four steps down from the street, is a tiny joint, six two-tops with short stools and a counter with four tall stools. Interior space seems beside the point, however, because the parade of delivery guys in and out was endless, generating far more business than the maximum of 16 folks seated. The very extensive menu and the effusive menu also befit a much larger establishment.
Ultimately, it is the quality that counts and Hyderabadi Zaiqa makes the grade. I ordered HZ Special Boneless Chicken Biryani, one of 15 varieties listed ($15.99). It was a generous portion, eight hearty chunks of medium-spicy chicken on basmati rice. 

By the way, this is not a theater crowd joint. In fact, when we left after 8 PM, there were a dozen people several generations beyond us waiting on the sidewalk to get in.

Sunday, April 21, 2024
This study is scary. It looks at median home value/median income in 1970 vs. 2022.

Nationally, the ratio of home value to income, the (un)affordability index, has swollen in this period, because real estate appreciation has far outstripped income growth. For instance, the 2022 ratio for Miami was 3.25 its 1970 ratio and it was only tenth highest on the list. California takes seven of the top 10 spots; the Holy Land only comes in 11th.

To illustrate the explosiveness of the California real estate market, I looked up the house in Sherman Oaks my Original Wife and I purchased in 1975 for $65,500. While it sold in 2007, long after we left, for $935,000, its estimated sale price today ranges from $1,551,318 to $2,006,000. On the other hand, $65,500 compounded at 6% over 49 years comes to $1,229,945, for what it’s worth.
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The Upper West Side’s Power Couple returned to the road to begin the Sinai Desert trek from Natick, Massachusetts.

We joined much of our local family at Minado, 1282 Worcester Street, Natick, a Japanese seafood buffet restaurant, something new to me. There are lot of Chinese buffets in New York ranging from salad bars with noodles to full-scale dining palaces, but Minado was singular. It could be mistaken for an airplane hangar. It serves over 30 sushi and sashimi dishes, over 20 salads, about 30 hot dishes including soft shell crab (a rare item to be freely dispensed), beef teriyaki, several types of fried and baked fish, BBQ shrimp, about 10 yakitori (skewers), vanilla and green tea soft serve, crepes made to order. No limits. Adult price Monday-Thursday $32.95, Friday-Sunday $34.95, all beverages extra.

Monday, April 22, 2024
The Exodus from Egypt went well, our caravan of two dozen wandering Jews ably directed by Law Professor David.

Wednesday, April 24, 2024
We returned to the Holy Land from the Promised Land today.

Thursday, April 25, 2024
What a day on the legal frontier. New York State’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s conviction for felony sex crimes and the United States Supreme Court seems poised to restore the divine right of kings.

Meanwhile campuses across the country are in turmoil because of the violence in Gaza. Actually, not all the violence in Gaza, just some of the violence in Gaza.

Friday, April 26, 2024
Today's headline: "Student Leader of Columbia Protests: ‘Zionists Don’t Deserve to Live’"


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Saturday, April 20, 2024

Inconsistent or Hypocritical?

Saturday, April 13, 2024 
In spite of the heroic efforts of our 10-year old star defender, the Natick Greyhounds lost to the Hollister Hens in a tight 2-1 soccer match. We recovered from this defeat at The Cottage, 190 Linden Street, Wellesley, a modern, large, airy restaurant with a name that can only be ironic.

Our two waifs had chicken fingers, which looked nice and crunchy ($12.50). Their stunning grandmother had the Beet & Citrus Bowl, a large salad of quinoa, greens, fresh citrus, walnuts, goat cheese, with lemon vinaigrette ($17). I ordered half a chicken salad sandwich and a crock of French onion soup ($19), an excellent combo. No offense, but it was better than your mother’s chicken salad, made with raisins, walnuts and diced apples, served with lettuce and tomato on thick slices of challah. 

