Podcasts about Fulton Fish Market

The Supreme Court is expected to decide today whether the Trump administration must comply with lower court orders to resume full SNAP payments as delayed food aid begins reaching residents across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Meanwhile, the FAA is expanding flight reductions to six percent nationwide amid a shortage of air traffic controllers caused by the ongoing government shutdown. Also, in New York City, Fifth Avenue is closing this afternoon for the Veterans Day Parade marking 250 years of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. Plus, WNYC's Hannah Frishberg reports from the Bronx's Fulton Fish Market, where the sprawling cold-storage space has been transformed into one of the city's most unexpected party venues.

By Robert Riggs The Godfather. Goodfellas. The Sopranos. Hollywood entertained us with polished fiction—honor among thieves, loyalty bound by blood, men of principle wrapped in tailored suits. But the real mob? It was darker. Colder. Predatory. The smile came first. The knife came after. This is the true story of how FBI Special Agent Mike Campi helped dismantle the Genovese crime family—the oldest, largest, and most insidious of New York's five Mafia Families. Founded by Charles “Lucky” Luciano in 1931. Consolidated under Vito Genovese in the late 1950s. The family once ruled Manhattan's west side piers and the Fulton Fish Market on the East River with quiet brutality. Everything moved through their hands—money, muscle, silence. Campi joined the FBI's Organized Crime Squad in 1985, stepping into the heart of a sweeping federal assault on the American Mafia. Over the next two decades, he led investigations that exposed the rot behind the façade. His new book, Mafia Takedown, pulls back the curtain on what really happened. Not the Hollywood version. The truth.

Today's guest is Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He spent two years as a police officer in Baltimore. I asked him to come on and talk about his new book, Back from the Brink, Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop. It's one of my favorite books I've read this year (and it was one of my three book recommendations on Ezra Klein's show last week).Peter spoke with hundreds of police officers and NYC officials to understand and describe exactly how the city's leaders in the early 1990s managed to drive down crime so successfully.We discussed:* How bad did things get in the 1970s?* Why did processing an arrest take so long?* What did Bill Bratton and other key leaders do differently?* How did police get rid of the squeegee men?I've included my reading list at the bottom of this piece. Thanks to Harry Fletcher-Wood for his judicious transcript edits.Subscribe for one new interview a week.Peter, how would you describe yourself?I would say I'm a criminologist: my background is sociology, but I am not in the sociology department. I'm not so big on theory, and sociology has a lot of theory. I was a grad student at Harvard in sociology and worked as a police officer [in Baltimore] and that became my dissertation and first book, Cop in the Hood. I've somewhat banked my career on those 20 months in the police department.Not a lot of sociologists spend a couple of years working a police beat.It's generally frowned upon, both for methodological reasons and issues of bias. But there is also an ideological opposition in a lot of academia to policing. It's seen as going to the dark side and something to be condemned, not understood.Sociologists said crime can't go down unless we fix society first. It's caused by poverty, racism, unemployment, and social and economic factors — they're called the root causes. But they don't seem to have a great impact on crime, as important as they are. When I'm in grad school, murders dropped 30-40% in New York City. At the same time, Mayor Giuliani is slashing social spending, and poverty is increasing. The whole academic field is just wrong. I thought it an interesting field to get into.We're going to talk about your new book, which is called Back from the Brink, Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop. I had a blast reading it. Tell me about the process of writing it.A lot of this is oral history, basically. But supposedly people don't like buying books that are called oral histories. It is told entirely from the perspective of police officers who were on the job at the time. I would not pretend I talked to everyone, because there were 30,000+ cops around, but I spoke to many cops and to all the major players involved in the 1990s crime drop in New York City.I was born in the ‘90s, and I had no idea about a crazy statistic you cite: 25% of the entire national crime decline was attributable to New York City's crime decline.In one year, yeah. One of the things people say to diminish the role of policing is that the crime drop happened everywhere — and it did end up happening almost everywhere. But I think that is partly because what happened in New York City was a lot of hard work, but it wasn't that complicated. It was very easy to propagate, and people came to New York to find out what