Original Ray's Pizza Serving its Last Slice in New York's Little Italy

I wrote about it at my old blog, and it's the funniest thing, but when my mom came to visit a few weeks back, she brought back a couple of the business cards we picked up in New York in 2007. She was using them for bookmarks. My son and I loved Airways Pizza in Queens. My mom also had a card for Dean's Pizzeria, in Manhattan, not far from the U.N. My son really liked that one. It was a little upscale and we were dressed casually. I asked my son if he wanted to go somewhere else and he said no, he liked Dean's and wanted to eat there. Anyway, I'm thinking of New York pizza again after reading the front-page story at NYT, "Ray’s Pizza, the First of Many, Counts Down to Its Last Slice":

It did not call itself the flagship Ray’s Pizza because it never really had a fleet. It was not Original Ray’s or Famous Ray’s or Original Famous Ray’s or Real Ray’s or Ray’s on Ice or any of the other cloned shops sprinkled like shredded mozzarella all over town. It was simply Ray’s Pizza, and in the great pizza wars of New York City, it was respected as having been the first, standing more or less above the fray at 27 Prince Street in Little Italy, with tree limbs holding up the basement ceiling and an owner whose name wasn’t even Ray.

And now, it seems, barring any surprises, Ray’s Pizza — the original that was so original it did not have the word “original” in its name — appears doomed to close at the end of the month.

This is not a popular topic at Ray’s right now.

“I don’t want you to put that this is the end,” said Helen Mistretta, the manager who, seven months before her 80th birthday, is in no mood for weepy nostalgia. “It’s the end of 27 Prince, not the end of Ray’s of Prince Street.”

The closing, long story short, follows a legal dispute among heirs with various interests in the building at 27 Prince, which includes apartments and the two sides of Ray’s: the pizzeria and an Italian restaurant, each with its separate entrance, but sharing a kitchen and the corporation name, Ray’s of Prince Street. When the Ray in Ray’s, one of the owners of the building, died in 2008, a row arose over whether the restaurant’s lease was valid and whether it should pay rent. A lawsuit was filed in 2009 and settled this year.

Now Ray’s Pizza is moving out amid a lot of head-shakes and shrugs and what-are-you-gonna-do Little Italy resignation.

You could say Ray’s on Prince Street kept to itself, perfectly content with its place in the constellation where others burned brighter. Just a block away, tourists line up on the sidewalk for a seat in Lombardi’s, waiting for a hostess wearing a microphone headset to call their names from loudspeakers. Wait for a pizza? This was not the Ray’s way, where pies come whole or by the slice, hot from the oven, enjoyed without hurry in a humble booth beneath a hand-painted “Ray’s Gourmet Pizza” board.

The closing of Ray’s would seem to remove from the neighborhood any vestige of the late Ralph Cuomo, its first owner, who once loomed large.

Keep reading.

My wife just walked in with pizza for dinner, from the local Lamppost, which is good, but nothing like New York pizza.

RELATED: At NYT, "New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year."

P.S. Checking the link to the old blog, turns out Repsac3 was commenting way back then. He wasn't banned. He might still be a commenter here had he not freaked out and turned stalker. I'll welcome progressives if they're cool. Repsac3 once was, but no longer. Too bad too. I had to go to moderation and all that.

Freaks of Nature?

No, not Lucy Pinder's lovely endowments. It's the rare mutant baby seal and Robert Stacy McCain's 12-year-old son, seen further down at the post: "Freaks of Nature."

But you gotta give it to McCain. Even his advertising's doing some awesome Rule 5 work over there.

RELATED: "VIDEO: Lucy Pinder Sexy 2012 Calendar."

The Courtney Messerschmidt Scam

I've held off posting this. Last weekend brought the news that Courtney Messerschmidt is merely the front-woman with a fake name for a collective of writers at GSGF.

Thomas Ricks, who invested a lot in Courtney, wasn't too bothered by the outing: "pHoNy GrEaT sAtAn'S gIrLfRiEnD." Neither was Crispin Burke at Wings Over Iraq.