The soup was special, too, outdoing the last two bowls of onion soup that I had in Paris last year. As I noted then, the thick glob of melted Gruyère cheese atop the soup in each case stayed within the bowl. Today, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, 5,565 kilometers from Paris, France, the cheese beautifully ran over the edge of the bowl and could be peeled off the side of the crock where it was baked on.

Sunday. April 14, 2024
Nancy Neveloff Dubler, October 24, 1941 - April 14, 2024

Monday, April 15, 2024
My marathoning days are over. In the past, I participated in the New York Marathon, the London Marathon and the Boston Marathon — as a spectator. Today is the running of the Boston Marathon, passing right through the center of the town where we are visiting our second and third generations. The weather is nice, dry, partly cloudy skies, temperature ranging from mid-50s to mid-60s, yet I am denying myself exposure to the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Instead, I made French toast for our bunch’s brunch and then took a prophylactic nap, because we decided to head back to New York even before all runners reached Boston.
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I live on the edge — every so often. Driving home, I took a great risk, stopping to eat at Rein’s Deli New York Style Restaurant, 435 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, Connecticut, exit 65 on I-84. Normally, the name itself would have kept me away. What does “New York Style” connote? Brusque waiters rolling their eyes as you order? Guatemalan refugees slicing your bagels? Poor imitations of Eastern European dishes?

Rein’s, in business over 50 years, mostly avoided these pitfalls. It’s a large space, about 1/3 devoted to retail sales, cases of Dr. Brown’s sodas, quarts of matzoh ball soup, crumb cakes and jars of pickles. The menu is enormous, combining the corned beef/pastrami family of typical deli items (though non-Kosher), the lox/whitefish family of typical “appetizing” items, and the omelet/pancake/hamburger family of typical diner items. Under the circumstances, I found the Polish ham unnecessary and mildly insulting.

Here’s where I took a bigger risk, challenging them to do justice to real Jewish food. I ordered The Whaler, a double-decker sandwich of whitefish salad, lox, sable, Swiss cheese (a ringer) on toasted rye ($18.79). It was not only edible, it was good. So, if you can’t wait to get to the Holy Land, Rein’s will hold you.

Tuesday, April 16, 2024
This is the headline on a recent article in the Daily Mail, a right-wing British tabloid, that’s worth reflecting on. "When U.S. troops kill aid workers, it's 'friendly fire'. When Israel does, it's a 'war crime'. The double standards are nauseating”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-13272407/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-U-S-troops-kill-aid-workers-friendly-fire-Israel-war-crime-double-standards.html

Wednesday, April 17, 2024
There should be a word for someone like me who bounces back and forth, reading the New York Times on line and on paper in no particular order. Ambiguous, ambidextrous, ambivalent, ambitious, ambivert, ambipolar? Looking on line right now, 11:38 AM, I find that five of the first nine stories deal with Israel, one of the other four deals with Ukraine and Israel and the next two deal with antisemitism. I can only contrast this with the inattention of the American, British and Canadian press to the plight of Europe’s Jews before, during and after WWII.  

One of the antisemitism stories is about the testimony of the president of Columbia University on Capitol Hill. It had this interesting little tidbit about a student demonstrator punished by eviction from university housing. “He is still fighting his eviction, which would mean finding housing that would accept his emotional support rabbit.”

I understand that Che Guevara, an Argentinian, settled in Cuba because it welcomed him and his pet tortoise.
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We went to see a new production of “Uncle Vanya” at Lincoln Center tonight. I was delighted that the initial appearance on stage of Steve Carrell, the famous comedic actor, did not evoke applause, even less warranted than the now automatic standing ovation at the end of the evening. We were unwilling to hang around for the second act of this ill-conceived venture, so we were spared witnessing an undeserved standing O.
 
Friday, April 19, 2024
eater.com is a very reliable website for restaurant reviews and recommendations. It started locally and now covers about two dozen American locations. I turned to it today to find a new hamburger joint, aware that Passover next week would limit my dining options. I was surprised that Schnipper’s, 620 Eighth Avenue, was one of the top choices. I had seen and avoided it many times; it sits opposite the first stop of the M104 bus, a transportation favorite.

