Mixed Bag April 2009

Had to go to my doctor for my quarterly checkup. Dr Michelle Li must be the only Jewish doctor who is a native of China. I woke up as usual at 5 A.M. and could not go back to sleep. Since my appointment was at 10:30 in midtown, I decided to walk there instead of taking the subway. I wanted to walk down the riverwalk all the way to her office at E53 St. Unfortunately the riverwalk ends at 155 St and does not pick up again until 125 St. When I got to 125 St and Park Ave, I decided to walk down Park Ave instead. I wanted to see what La Marqueta looked like these days. There is not much of it left. There is a store selling dried salt fish and pig snouts. The owner must be the sole remaining Jew who has been living in this area from the time, long ago, that it was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. As a matter of fact, my ex mother-in law was born in this area at E 116 St. I asked him what one does with pig snouts? He shrugged his shoulders and said that he heard that it makes a delicious soup. The area becomes more civilized as you walk further downtown. Many human sized buildings with human sized shops. I was particularly delighted at the proliferation of small, non chain, hardware stores.

Mixed Bag April 09