was going on. You could see results, literally in a matter of months.It happened first in New York City. Really, it happened first in the subways and that's interesting, because if crime goes down in the subways [which, at the time, fell under the separate New York City Transit Police] and not in the rest of the city, you say, “What is going on in the subways that is unique?” It was the exact same strategies and leadership that later transformed the NYPD [New York Police Department].Set the scene: What was the state of crime and disorder in New York in the ‘70s and into the ‘80s?Long story short, it was bad. Crime in New York was a big problem from the late ‘60s up to the mid ‘90s, and the ‘70s is when the people who became the leaders started their careers. So these were defining moments. The city was almost bankrupt in 1975 and laid off 5,000 cops; 3,000 for a long period of time. That was arguably the nadir. It scarred the police department and the city.Eventually, the city got its finances in order and came to the realization that “we've got a big crime problem too.” That crime problem really came to a head with crack cocaine. Robberies peaked in New York City in 1980. There were above 100,000 robberies in 1981, and those are just reported robberies. A lot of people get robbed and just say, “It's not worth it to report,” or, “I'm going to work,” or, “Cops aren't going to do anything.” The number of robberies and car thefts was amazingly high. The trauma, the impact on the city and on urban space, and people's perception of fear, all comes from that. If you're afraid of crime, it's high up on the hierarchy of needs.To some extent, those lessons have been lost or forgotten. Last year there were 16,600 [robberies], which is a huge increase from a few years ago, but we're still talking an 85% reduction compared to the worst years. It supposedly wasn't possible. What I wanted to get into in Back from the Brink was the actual mechanisms of the crime drop. I did about fifty formal interviews and hundreds of informal interviews building the story. By and large, people were telling the same story.In 1975, the city almost goes bankrupt. It's cutting costs everywhere, and it lays off more than 5,000 cops, about 20% of the force, in one day. There's not a new police academy class until 1979, four years later. Talk to me about where the NYPD was at that time.They were retrenched, and the cops were demoralized because “This is how the city treats us?” The actual process of laying off the cops itself was just brutal: they went to work, and were told once they got to work that they were no longer cops. “Give me your badge, give me your gun."The city also was dealing with crime, disorder, and racial unrest. The police department was worried about corruption, which was a legacy of the Knapp Commission [which investigated NYPD corruption] and [Frank] Serpico [a whistleblowing officer]. It's an old police adage, that if you don't work, you can't get in trouble. That became very much the standard way of doing things. Keep your head low, stay out of trouble, and you'll collect your paycheck and go home.You talk about the blackout in 1977, when much of the city lost power and you have widespread looting and arson. 13,000 off-duty cops get called in during the emergency, and only about 5,000 show up, which is a remarkable sign of the state of morale.The person in my book who's talking about that is Louis Anemone. He showed up because his neighbor and friend and partner was there, and he's got to help him. It was very much an in-the-foxholes experience. I contrast that with the more recent blackout, in which the city went and had a big block party instead. That is reflective of the change that happened in the city.In the mid-80s you get the crack cocaine epidemic. Talk to me about how police respond.From a political perspective, that era coincided with David Dinkins as [New York City's first black] mayor. He was universally disliked, to put it mildly, by white and black police officers alike. He was seen as hands off. He was elected in part to improve racial relations in New York City, to mitigate racial strife, but in Crown Heights and Washington Heights, there were riots, and racial relations got worse. He failed at the level he was supposed to be good at. Crime and quality of life were the major issues in that election.Dinkins's approach to the violence is centered around what they called “community policing.” Will you describe how Dinkins and political leaders in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s thought about policing?This is under Ben Ward, the [NYPD] Commissioner at the time. The mayor appoints the police commissioner — and the buck does stop with the mayor — but the mayor is not actively involved in day-to-day operations. That part does go down to the police department.Community policing was seen as an attempt to improve relations between the police and the community. The real goal was to lessen racial strife and unrest between black (and to a lesser extent Hispanic) communities and the NYPD. Going back to the ‘60s, New York had been rocked by continued unrest in neighborhoods like