Arizona’s Split Reality
1 New York’s tenth “Yesteryear” issue reminisced about over a century of city restaurants and, just as important, the people who dined in them (“Who Ate Where,” April 8–21). Commenter lornajane wrote, “At the time, it felt like those restaurants would last forever,” while richbachelor said, “I was just noting today how odd it feels to have outlived most of one’s favorite restaurants.” Some readers lamented the absence of their own favorites from the story: Burger Heaven, Ratner’s, Junior’s, Wo Hop, Cafe Luxembourg, Dojo, Dave’s Corner, Rose of India, and the Royal Canadian Pancake House, among many others. Still more readers waxed nostalgic. Commenter mcdoo said, “I remember being up top at the Empire State Building in the 1970s and seeing a birds’ eye view of a ring of yellow cabs around the Belmore.” Moldenke wrote, “I live right around the corner from where Joe & Mary Italianamerican Restaurant used to be and where Carmine Galante was snuffed out. It’s still boarded up to this day. At least it wasn’t turned into a Chase bank.” Dublincait said, “Indochine felt like an outpost of LA celeb worship—very enjoyable, not at all cool, and yes absolutely stuffed with beautiful people and familiar faces.” Rosita Guzman recalled, “I walked into the Time Café for a drink, and the atmosphere felt electric. There were lots of women and they were all in a heightened state of glow. Then I realized that Sam Shepard was sitting at a table reading the newspaper looking like the handsome god he was.” Tonythecase wrote, “I lived in the Meatpacking District in the early ’90s when it was still desolate, stinky of pig’s blood and pleasantly rough around the edges, and the only—i mean only—place to eat in the neighborhood was Florent. We felt so lucky to be able to stroll over there a couple of nights a week”; ennuyee added, “It also featured as a place where the MIB could chat with local space aliens in the first Men in Black movie, which tracks.”
2 In the same issue, Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi reported on the Senate race in Arizona and how it reflects the country’s distorted politics (“Arizona’s Split Reality”). On X, Sheila Donnelly called it “an evocative and descriptive account of the race in Arizona. A tale of two realities & two Americas.” Gilda Pedraza, director of the Latino Community Fund in Georgia, said it was “a masterpiece that helps understand and clarify not vision, but rather the meticulous use of words and context to get where we are politically re: border.” The Atlantic’s Elaina Plott Calabro said, “There are many things I admire about @Olivianuzzi’s writing, but what this piece showcases so beautifully is her ear for how words sound on the page. Few other political journalists are plotting out the rhythms of their sentences with this much care.” Writer and activist Dan Ancona noted, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen the narrative power asymmetry illustrated with that level of perfection.” Commenter rdorset countered, “No disrespect to Olivia Nuzzi, but this article was a lot of words signifying nothing. The generic liberal media trying to understand what makes Trump supporters tick is tired and increasingly unedifying … The Trump and, in this case, Lake voter is a member of a cult and, as such, are in thrall to any number of conspiracy theories. End of story.”
A RECENT vulture report was first to detail the sexualmisconduct allegations against two New York Philharmonic musicians who had been permitted to remain with the orchestra for years despite the claims (“A Hidden Sexual-assault Scandal at the New York Philharmonic,” April 12).
The article had immediate impact. The orchestra announced that the two men (who continue to deny the allegations) are not performing or rehearsing while its leadership, which was barred from firing them in 2018 after binding union arbitration, awaits the results of an independent investigation. Sara Cutler of the American Federation of Musicians told the Times, “As a woman, a musician, and a new union president, I am horrified by what was in the story and we are committing the full resources of Local 802 to erase the culture of complicity that has raged at the N.Y.
Philharmonic for too long.” In an email to staff, orchestra president and CEO Gary Gistling wrote, “The details revealed in the New York magazine article are horrifying to me personally, and while not yet a year into my tenure … I am deeply concerned about not only the specifics but broader issues of institutional culture,” adding that the investigation will “leave no stone unturned, including any new allegations as they are reported.”
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