Concierge Wants Shot; Tofutti Inventor Dies; Liam Neeson Greets; Millennials

Posted on March 8, 2021 at 12:19 pm by Carol Tannenhauser

Noses ahead. Photo by Naomi Serviss.

March 8, 2021 Weather: Clear, with a high of 43 degrees.

Notices:
Our calendar has local and virtual events.

News:
A concierge in an Upper West Side apartment building is frustrated because hotel workers can now get vaccinated, while residential building workers are still ineligible. “I’m in the lobby so I’m the first line of defense,” NY1 reported him saying. “I’m the guy that when the aides come to work and the housekeepers come to work and the nannies come to work, I have to read COVID-19 questions to them, I have to sign them in…He says the risk to themselves and their residents is all the more reason why they need the shot.”

David Mintz, the man who invented Tofutti — the tofu-based, non-dairy, frozen dessert that people who are kosher can eat in place of ice cream— has died at the age of 89. The Washington Post recounts how the lure of the Upper West Side almost derailed his wildly successful creation. “When Mr. Mintz told Schneerson, known as the Rebbe, about an opportunity to open a restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Schneerson said he should trust his faith and focus instead on his dream of creating foods from tofu.” Mintz later gave out samples and distributed tofutti through Zabar’s.

“The opening of New York theaters is said to be ‘key’ in terms of generating buzz and publicity for upcoming movies,” according to the Daily Mail. And Liam Neeson was doing his part last Friday night by welcoming people back to the movies between shows at the AMC Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side. The 68-year-old actor was thrilled to do it, saying ‘going to the cinema is a bit of a sacred experience.’ His new film is The Marksman. Did anybody see him?

Millennials are taking advantage of indoor dining and checks and tips are going up. “Indoor dining, which resumed in New York City on Feb. 12 and increased from 25% to 35% capacity on Feb. 26, is providing some small economic benefit for restaurateurs in a challenging time,” Bloomberg reported. “Chef/owner Michele Casadei Massari has seen check averages go up about 20% at his restaurant Lucciola since indoor dining resumed…At Carmine’s on the Upper West Side, check averages are also up by 25%. “People are drinking more and ordering more porterhouse steaks,” says owner Jeffrey Bank.

And Michiko Kakutani writes about finding refuge in Central Park for the Times, including seeking out the Snowy Owl. “It’s been nearly a year since the start of the pandemic, and while we’ve all grown weary of the isolation, the changing seasons in Central Park are soothing reminders of the eternal cycles of nature: the tulips and cherry trees giving way to the electric greenery of summer; the brilliant red and gold leaves of autumn, replaced by snow and ice, and soon now, crocuses and hyacinths, the first flowers of spring. There is a sense of timelessness in the park.”