Central Harlem, East New York, and Bushwick. Community policing was seen as saying that police are partly to blame, and we want to improve relations. Some of it was an attempt to get the community more involved in crime fighting.It's tough. It involves a certain rosy view of the community, but that part of the community isn't causing the problems. It avoids the fact there are people who are actively criming and are willing to hurt people who get in their way. Community policing doesn't really address the active criminal element, that is a small part of any community, including high-crime communities.Arrests increased drastically during this era, more than in the ‘90s with broken windows policing. If the idea is to have fewer arrests, it didn't happen in the ‘80s. Some good came out of it, because it did encourage cops to be a bit more active and cops are incentivized by overtime. Arrests were so incredibly time-consuming, which kind of defeated the purpose of community policing. If you made an arrest in that era, there was a good chance you might spend literally 24 hours processing the arrest.Will you describe what goes into that 24 hours?From my experience policing in Baltimore, I knew arrests were time-consuming and paperwork redundant, but I could process a simple arrest in an hour or two. Even a complicated one that involved juveniles and guns and drugs, we're talking six to eight hours.In the ‘80s, Bob Davin, [in the] Transit Police, would say they'd make an arrest, process at the local precinct, search him in front of a desk officer, print him, and then they would have to get a radio car off patrol to drive you down to central booking at 100 Centre Street [New York City Criminal Court]. Then they would fingerprint him. They didn't have the live scan fingerprints machine, it was all ink. It had to be faxed up to Albany and the FBI to see if it hit on any warrant federally and for positive identification of the person. Sometimes it took 12 hours to have the prints come back and the perp would be remanded until that time. Then you'd have to wait for the prosecutor to get their act together and to review all the paperwork. You couldn't consider bail unless the prints came back either positive or negative and then you would have that initial arraignment and the cop could then go home. There are a lot of moving parts, and they moved at a glacial pace.The system often doesn't work 24/7. A lot of this has changed, but some of it was having to wait until 9 am for people to show up to go to work, because it's not a single system. The courts, the jails, and policing all march to their own drummer, and that created a level of inefficiency.So much of the nitty-gritty of what cops actually do is boring, behind-the-scenes stuff: How do we speed up the paperwork? Can we group prisoners together? Can we do some of this at the police station instead of taking it downtown? Is all of this necessary? Can we cooperate with the various prosecutors? There are five different prosecutors in New York City, one for each borough.There's not a great incentive to streamline this. Cops enjoyed the overtime. That's one of the reasons they would make arrests. So during this time, if a cop makes an arrest for drug dealing, that cop is gone and no cop was there to replace him. If it's a minor arrest, there's a good chance in the long run charges will be dropped anyway. And you're taking cops off the street. In that sense, it's lose-lose. But, you have to think, “What's the alternative?”Bob Davin is a fascinating guy. There's a famous picture from 1981 by Martha Cooper of two cops on a subway train. It's graffitied up and they're in their leather jackets and look like cops from the ‘70s. Martha Cooper graciously gave me permission to use the picture, but she said, "You have to indemnify me because I don't have a release form. I don't know who the cops are." I said, "Martha, I do know who the cop is, because he's in my book and he loves the picture.” Bob Davin is the cop on the right.Davin says that things started to get more efficient. They had hub sites in the late ‘80s or ‘90s, so precincts in the north of Manhattan could bring their prisoners there, and you wouldn't have to take a car out of service to go back to Central Booking and deal with traffic. They started collecting prisoners and bringing them en masse on a small school bus, and that would cut into overtime. Then moving to electronic scan fingerprints drastically saves time waiting for those to come back.These improvements were made, but some of them involve collective bargaining with unions, to limit overtime and arrests that are made for the pure purpose of overtime. You want cops making arrests for the right reason and not simply to make money. But boy, there was a lot of money made in arrests.In 1991, you have the infamous Crown Heights riot in Brooklyn. Racial tensions kick off. It's a nightmare for the mayor, there's this sense that he has lost control. The following year, you have this infamous police protest at City Hall where it becomes clear the relationship between the cops and the mayor has totally evaporated. How does all that play into the mayoral race