I can't say the news didn't bother me, although I'd known for a long time that all was not right with Courtney Messerschmidt.

I got the news via Facebook, as did a number of people who Courtney'd been working with. I didn't quite understand it at first, because it wasn't a personalized note. Yeah, she confessed that she wasn't the primary author of GSGF, and that she hadn't attended the University of Georgia. But Courtney's been communicating with me since mid-2007. She'd write emails to wish me a good day at work, or to ask questions about neoconservatism. I considered her a friend and neocon protégé.

So I felt a real sense of betrayal. Indeed, Courtney and I exchanged hundreds of e-mails. She sent me this background in late 2007:

On Wed, Nov 21, 2007 at 6:28 PM, Courtney Messerschmidt wrote:

Hi Donald,

Ok - whenever you start to zzzzz out, please remember that you asked.

My 'rents are very old. In fact I have nieces and nephews older than me. My mom taught college and my dad retired frm the AF and works at a world famous aeronautical firm near Atlanta. He says he'll know when he gets to retire from that depending on what school I go to. One of my brother in laws is a Capt in 'Old Ironsides' - America's Armor division. He was an LT in Najaf I think in Aug 2003 when Mookie Al Sadr's Mahdih Army v1.0 was granted access to the perfumed halls of Allah.

When all my friends plowed through Paris' heiress book - I was plowing through Dennis Ross' "Missing Peace", Bodansky's "High Cost of Peace" and "Beyond Paradise and Power" by Ischinger, Fukyama, Applebaum and others, Michael Oren's "6 days of war". Alexander Bevin's "How America got it right' and Larry Schwiekert's "America's Victories" are essntial reading.

I have widely traveled throughout Europe including Ireland, Great Britain, France, Benelux, Deutschland, Czech repub, Italy, Greece and Belgium. In The ME I've been to Israel, Egypt and Turkey. In March 2002 me and some friends almost singlehandedly crashed HAMAS's condolences site for suicide bombers and their family after the Seder massacre. Hasn't been up since..

Being blessed with an unusual last name helped drive me towards history. Having to drive through multiple civil war battlefields to get any where tended to fuel my curiousity.

911 was a big influenece as I remember sitting on the floor at home eating my Captain Crunch Berries when that couple held hands and jumped from the 70th floor of the WTC. Just then the avuncular Peter Jennings cut to their man in Gaza. THere they were. Having a great old time - passing out laffy taffy with that demonic cry Alluha Ackbah. "I only wish that Bush was in those towers with his precious baby Sharon" is what one woman alledgedly said.

I was trapped at home one summer with my dads immense library. New books like James Spahns 'Rise of the Vulcans' and old ones Gary Dorrein's "Imperial Designs" or Robert Kagan's "Paradise and Power' had an effect - The more I studied American History the more convinced I became that America "...ain't what's wrong with the world..." I saw Victor Davis Hanson on Britt Hume's show back around Xmas 2001. I've been hooked every since.

Ivo Daalder's book "America Unbound" is crucial - though not the reasons Daalder would hope for. He kinda wails that 'Merica can do whatever she dang well pleases - unbound by the UN, the EU, NATO, OPEC, OAS, G7's and G8's. I love that!

Curently, my life is so controlled - do this, don't do that so I started my own blog. Mainly because I was sick of people saying the American military was broken, Iraq is a quagmire etc. A random reading of American history shows that is so incorrect - it's either stupid or weirdly unAmerican. Places I went to began to block me from challenging their inappropiate, weak, boring and incorrect handwringing. Empowerment I reckon. Also like Gollum says to Smeagul in "2 Towers" - "Now we be the master!"

I want to work on grand strategy like Dr Posen's but since I have no PHD's or Pulitzer prizes behind my name it may take a while.

I'vr been meaninig to raise this subject with you and now I shall.

Redefinition. The term Neo Con is so misunderstood, so falsely painted that it may be time for a new term to describe that especial perspective. Since Posen himself espoused neo conish views as a fait accompli in FP circles that can be used to our advantage. As far as a new name - I'm leaning towards New Millenialism myself.
Redefinition will be critical in the near future.

