שָׁנָה טוֹבָה‎‎

Saturday, September 28, 2024 

Hurricane Helene has set some unfortunate records for destruction. A number of organizations have stepped forward to aid in the recovery process for the affected areas. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/09/28/how-to-help-hurricane-helene/75431425007/

At the urging of Governor Ron DeSantis, I have assembled a large team of hearty Venezuelans who are being bussed to Tallahassee this weekend to assist Floridians in bringing sunshine back to the Sunshine State.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

I saw this list of allegedly the most important dishes in American cuisine and I knew that I could do better.   https://www.cnn.com/travel/american-food-best-dishes-cuisine?cid=ios_app

Here are my 20 items.

• Apple pie
• Bagel and lox 
• Barbecue
• Black and white cookie 
• Blueberry muffin
• Brownies 
  
• Cheesecake 
• Chocolate chip cookie
• Coca-Cola
  
• Deep dish (Chicago) pizza
• Eggs Benedict 
• Grilled steak
  
• Hamburger 
• Hot dog
• Lobster roll
• Peanut butter and jelly sandwich 
• Potato chips 
• Roast turkey 
• Southern fried chicken 
  
• Spaghetti and meatballs 

Some comments. I am not going to get embroiled in a barbecue debate. Deep dish (Chicago) pizza is a radical departure from classic Neapolitan pizza. Europeans roast good beef, we grill it. The contents of a hamburger and a hot dog were well established, but putting them in a bun was American ingenuity.

Monday, September 30, 2024

Speaking of Southern fried chicken, I went to H Mart, 210 Amsterdam Avenue, which offers high quality produce, a huge inventory of Asian packaged products and prepared food to go, particularly South Korean fried chicken from bb.q Chicken, the international chain. I bought a box of Golden Original Boneless, more than a pound of crunchy pieces ($13.49). There is no place to sit in H Mart, so I walked about a block onto the grounds of Lincoln Towers and parked on a picnic table, where I almost finished the whole box of chicken.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Happy Birthday, Susan, Moshe and Jimmy.

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New York’s Mayor Eric Adams, the second African American to hold the office, has been indicted by the federal government on charges of using his influence in exchange for luxury travel benefits. This morning, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York admitted to a serious case of mistaken identity. The actual alleged perpetrator is Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.

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My young bride deserved a treat, so we went to Baazi, 2588 Broadway, a new Indian restaurant replacing an old Indian restaurant. Its front is all window and one long wall is mirrored. Half the opposite wall is a bar with a drawing of the Red Fort in Old Delhi in the rest of the space. There is also a second floor that I never saw.

We didn’t eat much, just a main course each, but the food was very good. I had “Hyderabadi murgh biryani,” chicken biryani by any other name ($22). I’ve rarely had better, distinguished in quality and quantity. It was loaded with very tender chicken. The vegetarian side of the table had “Seven leaf saag Paneer,” cottage cheese in super smooth spinach purée ($22).

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Tonight begins the Jewish High Holidays. Our days run from sunset to sunset. We passed on sunrise to sunrise and midnight to midnight. We will be attending services at the JCC (Jewish Community Center) Harlem, 318 West 118th Street, a new venue for us. I am changing after 20 years, because our synagogue has become a platform for anti-Zionism. To our enemies, Zionism is about the State of Israel, to me, Zionism is about the Jewish people.

Harlem and Jews are not an unusual combination. When Harlem was developed as a residential neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century, Jews flocked there. I don’t know why, but African Americans began to populate the area after WWI, eventually establishing Harlem as the capital of Black America. 

In the last 20 years or so, the demographics have changed with new construction and the refurbishment of older structures. According to the 2020 census, Harlem no longer has a Black majority. 

https://patch.com/new-york/harlem/harlem-lost-10k-black-residents-gained-18k-whites-decade

CCNY, my alma mater, as well as my brother’s and so many of my friends’ till this day, sits in a prominent place in Harlem. Unfortunately, in my day, there were few Black students and negligible engagement with the community.

The college’s student body has changed inversely to the surrounding population. Once home to first generation Jews from the Lower East Side and ethnic enclaves in Brooklyn and the Bronx, it now has a predominantly Black and brown student body, with a strong element of foreign born students.

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Before we entered the JCC’s building, I noticed Lee Lee’s Baked Goods, 283 West 118th Street, reputed to have excellent rugelach. What better way to start the new year? We bought half a dozen hefty ones, $3 each. Later in the evening, after returning from services we were able to confirm the wisdom of our purchase. A#1.

The 80 seats at the JCC were all occupied, mostly by whites, but not as monochromatically as too many Jewish congregations. The building, an open rectangle, is easily recognized as having once been a garage. Mira Rivera is the rabbi, the first Filipina-American woman to be ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary. The Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative) prayer book was used and the service was friendly and familiar. We are returning.

Incidentally, given the multi-front warfare in the Middle East and the reaction to it here, the mood of the assembly seemed wary, but ultimately positive.

 

Friday, October 4, 2024

I’m old enough to say “To Hell with the future. I don’t care about what’s coming up.” However, for whatever reason, I’m unwilling to ignore the future. I just looked at recent credit card statements and found that I made 23 contributions to political campaigns from July 10th through September 8th. Involved were the presidential race and a healthy handful of Senate and House contests throughout the country. Quick, who is running against Kirsten Gillibrand?

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The label Amazin’ Mets emerged in 1969, when the baseball team created in 1962 went from last place in 1968 to win the World Series the next year. This Worst to First run was not singular, but quite rare in all professional sports, especially in baseball. Last night, we saw a giant step in resuscitating the label as the Mets rescued their season with a last minute victory in Milwaukee about as dramatic as the last minute victory three days earlier in Atlanta. It’s a great start to 5785.