between Dinkins and Giuliani?It was unintentional, but a lot of the blame for Crown Heights falls on the police department. The part of the story that is better known is that there was a procession for a Hasidic rabbi that was led by a police car. He would go to his wife's grave, and he got a little three-car motorcade. At some point, the police look at this and go "Why are we doing this? We're going to change it." The man who made the deal said ‘I"m retiring in a couple weeks, can we just leave it till then? Because I gave him my word." They're like, "Alright, whatever."This motor car procession is then involved in a car crash, and a young child named Gavin Cato is killed, and another girl is severely injured. The volunteer, Jewish-run ambulance shows up and decides they don't have the equipment: they call for a professional city ambulance. Once that ambulance is on the way, they take the mildly-injured Jewish people to the hospital. The rumor starts that the Jewish ambulance abandoned the black children to die.This isn't the first incident. There's long been strife over property and who the landlord is. But this was the spark that set off riots. A young Jewish man was randomly attacked on the street and was killed.As an aside, he also shouldn't have died, but at the hospital they missed internal bleeding.Meanwhile, the police department has no real leadership at the time. One chief is going to retire, another is on vacation, a third doesn't know what he's doing, and basically everyone is afraid to do anything. So police do nothing. They pull back, and you have three days of very anti-Semitic riots. Crowds chanting "Kill the Jews" and marching on the Lubavitch Hasidic Headquarters. Al Sharpton shows up. The riots are blamed on Dinkins, which is partly fair, but a lot of that's on the NYPD. Finally, the mayor and the police commissioner go to see what's going on and they get attacked. It's the only time in New York City history that there's ever been an emergency call from the police commissioner's car. People are throwing rocks at it.It took three days to realise this, but that's when they say “We have to do something here,” and they gather a group of officers who later become many of Bratton's main chiefs at the time [Bill Bratton was Commissioner of the NYPD from 1994-1996, under Giuliani]: Mike Julian, Louis Anemone, Ray Kelly, and [John] Timoney. They end the unrest in a day. They allow people to march, they get the police department to set rules. It still goes on for a bit, but no one gets hurt after that, and that's it.It was a huge, national story at the time, but a lot of the details were not covered. Reporters were taken from their car and beaten and stripped. The significance was downplayed at the time, especially by the New York Times, I would say.That's followed by the Washington Heights riots, which is a different story. A drug dealer was shot and killed by cops. There were rumors, which were proven to be false, that he was executed and unarmed. Then there were three days of rioting there. It wasn't quite as severe, but 53 cops were hurt, 120 stores were set on fire, and Mayor Dinkins paid for the victim's family to go to the Dominican Republic for the funeral. The police perspective again was, “You're picking the wrong side here.”Then there's the so-called Police Riot at City Hall. Nominally, it was about the CCRB, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and setting up an accountability mechanism to control cops. But really it was just an anti-Dinkins protest. It was drunken and unruly. The cops stormed the steps of City Hall. I have the account of one of the cops who was on the top of those steps looking at this mob of cops storming to him, and he's getting worried he's going to be killed in a crush. There were racist chants from off-duty cops in the crowd. It did not reflect well on police officers. But it showed this hatred of David Dinkins, who was seen as siding with criminals and being anti-police. The irony is that Dinkins is the one who ends up hiring all the cops that Giuliani gets credit for.In the “Safe Streets, Safe City” program?Yes. That was because a white tourist, Brian Watkins, was killed in a subway station protecting his parents who were getting robbed. That led to the famous headline [in the New York Post] of “Dave, do something! Crime-ravaged city cries out for help.” He, with City Council President Peter Vallone, Sr., drafted and pushed through this massive hiring of police officers, “Safe Streets, Safe City.”The hiring wasn't fast-tracked. It might be because Dinkins's people didn't really want more cops. But it was a Dinkins push that got a massive hiring of cops. When the first huge class of police officers graduated, Bill Bratton was there and not David Dinkins.Some interviewees in your book talk about how there's physically not enough room in the police academies at this time, so they have to run classes 24/7. You cycle cohorts in and out of the same classroom, because there are too many new cops for the facilities.You have thousands of cops going through it at once. Everyone describes it as quite a chaotic scene. But it would have been hard