Example - Islamo Fascism is out (regardless of what Hitchens says). Mohammedism should be the new term.Tough for critics to cry about that term - after all Mohammed was a fighting, conquering, ruthless, merciless intolerant dictator.

Wow - didn't mean to ramble but remember you did ask. Now how about a bit of reciprication?

I appreciate you sharing your time and ideas with me - spiritually we are very close.

As Fisher said to Churchill,

"yours til charcoal sprouts",

Courtney

Last weekend I asked Courtney to confirm four questions:

You are a genuine neocon, right? I believe you are and that our communications on that were genuine.

And the picture of you is genuine, right?

What about your 'rents? Is the stuff you told me about your parents and family true? The military background of your brothers? And so forth. That's all true, right?

And did you write the majority of posts at GSGF, and I mean at least more than half? Or about what percentage?

The only thing she would confirm on record was that she is indeed a hardcore neoconservative. The remaining questions she fudged or ignored. She wouldn't give me a straight answer on the percentage of her self-authored posts at GSGF and she ignored my questions about her personal background. I finally wrote back to say that we were no longer friends.

Courtney's maintained her Facebook page, although she's removed all the pictures of herself. She'd sent me some by e-mail, like the one above. And since she says that Courtney is her real first name, it's likely that the personal pictures are genuine and she's scrubbed them to protect her identity from the inevitable harm to her reputation, should she move on from anonymous blogging to the real world of college and employment.

John Hawkins, unlike some of the others, severed ties with her: "The Courtney Messerschmidt Controversy."

Courtney still publishes at Theo Spark's, where I am a co-blogger, so I may have some peripheral interactions with her in that role. But that's it. Folks get the real me online, through blogging and social networking, email, etc. I expect the same in return, as just the decent thing to do.

At Philippe's

I visited Pajamas Media Editor David Swindle yesterday in Los Angeles. Here we are out across the street from Philippe's, where we enjoyed a wonderful meal. David moved over to Pajamas Media after NewsReal Blog closed down at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He's got some exciting plans for Pajamas. David's encouraging me to start publishing my work there again.

The last time I was at Philippe's was April, 2010, when I spent a day at the Los Angeles County Museum of art.

We're All Journalists Now

At GigaOM, "Freedom of the press applies to everyone — yes, even bloggers" (via Glenn Reynolds):

In the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, released just a few weeks ago, the judges pointed out that the First Amendment’s protection for freedom of the press “encompasses a range of conduct related to the gathering and dissemination of information,” and that citizens have the right to investigate government affairs and share what they learn with others. Judge Kermit Lipez also specifically noted that these protections don’t just apply to professional journalists. He said in his decision:

[C]hanges in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders [and] and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status.

We couldn’t have put it any better ourselves (although we have tried a number of times). The advent of social news-distribution tools like Twitter and Facebook, not to mention blogs and YouTube and other web services and social networks, have powered what Om has called a “democratization of distribution” that makes virtually anyone into a publisher.

RTWT at the link.

RELATED: From Carol Rose, "Victory for liberty and the right to videotape public officials."

Pentagon Memorial September 10, 2011

At Marooned in Marin, "Visiting The Pentagon Memorial - September 10, 2011."

Very nice. Click over there to RTWT.

The Return of Elitism?

An interesting piece, at Telegraph UK, "David Cameron: we need elitism in schools":

David Cameron will signal a return to “elitism” in schools in an attempt to mend Britain’s “broken” society and secure the economic future.

The Prime Minister will attack the “prizes for all” culture in which competitiveness is frowned upon and winners are shunned.

In a significant speech, he will outline Coalition plans to ensure teaching is based on “excellence”, saying that controversial reforms are needed to “bring back the values of a good education”.

Failure to do so would be “fatal to prosperity”, he will say.

The comments mark the latest in a series of attempts to focus on education in response to the riots that shocked London and other English cities last month.

Actually, we could use less elitism on this side of the Atlantic, and more back to basics, common sense, values-based instruction.

