Family Ties

Saturday, July 20, 2024 

Republican insiders supposedly labored to convince Donald Trump that Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character and thus not able to be his running mate.  https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/why-donald-trump-fixated-hannibal-051357086.html

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The Upper West Side’s Power Couple drove up to Amherst, Massachusetts today with two goals in mind. Tomorrow, we will see grandson Boaz at his camp on visiting day. Today, we are spending time with Barbara Alfange as she organizes her move to a new residence.

The three of us had dinner at Johnny’s Tavern, 30 Boltwood Walk, Amherst, a joint familiar from earlier visits. It’s fairly dark, befitting the pub atmosphere. Its 30 or so tables filled up and the noise level rose as 6 o’clock approached. 

The food was as good as I remembered. We shared a truffle kale Caesar salad with ample anchovies ($10). Both women had a rare tuna sandwich, so attractive that I almost snatched it away ($16). However, I was sufficiently distracted by my plate of fried chicken, three boneless pieces in a delicious, peppery crust, with buttermilk gravy and sides of mashed potatoes and collard greens ($24). Worth a return visit

Sunday, July 21, 2024

Page 259, “Desert Star” by Michael Connelly, published 2022, “a bullet had clipped the upper helix of his left ear. It was about as near a miss as he could possibly have had. If the bullet had been an inch more on target, he’d be spending the night in the morgue.”

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We took our camper for a shopping trip to a nearby Walmart and then to Rondeau’s Dairy Bar, 1300 Ware Street, Palmer, Massachusetts, a major local landmark. It has about three dozen homemade flavors, but it bans soft serve. You won’t miss it, choosing among monkey butt, Oh Joy!, Forest Lake mud and several less familiar flavors.

I had two very generous scoops, orange pineapple and rum pudding which was loaded with candied orange peel ($7.25). Since we missed lunch at the camp, this abundance served us well, although it prepared us for an early dinner.

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We stayed overnight at the Trainmasters Inn, 1292 South Main Street, Palmer repeating our visit from last year. It’s a charming place, designed to evoke the railroading past, originally built two centuries ago. In fact, the owners also own and operate the Steaming Tender, 28 Depot Street, once the town’s railroad station, lovingly restored as a restaurant.

This all made sense after our server told us that seven railroads used to serve Palmer, going north and south and east and west. This all ended in 1971, offering the opportunity to repurpose the building into its present form, steamer trunks, a fabulous old switchboard, a hand car, a coach car, a coal tender scattered around. The only active connection to the past came at 6:20 PM, when an Amtrak train came flying through on the way to Boston.

As guests of the inn, we were given whiskey bread pudding desserts gratis. This followed a bowl of New England clam chowder ($8) and a lobster roll ($27) for me. Week-old French fries were a bit of a drawback. Frequent refills of Diet Coke were a plus.

Monday, July 22, 2024

The maiden name of my beloved maternal grandmother Esther Malka Goldenberg was Harris. Might we be related?

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We stopped at Tables at the Farm, 3092 Palmer Street, a rustic breakfast place that we also hit last year. It is an almost ideal example of its type. All that seems to be missing are chickens in the parking lot.

Although it offers a very wide variety of omelets, pancakes, waffles, and French toast accompanied by bacon, ham, sausage patties or links and corned beef hash, I kept it simple, three scrambled eggs ($4.50) with grilled cornbread ($3.50). A good American breakfast, no hint of bagels or lox.

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

When asked about possible running mates for Kamala Harris including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, I noted that her husband and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s wife are Jewish. “Jews in the bedroom, not on the ballot.”

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I got a shot in my hip this afternoon, which is supposed to improve my forward progress from crawling to trudging. If nothing else, it excuses me from the next four sessions of physical therapy.

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Drop everything and get tickets to “N/A”, a new play by Mario Correa. You know that after food, politics is my great interest. This play, positing Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, brilliantly illustrates the tension between ideological fervor and tactical leadership. The portrayals are true to life and the rhetoric may well have been lifted from the public record and some occasional private asides.

Terrific Tom invited me to the theater tonight and I am so grateful that I was able to see this important work. While it is centered on Democratic Party politics, a Republican Party version is imaginable, a wily Mitch McConnell versus a go-for-broke Matt Gaetz, although I am not sure that I would encourage anyone to spend money on seeing them.

