In the 40’s and 50’s, everyone I knew lived within a three-block radius: friends, family, school, Synagogue, shopping. Even our “little spot of heaven”, Ebbit’s Field, home of our beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, was within walking distance. Gil Hodges could do no wrong. Roy, Jackie and of course, Pee Wee were our idols.
But one fact was crystal clear to us. There would never be a Jewish baseball superstar. And then came Sandy. That’s Sandy Kofax to all you hated Bronx Yankee fans. To the Brooklyn Jewish community, even when they totally betrayed us by moving to a foreign country Los Angeles, this young pitcher was a miracle from heaven, especially when he refused to pitch in the World Series on our High-Holy Days. Wow. We were so proud.
That’s just the way it was on Montgomery Street, in what they now call Crown Heights in Brooklyn.
Every Sunday, I had to make that two-block trip to visit my grandparent’s dark, smelly, and cluttered apartment. Speaking in a “funny” language, probably Yiddish, a mixture of German and others, they immediately switched to English when we entered the room. After all, this was America, the greatest country in the world, and no child of theirs would ever speak with an accent.
Only years later, did I realize what special” grandparents I had. Yes, they were poor, illiterate, uneducated, Russian immigrants, my family’s first-generation Americans, but they were undoubtedly, the toughest people I will ever meet.
Their values consisted of an incredible work-ethic, a life-long passion for education and the arts, a powerful religious belief and a strong sense of family. Their way of life, shaped generations to come.
That smelly apartment turned out to be a center for family discussions and debate. The kitchen was transformed into an arena, where every topic was dissected, every philosophy was discussed, and every political issue was settled.
But, of all my childhood memories, the one that stands out most of all, was that of my diminutive grandmother, dressed in her simple, black dress, probably the only dress she owned, sitting at that tiny kitchen-table, “reading” the N.Y. Times.
Only years later, did we learn the truth about my grandmother, a secret she tried to hide from us. This brilliant, tough, and uneducated woman, the inspiration of the Moskowitz clan, could not read or write any English at all! You see, this unbelievable Russian immigrant taught herself to read and write English on that famous kitchen table, using old copies of the N.Y. Times she had retrieved (probably stolen) from the garbage on Crown Street!.
The N.Y. Times shaped the lives of our entire family. Her humiliation must have been even more unbearable when she even allowed her children to give up her last name. Moskowitz was changed to Morris, to make it easier for “da kinder” (the kids) to assimilate into New York’s prejudiced society.
Now, more than half a century later, I just don’t understand what happened to that great newspaper.
This week shares of the Times parent company tumbled 22 percent in the biggest one-day drop in three decades. Advertising revenue was down almost 9 percent. operating profits fell 60 percent.
I am sure both management and unions played a role in this collapse. But most significant was their total loss of readership. This was obviously due to years of a biased, one-sided, and prejudiced editorial policy which violated every literary tenant by allowing their political beliefs to permeate into the actual news stories.
Instead of leading the investigation into the Benghazi massacre and coverup, like they did during Watergate, they are choosing to wait and protect their favorite candidate.
Instead of leading the investigation into the recent corruption scandle in New York City, they have chosen to protect their favorite political party.
These are some of the New York City Democrats who have all been recently accused, convicted or jailed due to serious politically-related crimes: Carl Kruger, Ken Parker, Sen. Malcom Smith, Sen. John Sampson, Pedro Espada, Hiram Monserrate and Shirley Huntly.
Instead of actually vetting the then-candidate, Barack Obama, as they always have done in the past, they chose to ignore his background and the improprieties of their new favorite”candidate.
Woodward and Bernstein still have not come to grips with the perverse changes of their old employer.
The list of their biased-reporting is endless. Compare this with Iowa’s oldest and most respected newspaper, the DesMoines Register, which for the first time in 40 years, after a lengthy interview with Pres.Obama, courageously endorsed the Republican, Mitt Romney, after Obama could not explain the failed results of his policies and would not present any new ideas to give them any hope that a second four-year term would be any different.
The New York Times: a part of my life gone forever.
Dr. Stephen Morris
North Hills