I had been put off by a superficial reaction to the name which I took to be a cutesy attempt to sound old-fashioned. Instead, Schnipper’s seems to be a small, local family-run chain owned and operated by the Schnippers. I trusted eater.com and persuaded Terrific Tom to join me in exploring the possibilities.

It’s a big, high-ceilinged room, with 60 or so seats at blonde wood tables. The space is entirely glass-enclosed, floor to ceiling, making for a very bright setting. You order at a front counter and get a buzzer which directs a server to your table when the food is ready.

Hamburgers were my target and I chose  the Classic Burger Special, a 5 oz. hamburger, special cheese blend, caramelized onions, thick-cut applewood smoked bacon, baby arugula, and Schnipper sauce with an order of French fries and a refillable fountain drink ($20). Coke Zero was on tap along with Diet Coke, an extra treat for me. In all, a good deal. I forgot to ask for a fried egg on top for $1.50 more. Does anyone else remember the Bo Burger at Obie's Diner in downtown Ithaca?


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Saturday, April 13, 2024

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Saturday, April 6, 2024
If you happen to be roaming around Halifax, Nova Scotia, you might wind up in the suburban community of Porters Lake. Then, watch out for this bit of local geography. 

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Matt Katz is a talented reporter and author.  He is the son of our neighbors Roberta and Richard Katz, actually from Roberta’s first marriage then adopted by Richard when Matt was very young. As an adult, Matt sought more information about his birth father who had disappeared from his life. 

“Inconceivable Truth” is his wonderful podcast about the search. We have listened to the first two episodes, increasingly fascinated with his findings. Try it.  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inconceivable-truth/id1737812524 

Sunday, April 7, 2024
It is rare for a grandparent to ignore the accomplishments of grandchildren. Today, we had the opportunity to qvell at a performance by 16-year old Boaz at Carnegie Hall. He is a member of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, consisting of 250 kids, but he still stood out not only in his grandparents’ eyes, but as the tallest kid on stage. Look in the center of the back row. 

Before the performance, much of the family met for lunch at Wagamama, 100 West 55th Street, two blocks from Carnegie Hall. We first encountered this international pan-Asian chain in London and later followed it to Boston and Manhattan. 

I had the very good Grilled Duck Ramen, “crispy duck leg, rich vegetable broth, cilantro + ponzu sauce, bok choy, chilies, scallions, half a tea-stained egg” and noodles, of course ($25).

We were still early, so we sat in a plaza in front of the restaurant, enjoying rare sunshine. I was fortunate to fall into conversation with a charming young man on the bench next to me. Dr. A. Abomelha, from Saudi Arabia, is doing a residency in orthodontics in Florida and taking a well-deserved break here. 

He is enthusiastic about the progress his country has made into modernity, especially for his female relatives. He has a sister who is a lawyer, exercising privileges denied to women not long ago. He deduced that I was Jewish, but we stayed away from geopolitics.

The concert was a smashing success, greeted boisterously by the audience. What else would you expect from the parents, stepparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings of hundreds of Jewish kids?

Monday, April 8, 2024
It might not amount to binge watching, but we watched eight episodes of “Ripley” on Netflix from its release on Thursday through tonight. It’s an adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” a novel by the insistently antisemitic and extremely skillful Patricia Highsmith.

Watch it. The story is not only marvelously nasty, the photography is brilliant. The settings are beautiful — the Amalfi Coast, Rome, Palermo and Venice — all done in razor-sharp black and white.
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Speaking of Black and white, to test discriminatory employment practices, 97 of the country’s largest companies were sent 80,000 phony résumés for 10,000 jobs from 2019 to 2021. The faux applicants were similarly qualified, but were given names to suggest that they were white or Black, and male or female. On average, employers contacted the presumed white applicants 9.5 percent more often than the presumed Black applicants, although there were significant industry differences.
Chief Justice John Roberts, from his lofty perch, has the solution; “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” 
PICS v. Seattle School District No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007). 