Friday, July 26, 2024

Baruc S. periodically gets home here to visit his family from his job in Colombia. That gives us the opportunity to catch up over a meal, of course. We had lunch at Moon Kee, 2642 Broadway, my third visit in its first year. The food was very good, on the whole. We shared everything as mandatory in any Chinese restaurant worth visiting.

We had har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings) ($8), scallion pancake ($8), roast duck ($24) and shrimp fried rice ($16). In fact, the food was excellent except for the inevitable fattiness of the roast duck. On the other hand, I wonder what the duck would say about me.

 

 

Sense of Direction

Saturday, July 13, 2024 

When I returned from exile on the Left Coast, I moved into a spacious apartment on the East Side. Shortly before that, David Liederman opened “David’s Cookies” a few blocks away. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/dining/david-liederman-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

I was a regular customer for years to come for his large, flat beauties, unlike the traditional toll house cookie or Famous Amos’s silver dollar size. Many people tried to get the cookies hot from the oven, which management prohibited because of the risk of injury. I, on the other hand, couldn’t wait to get the cookies home and into the freezer, producing a treat akin to ice cream.

My affinity for David’s Cookies was well known; they were often my response to a party invitation. In fact, they were the omen of my career as a management consultant crashing to an end. When Liederman invited my firm to propose services to his business, I was excluded from the effort. I was indignant and realized that I was doomed.

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Speaking of baking, I have to note my disappointment with a Zabar’s product (2245 Broadway). While their cinnamon babka is very cinnamony and their chocolate babka is very chocolatey, their recently introduced apple babka is not very appley. It has a pleasant apple odor, but very little fruit ($13.98). Instead, buy their apple strudel or other fruit flavors, with or without cheese, found in the back of the store next to the knishes ($9.95).

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Another shopping trip produced more favorable results. Bonsai Sparkling Water Beverage (flavored seltzer) on sale at Shop Rite, 877 St. Georges Avenue, Woodbridge Township, $4 an eight pack. I got blackberry lime and cherry peach, each only slightly sweet, negligible calories. An excellent summer choice, receptive to rum or vodka.

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Any doubt about the result of the 2024 Presidential Election disappeared last night with the top of Donald Trump’s ear. He took a bullet for you. They are out to get him. The inept Secret Service works for Biden. This never would have happened if Trump were President.

The martyrology had begun years ago. Believe it or not, this was the New York Times headline yesterday morning. "Martyr Inc.: How Trump Monetized a Persecution Narrative"

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The weekend's real estate section has an interesting listing for a four-bedroom, four-bath, 2,709-square-foot house built in 1901 in the Bronx, priced at $985,000. "A chicken coop can be included in the sale."

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We visited Arthur and Lyn Dobrin, our longtime friends, in Westbury. While they live almost due east of our home, it might soon feel like venturing into the Old West. "Long Island’s Nassau County is in the process of putting together a task force of 'special deputies,' which is made up of armed civilians and is designed to be activated whenever the County Executive, Bruce Blakeman, sees fit to do so." https://lavocedinewyork.com/en/new-york/2024/07/12/nassau-county-is-training-an-armed-task-force-of-special-deputies/

Blakeman had this brainstorm even months before this weekend's craziness. What's next, Bruce? School buses as armored personnel carriers?

Monday, July 15, 2024

It’s no secret that Barcelona is a wonderful place to visit and that seems to be a problem. It’s such a popular tourist destination that a lot of locals are resentful. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/world/europe/barcelona-tourism-squirt-guns.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

While our visits there have only been greeted by sangria and tapas, we understand local frustration with crowded museums and restaurants, distortion of the real estate market and cheapening of culture. After all, the Holy Land attracted 61.8 million tourists last year, many of whom forget that "walk" is an intrinsic part of sidewalk.

https://www.business.nyctourism.com/press-media/press-releases/year-end-tourism-numbers-announcement

As a practical matter, however, I am willing to sacrifice speedier perambulation for the $48 billion directly infused into our local economy by tourists.

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While Chinatown is a natural attraction for many out-of-town visitors, it remains one of my favorite destinations, too. Today, Barbara and Bernie, cousins of cousins, joined my young bride and me at Jing Fong, 202 Centre Street, a master dim sum dispensary. This version is about one-fifth the size of its former home at 20 Elizabeth Street, then the largest restaurant in Chinatown. Less gaudy, less raucous, it still has carts whirling around with fried, steamed, baked and boiled goodies which will land on your table unless you clearly object.

