Over the past 20 weeks, I have avoided the topic of the virus. We are already living through it; we don’t need the reminder. Instead, I have focused my newsletter on the story the data tells on all the other aspects we love or hate about NYC. If you want my hot takes on the virus data, check out Twitter.
This past week we marked a year since New York City was shut down due to Covid-19, and I can’t help thinking about the last activity I did with friends before we were sent home. While the virus had already hit a few pockets of NYC and the city’s closing was imminent, a couple of friends joined me on a trip to Flushing, Queens to partake in dumplings, bubble tea, and red bean buns
I can’t think of a better way to go mask-less than to eat delicious food. In today’s 2xParked, I am going to talk about the glory of that last weekend.
Dumpling by Any Other Name
When we think of New York City cuisine, dumplings are usually not top of mind. We often think of pizza or bagels or hot dogs. Just look at the past year of Google searches in NYC of these foods compared to dumplings. “Dumpling” is not even on the same level.
Even though they might not be New York born, dumplings have certainly earned their place as New Yorkers. “Dumpling” is becoming an increasingly important word in our language. The likelihood of “dumpling” appearing in our vernacular has increased nearly five times in the past 40 years according to Google ngram.
It is not surprising, especially here. When you think “dumpling” you might immediately associate it with Chinatown, Flushing, or Sunset Park. The dumpling extended family is much larger than that. Add a little bit of dough and a little bit of filling, and you got pierogis of Greenpoint, ravioli of Arthur Ave, and empanadas of Jackson Heights. They are not just cousins; they are dumpling siblings.
My favorite place to get a dumpling is White Bear in Flushing. The thing to get there is another one of the many siblings: wontons. The #6 is dough pocket perfection. Although a bit on the spicy side, if you have not been, you have not lived in NYC.
I know it is a fairly popular and well-known establishment, but do others feel the same way I do? I decided to do a text analysis of several publicly available reviews to see if the love is universal. Here is a word cloud from those reviews.
The top 5 adjectives to describe White Bear wontons:
Spicy
Good
Hot
Small
Delicious
This is not inaccurate from my perspective, but I want to dig in a bit deeper. What is the sentiment of reviews. Are these adjectives being used in a positive or negative way? Using the “Syuzhet” package in R, we can figure that out easily.
Looking at the sentiment, it looks like reviews are mostly favorable. 80% of the reviews are positive. Additionally, most of the emotions from the reviews are positive as well.
In conclusion, White Bear dumplings are amazing. People agree.
MayorModel
As I wade through the updated finance board election data (will be included in next week’s model), I am reminded that the mayor election is not the only citywide election this year.
This week, Corey Johnson, City Council Speaker, announced his candidacy for comptroller. Johnson, once considered a front runner for mayor, will try to replace mayoral candidate Scott Stringer in a very crowded field, which also includes former mayor candidate Zach Iscol.
This week Siena (which is an credible unbiased poll shop), released a NYS poll. One overlooked aspect of the poll are the approval ratings for politicians not named Biden, Trump, or Cuomo. The “unsure” favorability for Assembly Speaker Hastie, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Lt. Governor Hochul is astonishingly high. About 2/3 of people had no opinion of the most important state politicians driving legislation. 50% have no opinion of Tom DiNapoli, our state comptroller, according to Quinnipiac.
If these are opinions for state-run positions, it begs the questions:
Do New Yorkers know what power positions like city comptroller or public advocate actually have?
How do we properly judge their promises?
How do we properly judge their performance?
These might require a future 2xParked.
"Dumpling Nightmare" was drawn by Ink&thyme, drawing life's unforgettable moments. For unique art drawn just for you, check them out on Facebook and on Instagram.
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