Hop to it.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024
I waited months for the opening of DiDi’s Dumplings, 201 Amsterdam Avenue, directly across the moat from Palazzo di Gotthelf. I was an early customer on August 15, 2002 and returned a couple of weeks later to confirm my disappointment. The menu was very limited and not particularly well executed. It closed early last year, but quietly EA Dumpling has taken over the premises.

It’s a tiny place, basically a takeout joint with three small tables and six chairs for in-house dining. I had spicy wontons (6 pieces $7.95) and curry chicken potstickers (6 pieces $7.95). Other available dishes were soup dumplings, noodle soups and boiled dumplings. If EA is to avoid DiDi’s fate, the menu has to grow.

While the counterman’s English is far better than my Mandarin, I suggest using the touchscreen ordering mechanism to avoid confusion.

Thursday, April 11, 2024
John McWhorter, a linguist at Columbia University, today riffs on a subject that also annoys me — standing ovations. Unless the theater burns down, every live performance seems to get a standing ovation when the curtain falls these days. 

He writes: “Now the standing ovation is simply a sign of approval.” I’ll go further, more often it is simply a sign of survival. Worse is the standing ovation that Stephen Colbert gets every night as soon as he sets foot on the stage of his television show and he is not the only one. I understand “Happy to see you,” but orgasmic frenzy cannot be, should not be, an everyday occurrence. Save it for the real thing.
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The Upper West Side’s Power Couple drove up to Eastern Massachusetts this afternoon for a long weekend of babysitting. The odds favor the babies 3 to 2.

Friday, April 12, 2024
“Cornel West and running mate Melina Abdullah refuse to condemn Hamas’ actions in first joint TV interview” 

Well, that opens two seats at our Seder table.
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Saturday, April 6, 2024

As Long As You Have Your Health

Saturday, March 30, 2024 
"MAKE THE ACA, or OBAMACARE, AS IT IS KNOWN, MUCH BETTER, STRONGER, AND FAR LESS EXPENSIVE."
Written by:
  • DSA (Democratic Socialists of America)
  • DJT (Donald J. Trump)
Answer below.

Sunday, March 31, 2024 
Happy birthday law professor David. 
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"Indigenous leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti and the Cook Islands signed a historic treaty that recognizes whales as legal persons in a move conservationists believe will apply pressure to national governments to offer greater protections for the large mammals."  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/in-bid-to-protect-whales-polynesian-indigenous-groups-give-them-personhood/articleshow/108888400.cms

The Alabama State Legislature quickly responded by giving whale embryos the right to vote.
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Ordinary conversations about taxes usually center on federal income taxes, one schedule across the board. Wide variety is found at the state level, however, where a variety of taxes may be imposed, income, property, sales, excise. Here is a ranking of states by the aggregate tax rate on its citizens. 
Alaska at the top (or bottom according to your perspective) is no surprise. There's not much there to tax and oil revenue supports many public programs. Delaware, in second place, is home to myriad corporations taking advantage of its business-friendly legal system. While the highly-placed western states are relatively empty and aggressively individualistic, the rest seem to fall into place with the anomalous exception of Mississippi in 39th place. It has the lowest median income of all 50 states, yet imposes a relatively high tax burden, leaving their woeful citizenry even worse off. 
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Russ & Daughters, 179 East Houston Street, has been around for 110 years and has been recognized as a preeminent supplier of life-sustaining elements, such as lox, whitefish and herring, for much of that time. Ten years ago, it opened a cafe around the corner and down the block at 127 Orchard Street, once the Ho Chi Minh Trail of Jewish bargain hunting, open on Sunday when more genteel venues were closed.  

While I have shopped at the retail location for more than half a century, I ate at the cafe for the first time today. The menu is rife with the foods I grew up with, the caviar a notable exception, some gussied up and given punning names, such as Yum Kippered, a plate of kippered salmon, cream cheese, bagel or bialy, tomato, onion, and capers ($22), my young bride's choice. I had Lower Sunny Side, two fried eggs, two big slices of Gaspe nova and two thick potato latkes ($23).  