We had two orders of vegetable spring rolls, shrimp dumplings, cilantro rice noodles, siu mai, vegetable dumplings, shrimp rolls in fried wonton skin, and chicken skewers with sweet and spicy sauce. It came to $25 each, including a generous tip to account for the extra time we spent at the table to delay exposure to the 91° temperature outside.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Look at the “2024 State Scorecard on Women’s Health and Reproductive Care” and correlate the quality of healthcare and local political control.

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/scorecard/2024/jul/2024-state-scorecard-womens-health-and-reproductive-care

Then, join me in singing “Mommas don’t let your baby girls grow up to be Republicans.”

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

A recent essay lamented the state of GPS; “we have all become so reliant on online maps that we have lost the deep knowledge that allows us to make our own calculations of an optimal route.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/10/opinion/google-maps-driving-apps-flaws.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Speak for yourself. I am still wallowing in deep knowledge, so much so that I rail at the illogical routing offered by my GPS to get to Long Island from my home. Note that to a New Yorker (city resident), Long Island means Nassau or Suffolk County, not the geographic entity that includes Brooklyn and Queens immediately across the East River. 

In any case, starting from 69th Street on the West Side, I am not going to drive up to 178th Street to get on the Cross Bronx Expressway, the No-Man’s-Land of surface transportation, and use the Throgs Neck Bridge to enter Eastern Queens County at a cost of $6.94 to $11.19 to drive into Nassau County, the path urged by electronic wizardry. You know as well as I do that crossing 65th Street to the East Side puts you close to the 59th Street Bridge (feelin’ groovy) across to Western Queens County (free) where you pick up the Long Island Expressway, admittedly a parking lot sometimes, going straight to Long Island, no matter what GPS is squawking at you.

Friday, July 19, 2024

Ladies and gentlemen, the next President of the United States, “a failed tycoon who was heavily in hock and too risky for almost any bank to lend to, a crude, impulsive, bigoted, multiply-bankrupt ignoramus, a sexual predator so reckless he openly harassed women on his show.” (“Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV” by Emily Nussbaum)

Happily Ever After?

Saturday, July 6, 2024 

A lot of us fan-addicts think that they got this backwards: “He is a human being before he is a hockey player.”

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Disappointment or worse seems to be present almost everywhere you look these days. I did find one semi-bright spot today, however. H Mart, 210 Amsterdam Avenue, billing itself as America’s No. 1 Asian Supermarket, just opened a hot food counter. It offers Korean fried chicken in a variety of sauces from bb.q Chicken whose store at 25 West 32nd Street has proven to be a convenient jumping off place for Madison Square Garden. Be aware, H Mart provides no seating and the nearest benches are at Lincoln Towers, back and front.

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This beautiful, sad photograph is part of an exhibit at Yad Vashem, Israel's preeminent Holocaust memorial and museum. 

 

Sunday, July 7, 2024

After some well-intentioned efforts, businesses underground at local subway stations have experienced severe declines.  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/07/nyregion/mta-underground-retail.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Turnstyles was a collection of a dozen or more stores at one end of the large Columbus Circle subway station. Most offered food. My favorite by far was the Bolivian Llama Party, which featured a fabulous marinated brisket sandwich. See August 24, 2026, September 21, 2016. However, BLP came above ground a couple of years ago and now is parked in Sunnyside, Queens, at 44-14 48th Avenue, about three blocks from the nearest subway station, 46th Street - Bliss Street on the #7 train. I should not have forgotten it. 

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As the opportunity to purchase a home slips away from more people, new residential construction is offering more space in rental units.  https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-market/market-snapshots/national-average-apartment-size/

Of course, this is a broadly national view. The data show that new apartments in the South are generally becoming roomier. Only one of the 10 cities with the largest size new apartments was not on the losing side of the Civil War. While new Holy Land properties in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan were among the very smallest, Manhattan apartments grew slightly as those in Queens and Brooklyn shrunk.

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Judy and Roger Platt joined us for dinner at Loukoumi Taverna, 45-07 Ditmars Boulevard, one of the oldest Greek restaurants in Astoria. The interior is very plain, uncrowded with about 16 tables. Service was very attentive, although the place wasn’t very busy on a hot night at the end of a long holiday weekend.