to do what the NYPD did without those cops. Ray Kelly, who was police commissioner under Dinkins at the end [from 1992 to 1994] before he became police commissioner for 12 years under Bloomberg [from 2002 to 2013] probably could have done something with those cops too, but he never had the chance, because the mayoral leadership at the time was much more limiting in what they wanted cops to do.Crime starts declining slowly in the first few years of the ‘90s under Dinkins, and then in ‘93 Giuliani wins a squeaker of a mayoral election against Dinkins.One of the major issues was the then-notorious “squeegee men” of New York City. These were guys who would go to cars stopped at bridges and tunnel entrances and would rub a squeegee over the windshield asking for money. It was unpleasant, intimidating, and unwanted, and it was seen as one of those things that were just inevitable. Like graffiti on the subway in the ‘80s. Nothing we can do about it because these poor people don't have jobs or housing or whatever.The irony is that Bratton and Giuliani were happy to take credit for that, and it was an issue in the mayoral campaign, but it was solved under David Dinkins and Ray Kelly and Mike Julian with the help of George Kelling [who, with James Wilson, came up with broken windows theory]. But they never got credit for it. One wonders if, had they done that just a few months earlier, it would have shifted the entire campaign and we'd have a different course of history in New York City.It's a great example of a couple of things that several people in your book talk about. One is that disorder is often caused by a very small set of individuals. There's only like 70 squeegee men, yet everybody sees them, because they're posted up at the main tunnel and bridge entrances to Manhattan. And getting them off the streets solves the problem entirely.Another emphasis in the book is how perceptions of crime are central. You quote Jack Maple, the father of Compstat, as saying, “A murder on the subway counts as a multiple murder up on the street, because everybody feels like that's their subway.” The particular locations of crimes really affect public perception.Absolutely. Perception is reality for a lot of these things, because most people aren't victimized by crime. But when people perceive that no one is in control they feel less safe. It's not that this perception is false, it just might not be directly related to an actual criminal act.The other thing I try to show is that it's not just saying, “We've got to get rid of squeegee men. How do you do it?” They had tried before, but this is why you need smart cops and good leadership, because it's a problem-solving technique, and the way to get rid of graffiti is different to the way you get rid of squeegee men.This book is in opposition to those who just say, “We can't police our way out of this problem.” No, we can. We can't police our way out of every problem. But if you define the problem as, we don't want people at intersections with squeegees, of course we can police our way out of the problem, using legal constitutional tools. You need the political will. And then the hard work starts, because you have to figure out how to actually do it.Will you describe how they tackle the squeegee men problem?Mike Julian was behind it. They hired George Kelling, who's known for broken windows. They said, “These people are here to make money. So to just go there and make a few arrests isn't going to solve the problem.” First of all, he had to figure out what legal authority [to use], and he used Traffic Reg 44 [which prohibits pedestrians from soliciting vehicle occupants]. He talked to Norm Siegel of the NYCLU [New York Civil Liberties Union] about this, who did not want this crackdown to happen. But Norman said, “Okay, this is the law, I can't fight that one. You're doing it legally. It's all in the books.” And So that took away that opposition.But the relentless part of it is key. First they filmed people. Then, when it came to enforcement, they warned people. Then they cited people, and anybody that was left they arrested. They did not have to arrest many people, because the key is they did this every four hours. It was that that changed behavior, because even a simple arrest isn't going to necessarily deter someone if it's a productive way to make money. But being out there every four hours for a couple of weeks or months was enough to get people to do something else. What that something else is, we still don't know, but we solved the squeegee problem.So in 93, Giuliani is elected by something like 50,000 votes overall. Just as an aside, in Prince of the City, Fred Siegel describes something I had no idea about. There's a Puerto Rican Democratic Councilman who flips and supports Giuliani. Mayor Eric Adams, who at the time was the head of a nonprofit for black men in law enforcement, calls him a race traitor for doing that and for being married to a white woman. There was a remarkable level of racial vitriol in that race that I totally missed.10 years ago when I started this, I asked if I could interview then-Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams, and