'Hard to Handle'

It took an hour to get to work yesterday. I don't mind, as long as I'm not running late (ha!). I get to listen to the radio. The Sound's playlist is below. The Black Crowes came up just as I got rolling with a cup of coffee:

8:05 - Hard To Handle by Black Crowes

8:16 - Bodhisattva by Steely Dan

8:21 - White Room by Cream

8:27 - Come Together by Aerosmith

8:30 - Jane by Jefferson Starship

8:34 - Magic Man by Heart

8:40 - More Cowbell by Christopher Walken

8:40 - Mississippi Queen by Mountain

8:49 - In The Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett

8:51 - Move It On Over by George Thorogood

8:56 - White Wedding by Billy Idol

9:00 - Space Oddity by David Bowie

9:05 - We Just Disagree by Dave Mason

9:08 - You Really Got Me by Kinks

More blogging tonight!

TSA Agent Threatens Amy Alkon with Defamation Suit!

Oh my goodness, this is lovely.

From Kash Hill, "Female Blogger Threatened With Defamation Suit For Writing About TSA 'Rape'." (Via Instapundit.)

Go read it all.

And at Amy's blog: "Breaking News: The TSA Agent Who Visited My Vagina."

RELATED: I was searching for Amy's post on Google, and punching in "Amy Alkon Libel Suit" you never know who's name will pop up in the results. Man, that's gotta be a bitch.

Jimmie Bise, Jr., on Operation Fast and Furious

I've been meaning to blog this, but I keep getting distracted by my favorite topics (not to mention Rule 5).

So, check Sundries Shack, "Soon, It Will Be Time for Operation Witness Immunity."

BONUS: At Michelle's, "Fast and Furious update: Yes, the White House got e-mails."

Mitt Romney at Tea Party Express Rally in Concord, New Hampshire

The Other McCain's got the coverage: "VIDEOS: Pro-Romney, Anti-Romney and Mrs. Romney at Concord, N.H., Tea Party."

At at The Australian, "Mitt Romney plays the callow card."



PREVIOUSLY: "Their Optimism Rising, Republican Voters Look For a Winner."

Their Optimism Rising, Republican Voters Look For a Winner

At New York Times, "G.O.P. Voters Seek a Winner":

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Roy Barbuto is on the hunt. For the past few months, he has been searching for the perfect Republican candidate, and he shows no signs of flagging.



Mr. Barbuto, 61, a service technician here, had already seen Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota (“She was excellent”), the former pizza executive Herman Cain (“He intrigues me, because here is a man who clearly knows what to do businesswise”) and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts (“If he was elected, he could certainly do the job”). Now, he was finishing up dinner at a house party in Chichester, N.H., waiting to take a measure of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.



“I’m not just looking for a candidate to beat the president,” he explained. “For me, the purpose of the next president is to restore the pride that this country has always had.”



In interviews with more than two dozen people in New Hampshire and Iowa over the Labor Day weekend, voters said they sensed a new vulnerability to President Obama.



But while they expressed a strong sense of optimism in the prospect of winning the White House, they were looking for a candidate who could not only prevail in a general election, but be a forceful conservative leader for a tumultuous time.

RTWT.



Folks are looking for "someone who can create jobs."



Video Hat Tip: Da Tech Guy, "Voices of the Tea Party: A Sarah Palin supporter."

Chevy Runs Deep

Via Althouse, "How did Chevrolet manage to make such an effective commercial?"



You pull on the heartstrings. We've all felt like this, with or without a Chevy pickup:

BWHAHAHA!! — Charles Johnson Sycophant Killgore Trout Whines Over 'Shocking Heartlessness of Conservatives'

This is hilarious, especially for its utter predictability.

I found this post from Little Green Footballs at my Sitemeter: "Is Erick Erickson Ashamed of His Fellow Creationists?" That's a Google link, but click through at the top result and scroll down to comment #19, and voilà!, there's cud-munching Killgore Trout blabbering on about my horrible --- HORRIBLE!! ---- insensitivity:

The always shocking heartlessness of conservatives. Instapundit links to this update on the man who died from a dental problem because he couldn't afford treatement: 24-Year-Old Cincinnati Man Dies of Toothache After Brilliantly Filling His Pain Medication Prescription Instead of Antibiotics.