We shared a bottle of white wine and pikilia spread -- tarama, carp roe dip; tzatziki, shredded cucumbers, garlic, yogurt and dill; skordalia, potato puréed with garlic; melitzanosalata, chopped grilled eggplant, garlic and herbs, served with fresh baked pita wedges ($21). We also passed around loukoumi chips, fried, sliced zucchini ($16). I settled for chicken souvlaki, six chunks of grilled marinated white meat on skewers ($20), when the chicken biftekia, ground chicken mixed with fresh herbs, spices and feta cheese ($21) was unavailable. Everything was good, not exceptional and not detracting from the company.

Monday, July 8, 2024

Here's a piece of information that surprised me. West Virginia, the third poorest state in the country, has the highest rate of home ownership. https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/09/homes/mississippi-west-virginia-home-ownership-rates?cid=ios_app

Mississippi, the poorest state, is second in this regard. Home prices are obviously low, as they are generally in non-urban areas compared to urban areas. Room to build is the basic reason. Still, it's hard to imagine.

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Andrew A. Persily, December 7, 1944 - July 9, 1984. 

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I returned to Sandwichland, the "57 Sandwiches That Define New York" for lunch. Daily Provisions is a local chain with a slightly gentrified breakfast and lunch menu that made the New York Times list the day after I first visited downtown. This time I knew what to order at a nearby location, 375 Amsterdam Avenue, the Lumberjack, bacon, egg and cheese on a maple-glazed cruller ($11.95), a perfectly gloopy mess that you will be licking off your fingers for the next half hour. And then you'll want to go back for another one. What's a cruller? A corrugated doughnut.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Terrific Tom and I went to a Mets' game this afternoon at Citi Field. We had good seats, too good, in fact, in direct sunlight, temperature at 88°. Of course, it doesn’t compare with Las Vegas which reached 118° on Wednesday. Now, we’re not crazy. About half the time, we went indoors to one of the many “clubs” that are scattered throughout the stadium with food and drink and, most importantly, air conditioning. 

To the extent that we were physically uncomfortable, the potency of the Mets’ performance, a 7-0 shutout, overcame that. After a miserable start to their season, the Mets have played great ball and are destined for the playoffs which will abut the start of hockey season. Maybe the Fall won’t be a complete disaster, after all.

Friday, July 12, 2024

America's Favorite Epidemiologist is a person of vast accomplishment. Today, she filled our home with wonderful aromas as she sequentially baked a peach pie and chocolate chip mandel bread. The peach pie was meant to be shared with friends later as were some, but only some, of the chocolate chip mandel bread.

Unconstitutional Law

Saturday, June 29, 2024

I don’t know what the Democrats should do now, but they should do it quickly so I can open my eyes again.

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The United States changed dramatically during the 20th century. While the Civil War in the 19th century threatened to tear us apart permanently, its end returned us to a relatively steady state for many decades. Then, two developments changed us forever. 

The civil rights movement had a massive social and  political impact; millions of Black citizens entered the political process and party loyalties reversed for a large portion of the population. Momentum for the civil rights movement gathered in the 1930s leading to Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (public accommodations) and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

More or less simultaneously but independently, a critical institutional change was occurring in our government. The New Deal created a collection of Alphabet Agencies to deal with the increasing complexity of modern life: Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) f/k/a Civil Aeronautics Authority, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Labor Relation Board (NLRB), Social Security Administration (SSA) f/k/a Social Security Board, among others. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notably preceded them and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) succeeded them. We policy wonks refer to them collectively as the Administrative State. Of course, these agencies did not just observe, they regulated and, therefore, drew the neverending ire of the business community and their handmaiden, the Republican Party.

Until recently, the courts respected the legitimacy of the Administrative State. Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984). Generally, "a court may not substitute its own construction of a statutory provision for a reasonable interpretation made by the administrator of an agency." Except if you have a majority of Supreme Court members groomed and selected to regard partisan objectives. On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Chevron. "Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority," spake Chief Justice Roberts for a 6-3 majority. Elena Kagan responded futilely, "A rule of judicial humility gives way to a rule of judicial hubris." And that's why elections matter.

Sunday, June 30, 2024

Speaking of elections, our friends in Great Britain are facing a parliamentary election on July 4th, a bit of patriotic irony. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the richest person to have ever held the office, has tried to connect with voters by citing his childhood privation. "There'll be all sorts of things that I would've wanted as a kid that I couldn't have. Famously, Sky TV, so that was something that we never had growing up actually."

