Re: Ratner's...great onion rolls but...

[Trudi Goodman <goobietheg...>]

   Gentleman:
   re: Ratner's...which by the way I remember as having the best onion rolls 
and the rudest waiters in the world...I refer you to that great partly 
Jewish actor Simone Signoret: " Nostalgia isn't what it used to be."
   'Nuff said.
    As for people who want to romanticize scum like Lansky and 
Siegel...well...there is nothing romantic about the victims of Murder 
Incorporated, period.
   Jewish presence in Organized Crime in this country is a long-standing, 
but a lousy thing.  Hell...I know first hand. Part of my family was involved 
with the guys who carry the violin cases without the violins inside...all 
the way back to Legs Diamond...another Jew OY!
   Hey if it was good enough for Boston University, Brandeis and Israel to 
refuse Lansky's money...it's good enough for me to refuse to go into 
Ratner's until they get their "stuff" together. There must be some other 
Jews who went into that place that they can name a room after.  Dontcha 
think?
       Trudi the G


>From: "Kame'a Media" <media (at) kamea(dot)com>
>Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Subject: Re: Ratner's
>Date: Wed, 24 May 2000 14:31:11 -0400
>
>
>
>Eliott Kahn wrote:
>
> > >
> > >Of course, American Jewry is just another segment of the greater
> > >celebrity-driven consumer culture.  Successful entertainment figures
> > >are routinely claimed as "one of us"; a famous pop star validates and
> > >enhances the audience's own cultural identity, however transparent
> > >that identity  may have become.  (And in America, this identity  has 
>become
> > >for many, --through generations in the 'melting pot',-- transparent 
>enough
> > >as to be able to read the NY Times through it).
> > >
> > >Go figure:  At Ratner's Delicatessen in NYC, there are door-sized 
>posters
> > >of those exemplary Jewish role models and embodiments of Jewish values,
> > >organized crime figures Meyer Lansky and Ben 'Bugsy' Seigel.  What 
>would a
> > >Jewish parent tell their kid if asked who these men are?
> > >How would he/she explain what their larger-than-life images are doing 
>up on a
> > >wall
> > >in a kosher restaurant?
> > >
> > >Wolf, for the record, the posters of Jewish mobsters are at Ratner's
> > >because Meyer Lansky used to hold court in the back room.
>
>Yes, I know.  I know you say this to explain the connection, not to justify
>their images being in a public eating establishment.
>It is just so bizarre.
>MY point was to underscore the weirdness of fame and adulation.
>I reiterate: What would you tell a child about these men and their images 
>being
>on the wall?
>
> > Much of (all
> > >of?) the restaurant will be removed after the newly remodelled and
> > >expanded Lansky Lounge reopens. It's something of a chic watering hole
> > >among the affluent set now gentrifying the Lower East Side.
>
>It's actually called the Lansky Lounge?
>Another small step in the decline of Western civilization.
>What next?  The Richard Speck Spot?
>The John Wayne Gacy Grill?
>
>Lest anyone is tempted to write about Lansky kicking American Silver Shirt 
>(Nazi)
>butt --
>I know, thanks.
>
> > RE: your other remarks: As usual, there's a good amount of truth to 
>them.
> > But are you bitching as a Jew or a Canadian?
>
>A Jewish Canadian;
>a Canadian being more or less  an American with a decent
>health plan;  but without a gun in the house.
>
>Wolf
>
>
>
> >
> >
>
>

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