And with LGF being completely infested with progressive robots, Little Green Troll Gus 802 decided to look up my employer information on Google. Checking back at that top link, and scrolling down to comment #44, we see this:

Consider the source. American Power is a blog written by Donald Douglas who teaches history at Long Beach City College. He probably has a dental plan payed for by the California community college system. Another one living off the government system yet constantly railing against the machine.

Gus 802's not too smart, of course. I teach political science, not history. Duh. And not only that, I'm not "living off the government" but employed by a public college --- big difference. But playing along with the stupidity, I wasn't "living off the government" until I was 39-years-old. In fact, back when I was 28, living in Fresno and unemployed, I started having pain along the gums at the back of my mouth. Turns out my molars were inflamed and the dentist recommended I have all four of my wisdom teeth pulled. That was going to include full anesthesia (going under for the procedure) as well. Total cost was to be $750. And you know what, I put it on credit and paid down the balance out of pocket. And I'm insured now --- not because someone is sponsoring me on the dole, but because I spent 13 YEARS IN COLLEGE earning three political science degrees and landing a job in my field as a professor --- and that's after I beat out over 150 candidates for my position when I applied. So, yeah, LGF dickwads, I'm hardly gonna start bawling about a guy who refused to dig down deep for $27 for some antibiotics. Besides, the comments on this have been pure gold, for example, this one, from Adjoran:

I thought Yglesias and the leftists were all about evolution and Darwin.



They should be hailing his decision to cleanse the gene pool of those too dumb to deal with an abscess even after consulting a doctor.

That's gotta be the perfect response to an epic airhead LGF entry entitled: "Is Erick Erickson Ashamed of His Fellow Creationists?"



RELATED: "Charles Johnson Browbeat Forbes' Abigail Esman After She Correctly Noted That Anders Breivik Voluminously Cited Little Green Footballs."



P.S. When I get back to work on Tuesday, I'm won't to be surprised to find that these lowlifes contacted my college. Recall, back in January, Gus 802 tweeted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Governor Jerry Brown hoping to get Patterico fired.



Classic. That's what progressives do. And this time I'll be ready for it.

15 Queen Anne Court

From Theo Spark, "This is how to sell real estate":

Jane Jamison of Uncoverage.net Has Died

I like her blog. There are so many out there that sometimes a blog has to really make an impact before gaining attention, and Uncoverage.net is one of those. See Robert Stacy McCain for the details: "Jane Jamison, R.I.P." And John Hawkins has more: "Jane Jamison From Uncoverage Has Passed Away."



Please join me in a prayer for Jane, and for her friends and family.

'Take Me to the River'

Heard it during yesterday morning's drive time, at The Sound LA:

7:02 - She Talks To Angels by Black Crowes



7:08 - Who'll Stop The Rain by CCR



7:18 - Wonderous Stories by Yes



7:21 - Let 'em In by Paul Mccartney



7:26 - Take Me To The River by Talking Heads



7:32 - Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix



7:35 - In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins



7:49 - Space Oddity by David Bowie



7:53 - Black Dog by Led Zeppelin



7:58 - Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac

I'll be back for more blogging tonight!

Bob Belvedere's Got Your Rule 5 Fix

See: "Rule 5 News: 26 August 2011 A.D."



Drew Barrymore is fabulous, by the way.

Hugs and Thanks to Maggie Thornton

Maggie picked my piece on teaching the Gettysburg Address: "Donald Douglas: A Professor Teaching Real Political History."



And from the comments there:

In today’s American world, this professor is a gem!

Well, thank you!!



More at Maggie's Notebook.



Also, a warm appreciation goes to Gator Doug: "The DaleyGator supports our friend, Donald Douglas."



I get by with a little help from my friends.

'Stairway to Heaven'

AoSHQ is a big Zeppelin fan, so here's this for my Thursday place-holding video.

And check Ace of Spades for some hot blogging throughout the day.