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britains-sunak-cites-growing-up-without-sky-tv-example-hardship-2024-06-12/

This brought back my own painful memories of visits to Chinese restaurants only once every four months, one black and white television for the entire family, sharing a bedroom with my brother and having clamp-on roller skates instead of shoe skates. 

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I am sure that none of you can be described as average or typical. Still, you should be aware of the current state of real estate financing. “Buyers Need a $127,000 Down Payment to Afford a Typical Mortgage Payment.” 

https://www.zillow.com/research/down-payment-needed-34176/

It’s obvious that many people do not have $127,000 lying around to enter into home buying. In some parts of the country, a far larger amount is required because of elevated property values. Much of California, the New York metropolitan area, Miami and Seattle, for instance, require high six-figure down payments in order to arrive at a monthly mortgage payment manageable on the median income in the vicinity. The overall result is that 43% of last year’s homebuyers surveyed got financial assistance from family, according to the Zillow analysis. Again, congratulations on not being typical.

Monday, July 1, 2024

Happy Birthday, Eliane, seven time zones away right now.

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Today’s paper examines the issue of ghosting in the dating world, stopping communication suddenly with a person after one or more congenial encounters. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/well/ghosting-dating.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

As a dating veteran with more than two decades between marriages, I have ghosted and been ghosted countless times. It’s certainly not the nicest way to end even a casual relationship, but consider the alternative. “Hi, Sally. It’s Alan, Alan Gotthelf, from the other night. That was a nice evening at your school’s lacrosse game. However, I’m calling to tell you why I’m never calling you again.” 

Which end of that conversation do you want to be on? 

Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Rubik’s Cube is 50 years old and I still haven’t solved it.

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I was in midtown today to make a deposit in my periodontist’s grandchildren’s 529 college savings account. At least, it gave me the opportunity to continue my journey through Sandwichland by having lunch at Alidoro, 18 East 39th Street. It’s a casual joint. You order at the counter, get one of those buzzers and find a seat if you’re staying in at either a communal table for eight, one of two high tables for six or several ledges against the wall. Alidoro has five other sites, all apparently embedded in food courts, four in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn.

I ordered the Huxley, uncertain whether it was named for the author or his evolutionary biologist brother or maybe someone’s cat. On a large seeded ciabatta, 8”x2-1/2”, it held roast beef, aged white cheddar cheese, pickled red onions, arugula and horseradish cream ($16.50). It was very good, but not as memorable or monumental as the #9 at Milano uptown last week. And that’s a key point, real estate accounts for much of the difference.

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

Today is Birthday Day. We celebrate Aryeh Gold, Nate Persily, Meredith Silverman, George M. Cohan, Franz Kafka and, of course, David Goldfarb, who would have been 95 years old today. Accordingly, a group of us gathered at Pastrami Queen, 136 West 72nd Street, to remember him. David was a recognized savant in wine, cheese and tomatoes, but never established a reputation in knishes. 

We each ordered individually. I had a corned beef and tongue combination sandwich and split a potato knish with Mel Scult, washed down with Dr. Brown’s diet cream soda. There were pickles and coleslaw for all. We divided the check evenly, $40 each including a large tip for the extra time and space that we occupied. Had David been with us, we would have sat for at least another hour.

Thursday, July 4, 2024

In the United States it is Independence Day; in the United Kingdom it is apparently Labour Day.

Friday, July 5, 2024

With my niece and her three children in the vicinity visiting my brother, we all headed to Seasons 52, 217 Lafayette Avenue, Edison. Although this national chain has 42 locations, I only know it by the proximity of this one unit to my brother’s residence. This narrow exposure has been sufficient, though, to make me a fan.

With seven people at the table, it was hard keeping up with who had what. I managed to protect my claim, however. I started with a cup of summer corn soup, a smooth, rich chowder ($7). My main course was “Wood-grilled Kona crusted lamb loin,” a delicious chunk of meat with six spears of roasted asparagus and a small scoop of mashed potatoes ($32.50). I skipped dessert, mostly on principle. They offer some imaginative concoctions, but in the tiniest portions.

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Keir Starmer is about to become the next British Prime Minister. Victoria, his wife, is Jewish and follows Jewish customs in their household. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/zvikaklein_ukelections-leadership-antisemitism-activity-7214980650477490176-AHrB?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

 

On my next trip to London, I’ll have to remember to bring them a babka.