NYC NOW - February 19, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

Today, it’s all about food! WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with Matt Pomeranz, co-founder of Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish, about a bagel maker's secrets. Plus, a few writers from Eater New York highlight their list of New York City’s most iconic dishes.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Junae Pierre. This is our one and only episode today. We're taking president's day off. But not to worry, here's your news headlines from Lance Lucky. New York State Nurses Association. Nurses at Long Island Jewish Valley Street Medical Center will avert to strike after reaching a tentative contract agreement yesterday. The group bargained through the night over the weekend staving off the loom. strike that was set for tomorrow. The tentative agreement includes improvements to safe staffing standards, stronger and expedited safe staffing enforcement at the addition of new nurse positions in the emergency department holding area, improved benefits, including pension improvements and wage

increases. There's a new school opening in Queens next year to help train students for careers in health care. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Northwell Health are supporting the upcoming Northwell School of Health Sciences. One goal is to address a shortage. in health care workers. Schools Chancellor David Banks says the school will prepare students for jobs and give them a sense of why their academics are important. They have to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's what makes real meaning for the work that they do in their classes each and every day. The school will serve 900 students and offer college credits and training for careers in nursing, physical therapy, and social work. New York City Rockers Vampire Weekend are going back on the road as

They released their first album in a half decade. The band will tour their new album. Only God was above us with dozens of dates across the country, including two at Madison Square Garden in October, Saturday night, October 5th, and a Sunday matinee on the 6th. The music videos for the album's first two singles feature vintage film images of New York City. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the album title, Only God Was Above Us, is based on a 1988 headline in the New York Daily News.

Hope you brought your appetite, because after the board, break, we'll look into some of New York City's most iconic dishes. Stay close. But why see it? New York City and bagels. They go hand in hand. You might even have one in hand right now. But what makes the perfect bagel? Earlier this month, New Yorkers crowned Middle Village bagels as the winner in the Queen's Chamber of Commerce best bagel competition. More than 50 spots duked it out for the title. Manhattan's Matt Pomerantz has a well-eastern. of experience spotting the perfect ratio of crust to chewy interior. He co-founded Zuckers' Bagels and Smoked Fish and has been an expert judge at Bagel Fest, the city's first

ever Bagel Festival. Matt recently talked with WMYC's Michael Hill to give us a peek into a bagel maker's secrets. There's a lot of conjecture about what makes a New York City bagel truly great. There's something in the water, some people say, but is there any hint of truth to that? Is there something structurally that contributes to what bagels in New York taste like? I think in New York, you take it for granted because we do have great water. And I think there's a very strong argument that New York water, which is moderately hard water, is great for baking. So there is a lot of truth to that. And you ask any baker, pizza or bagel maker who's been out of New York will say, hey, New York is a great place for pizza and

bagels. So yeah, I think there is truth to that. But I think there are other factors and that are just as important. Right. Such as? I'm a traditionalist and I think a great New York bagel is, again, it's hand-rolled, it's kettle-boiled, it's using great ingredients at Zuckers. We use unbromated, unbleached natural flowers, which is a little bit higher quality than your average product. Your sweetener is important. So we use malt syrup as the primary sweetener. That's a little, less sweet and has a more subtle flavor,

sweetening flavor than, say, sugar. But then your bagel baker as well needs to understand the climate, the temperature, how to proof the dough after it's made. He's going to use proof it for different amounts of time if it's the summer and it's humid versus in the winter when there's less humidity. So it's definitely a skill that is not as straightforward as maybe, the average person thinks it is. Matt, let me ask you, is anyone to spot a hand-rolled bagel as opposed to another way of doing it?

Yeah, I think when you see a hand-rolled bagel, you look at all the bagels that are made and you realize they're all a little bit different. Sometimes they're a little bigger, sometimes they're a little smaller, the imperfection of making something by hand or something nice about that versus a machine-made process of just, you know, making a cookie cutter. you know, exact replica of every product. So, and again, and also honoring that artisan trade. That's Matt Pomeranz, talking with WMYC's Michael Hill. Eater, New York has released its list of New York City's most iconic dishes. And if a list ever seemed destined to inspire a food fight, this could be it. The bagel and locks at Russ and Daughters made the list,

along with Charles Pan-Fried Chicken, a plain slice at Joe's Pizza, and the hot dogs at Grace Papaya. A few of the food writers with Eater, New York, highlighted some of those iconic dishes for us. We start with Robert Sitsima and Pastrami. No meat is associated so completely with New York as pastrami. It was probably invented here. And, of course, the place to get it is Cass's deli. On Houston Street, people line up in the afternoons to get in. takes a couple hours. Tip the carver before he makes your sandwich if you want to get an even

bigger sandwich. And that's my hint for the day. No one in their right mind would eat an entire cat's sandwich. If you tip the guy and get a little more, it's enough for two people to share, which is good because the thing I think is up to like $28 or something now. Hi, I'm Emma Orlo, and one of the dishes on our iconic map is parogies from Veselka in the East Village. You know, Veselka is a New York institution. It's been open since 1954. It's probably the most well-known Ukrainian restaurant in New York. It's kind of a vestige of when the East Village used to have many more Ukrainian restaurants than it does now. They serve, you know, all kinds of things, not just pierogies, but stuffed cabbage, kibasa, and borsh. But the parogies are what often

draws the crowd. You know, they're comforting. They come in a lot of different flavors like cheese or sourcrow. And there will be lines. It's definitely. a well-known spot, not one of our more, you know, under-the-radar maps. These are the places that you can expect lines, but I think for good reason. Hey, I'm Luke Fortney, and I'm here to talk to you about Los Tacos No. 1. It's a taqueria that started in the back of Chelsea Market in lower Manhattan. The food feels really personal. All the tortillas are made like a couple minutes before they end up on your plate. But the dish that I think took Los Tacos from a great taqueria, to one of our iconic restaurants is the Adobada.

Adobata is similar to Alpasteur. That's the meat that I think a lot of people know. It's pork that is marinated until it's bright red, and then it cooks on a swirling spit. They have a couple of different meats. They have chicken. They have steak. They have cactus.

But the Atobata is really, that's what I go there to get. And I will just get a plate full of them. You can eat four to five tacos because they're a little bit smaller. and it never feels like enough. I'm Melissa McCart, and I'm the editor for Edo, New York. I'm here to talk about one iconic dish in particular, and that is the Manhattan clam chowder at Grand Central Oyster Bar and Grand Central Station.

It is a fabulous location. If you can get a seat at the bar, you will feel like you are in the center of the universe. The food is really great. No matter if you're going to get the Manhattan clam chowder, or fish and chips or oysters, and it is because they source it well, it's super fresh, and they're good cooks. If you're gonna get Manhattan clam chowder anywhere,

you have to get it at Grand Central Oyster Bar. It's the best in the city. One thing to note is that it is not open on Saturdays and Sundays. So you have to go on a weekday during commuting hours. If I didn't live in New York City and I were coming back, this is the place I would go first. First. That was Melissa McCart, Luke Fortney, Emma Arlo, and Robert Sietzima with ITER, New York.

Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back on our regular schedule tomorrow.