The menu includes beer, wine and liquor, and significantly five different egg creams or, more accurately, an original recipe egg cream ($6) and four somewhat attenuated variants. With some reluctance, I skipped them and ordered a cold brewed iced coffee, delicious in its own right ($6). 

When we walked in around 2:30 PM, the joint was jumping, but emptied as the 3:30 PM closing time approached. Weekdays, closing is at 2:30 PM. Historical footnote -- In 1968, I dated a daughter of a Daughter. It didn't last or else today I would be sitting atop an empire of lox, whitefish and pickled herring.
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The streets were quite empty compared to Russ & Daughters, possibly because it was Easter Sunday. One other Lower East Side institution was busy, though, Economy Candy, 108 Rivington Street, established in 1937. It claims to be the oldest candy shop in the Holy Land and I have never seen an establishment with more wrapped candy of every sort. 
Presented with the opportunity, we bought several packages of Passover-compliant candy.

Monday, April 1, 2024
Madison Square Garden beckoned, the last Ranger game of the regular season for me. I will be conducting a Novena for playoff tickets. Sam Fuchs, Navy veteran, was my companion this evening. We met first at bb.q Chicken, 25 West 32nd Street, a first rate chicken joint. I hadn't noticed until today that they have many, many California locations and others scattered throughout the land, so you can have sticky fingers right alongside me.  https://bbqchicken.com/locations/

We ate heartily to prepare for an evening on the ice. I had Jamaican Rice Bowl, fried chicken chunks, jerk sauce and scrambled eggs over rice ($9.95), good tasting and obviously filling. In fact, we should have stuck with the chicken. It didn’t disappoint; the Broadway Blueshirts did, however.

Tuesday, April 2, 2024
I lured Michael Ratner over to the West Side by promoting the Twin Tuesday Special at Pastrami Queen, 138 West 72nd Street. That’s two sandwiches on dinner rolls, pastrami and corned beef with an order of French fries, pickles and coleslaw for $19.95. Your Dr. Brown’s is à la carte.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Overall, I can't challenge the New York Times current list of 100 best local  restaurants, although a few of my favorites are missing.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/dining/best-nyc-restaurants.html?smid=nytcore-android-share 

If they ask you to pay, try this approach.

The value of the list is its catholicity, covering a broad array of cuisines, neighborhoods, price levels, and formality, and is good reading for that point alone. I'll try to get to more of them and report accordingly.
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Last week, I unnecessarily informed you that Finland is the happiest country in the world. Today, I will waste your time with the happiest cities in the good old USA.
Fremont, California repeats, just as Finland did. This medium-size city is in the ambit of Silicon Valley. It has the lowest divorce rate among the 180 or so largest cities in the country and leads in “emotional and physical well-being” according to its emotionally and physically fit residents.

On the flip side, another survey comes up with the worst cities based on census data. 

Half of the top (bottom) ten are in the Rust Belt and New Jersey takes two places.

Thursday, April 4, 2024
According to Forbes Magazine, “[t]here are now more billionaires than ever: 2,781 in all, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the record set in 2021. They’re richer than ever, worth $14.2 trillion in aggregate, up by $2 trillion from 2023.”
How’s by you?
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I went for a post post-op visit today at the Hospital for Special Surgery. The very insightful Dr. Beatty found me fit as a fiddle, an out-of-tune fiddle that is.

Friday, April 5, 2024
“A preliminary 4.7 magnitude earthquake rattled buildings across parts of the Northeast Friday morning, according to data from the US Geological Survey, with reports of temblors being felt from Philadelphia to New York City.”

I felt my building bounce as I sat on the couch reading the newspaper and thought “Could it be?” Shortly after I moved to the Left Coast, I was sitting in the toilet at my office when I felt a temblor. “It must be the subway,” I thought. “Wait a minute. This is Los Angeles. There’s no IRT here.”

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