Today is Friday, February 10, 2023. Today I spent a very nice afternoon noshing on the New York Historical Society’s mouthwatering exhibit, “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli on the first floor, while Elliot went to school, P.S. 196, where he so deftly assists a kindergarten teacher. Since there was an outbreak of COVID-19 not that long ago, Elliot demurred about volunteering there in the last few weeks. The weather was very tolerant so I ventured downtown in the early afternoon. I even wore a jacket that I usually wear in the spring; that’s how warm it was this afternoon. Oye! Such global warming, it’s no joke! This exhibit examined how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, imported and adapted traditions to create a uniquely American restaurant and reveals how Jewish delicatessens became a cornerstone of American food culture. All I can say is that I felt hungry going through the many displays. Anyone making his or her way through this fun and informative exhibit will definitely feel pangs of hunger for a traditional pastrami on rye sandwich after leaving the area. I sure had a hankering for one, but I didn’t hie to a deli – there aren’t that many left, regretfully.

Just when you thought you heard the last of the buffoon’s ongoing classified documents imbroglio, today there is breaking news that the former insurrectionist’s legal team turned over more documents with classified markings and a laptop belonging to an aide to federal prosecutors in recent months, multiple sources familiar with the investigation informed CNN. This breaking news is covered in an online CNN article by Kaitlan Collins, Paula Reid, and Kristen Holmes entitled “Trump team turns over additional classified records and laptop to federal prosecutors.” Here the Dumpf attorneys handed over an empty folder marked “Classified Evening Briefing,” sources said. Fuck! Everyone should wonder what happened to the contents of that folder. Were they copied and shared by the Orange Fiend for something in return? This is extremely troubling and should be more evidence that a crime has been committed by the former “president.”

This new handover may suggest that the protracted effort by the Justice Department to repossess records from Dumpf’s presidency may not be done. Again, we can categorically state that there is no equivalence here between the Dumpf documents mishandling and the discovery of several records in Biden’s Delaware home when he was vice president. At least, Biden made every attempt to return the documents within a scant length of time.

The Dumpf lawyers discovered the documents with classified markings in December, while searching through boxes at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence. These counselors subsequently handed them over to the Justice Department.

It is now apparent that a Dumpf aide had previously copied those same documents onto a thumb drive and laptop, not realizing they were classified. The laptop, which belonged to an aide, who works for Save America PAC, and the thumb drive were also given to investigators in January.

Special counsel Jack Smith, who is pursuing criminal charges related to Dumpf’s handling of national security records and obstruction of justice, had subpoenaed Dumpf last May for all classified records in his possession.

As you might recall, FBI agents seized classified documents and other presidential records during a search of Dumpf’s Florida mansion last August. The Dumpf team also found additional documents in a Florida storage facility and turned them over to the FBI.

Even with all of these documents found in unlikely locations like Dumpf Tower in New York, the former “president’s” Bedminster Golf Club, and an office location in Florida, there are still lingering concerns from the Justice Department that not all of the documents from Dumpf’s time in the White House had been returned to the federal government. We should all be outraged by the continuing clown story behind the protracted return of this highly classified material to the federal government and we should wonder when an indictment is apparently coming for the Orange Fiend.

Back to a more pleasant topic: the Jewish deli exhibit at the New York Historical Society, located on West 79th Street. There were posters on pastrami sandwiches, knishes, bagels, pickles, noodle pudding (kugel), and babka on display at the exhibit. On the topic of bagels, there was a seven-minute video on the making of bagels in a shop in Brooklyn that was narrated by an elderly denizen of the borough who gushed about getting bagels for the day.

This large exhibit examines the important role of the Jewish deli all through the immigrant experience, during World War II, as a refuge for Holocaust survivors, in pop culture and today. Since this is the New York Historical Society, there was a decided focus on the history of this gustatory experience. The story begins between 1880 and 1924 when more than 2 million Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe made new homes in the United States. Many immigrants supported their families by selling food on city streets often from wooden pushcarts and barrels. Some of those blossomed into delicatessens, which began serving foods like pickles, knishes, gefilte fish, borscht, and rugelach.

In general, the exhibit features neon signs and other vintage relics like old menus, vintage clocks, and even an antique cigarette machine. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New York Historical Society, said, “This is a trip down memory lane for sure. A testament to the power of food to evoke memories.”

Some of the highlights of the exhibit were video clips from various TV shows having a deli motif like Saturday Night Live featuring Ben Stiller and Adam Samberg singing a parody of Willy Wonka that had a decidedly Jewish deli theme, Curb Your Enthusiasm featuring Larry David sparring with Ted Danson over deli sandwiches named for both of them, Seinfeld with Julia Louise-Dreyfus and Jerry Seinfeld trying to get a babka in Zabar’s, and the famous scene from When Harry Met Sally, set in iconic Katz’s Deli where Meg Ryan imitates a woman going through orgasm and Rob Reiner’s mother declaring the famous line, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

I did learn something from watching a short videoclip on Ben’s Deli, which I thought had been closed in most parts of the city. It does seem now that there is a Ben’s Deli on 38th Street, so there is an extant deli to visit anytime soon in my future if I should so desire. The Ben’s Best Deli closed its doors in Rego Park in 2018. Its owner, Jay Parker, had been in the same location for around 73 years, but when the city installed those intrusive bike lanes outside the restaurant which severely reduced parking, it was the final straw that broke Parker’s back. It might still be open today if it weren’t for those damn bike lanes that have reduced parking considerably on Queens Boulevard.

Go see this wonderful exhibit if you can. It’s positively mouthwatering and it’s on until April 2. Go fress a pastrami on rye afterward!

Have a lovely weekend.

Stay safe and be well.

Here are some pics from that exhibit!

This is the sign that greets you before you enter the exhibit.

This is a street scene from the Lower East Side circa 1900.

I remember this popular ad campaign for Jewish rye bread from the 1960s. Do you?

Another poster from the campaign.

Here’s a replica of Katz’s Deli.

Here’s an antique cigarette machine from one of those delicatessens. It’s from Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles, where Elliot and I have visited on several occasions on our trips to California.

Here is a picture of the famous Carnegie Deli that closed, unfortunately, in 2016.