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.