See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Eli Rosenberg
Brooklyn Daily
The line at the Silver Star Meat Market wrapped around the block. The unseasonably warm temperatures in the late spring of 1987 had pushed the population of North Atlantic herring north, towards the polar cap, where the water was as cool as a glass of iced lemonade on a hot day, and the krill schooled in bounties. The fisherman, sun-beaten men of the sea, were feeling the heat, unable to answer for the once-common fish that they could not seem to net for the life of them this season — no matter how far north they traveled.
Nowhere could repercussions of this global herring shortage be more keenly felt than the line wrapping down Nostrand Avenue on an 102-degree June day. Babushkas fanned their foreheads; husbands doing their pre-Shabbos shopping waited dutifully, sweat dripping down their brows; and the few children who had been dragged along for what normally was an ecstatic romp around the culinary wonderland kvetched endlessly, tugging at their parents’ sleeves as everyone wilted.
These good people did not know whether they would be able to snap up one of the few tins of smoked kippers once they entered the building, but in this heat, it had ceased to matter. A cold can of soda, perhaps some Mandelbrodt, any pick-me-up would suffice.
It made Ida remember the words of Brooklyn abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher:
“Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry.”
Ida’s picks:
Bills (?1.5), Rams (?3), Browns (7.5), Texans (?16), Bengals (?3.5), Falcons (?10), Buccaneers (?1.5), Raiders (4.5), Packers (?3.5), Colts (9), Bears (5), Ravens (3.5)
Breakouts:
Redskins (?3) over Eagles
Broncos (?7.5) over Chargers
Kryptonite lock of the week:
Ravens (3.5) over Steelers
Ida’s record: 68–77–2
(Kryptonite: 4–6)
Reach reporter Eli Rosenberg at erosenberg@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2531. And follow him at twitter.com/emrosenberg.