he said yes, and the interview kept getting rescheduled, and I said, “Eh, I don't need him.” It's a regret of mine. I should have pursued that, but coulda, woulda, shoulda.Giuliani is elected, and he campaigns very explicitly on a reducing crime and disorder platform. And he hires Bill Bratton. Tell me about Bratton coming on board as NYPD commissioner.Bratton grew up in Boston, was a police officer there, became head of the New York City Transit Police when that was a separate police department. Right before he becomes NYPD Commissioner, he's back in Boston, as the Chief of Police there, and there is a movement among certain people to get Bratton the NYC job. They succeed in that, and Bratton is a very confident man. He very much took a broken windows approach and said, “We are going to focus on crime.” He has a right-hand man by the name of Jack Maple who he knows from the Transit Police. Maple is just a lieutenant in transit, and Bratton makes him the de facto number two man in the police department.Jack Maple passed away in 2001 and I didn't know what I was going to do, because it's hard to interview a man who's no longer alive. Chris Mitchell co-wrote Jack Maple's autobiography called Crime Fighter and he graciously gave me all the micro-cassettes of the original interviews he conducted with Maple around 1998. Everyone has a Jack Maple story. He's probably the most important character in Back from the Brink.Jack Maple comes in, no one really knows who he is, no one respects him because he was just a lieutenant in Transit. He goes around and asks a basic question — this is 1994 — he says, “How many people were shot in New York City in 1993?” And nobody knows. That is the state of crime-fighting in New York City before this era. There might have been 7,000 people shot in New York City in 1990 and we just don't know, even to this day.One citation from your book: in 1993, an average of 16 people were shot every day. Which is just remarkable.And remember, shootings have been declining for two or three years before that! But nobody knew, because they weren't keeping track of shootings, because it's not one of the FBI Uniform Crime Report [which tracks crime data nationally] index crimes. But wouldn't you be curious? It took Jack Maple to be curious, so he made people count, and it was findable, but you had to go through every aggravated assault and see if a gun was involved. You had to go through every murder from the previous year and see if it was a shooting. He did this. So we only have shooting data in New York City going back to 1993. It's just a simple process of caring.The super-short version of Back from the Brink is it was a change in mission statement: “We're going to care about crime.” Because they hadn't before. They cared about corruption, racial unrest, brutality, and scandal. They cared about the clearance rate for robbery a bit. You were supposed to make three arrests for every ten robberies. It didn't matter so much that you were stopping a pattern or arresting the right person, as long as you had three arrests for every ten reported crimes, that was fine.This is a story about people who cared. They're from this city — Bratton wasn't, but most of the rest are. They understood the trauma of violence and the fact that people with families were afraid to go outside, and nobody in the power structure seemed to care. So they made the NYPD care about this. Suddenly, the mid-level police executives, the precinct commanders, had to care. and the meetings weren't about keeping overtime down, instead they were about ”What are you doing to stop this shooting?”Tell listeners a little bit more about Jack Maple, because he's a remarkable character, and folks may not know what a kook he was.I think he was a little less kooky than he liked to present. His public persona was wearing a snazzy cat and spats and dressing like a fictional cartoon detective from his own mind, but he's a working-class guy from Queens who becomes a transit cop.When Bratton takes over, he writes a letter up the chain of command saying this is what we should do. Bratton read it and said, “This guy is smart.” Listening to 80 hours of Jack Maple, everyone correctly says he was a smart guy, but he had a very working-class demeanor and took to the elite lifestyle. He loved hanging out and getting fancy drinks at the Plaza Hotel. He was the idea man of the NYPD. Everyone has a Jack Maple imitation. “You're talking to the Jackster,” he'd say. He had smart people working under him who were supportive of this. But it was very much trying to figure out as they went along, because the city doesn't stop nor does it sleep.He was a bulls***er, but he's the one who came up with the basic outline of the strategy of crime reduction in New York City. He famously wrote it on a napkin at Elaine's, and it said, “First, we need to gather accurate and timely intelligence.” And that was, in essence, CompStat. “Then, we need to deploy our cops to where they need to be.” That was a big thing. He found out that cops weren't working: specialized units weren't working weekends and nights when the actual crime was happening. They had their excuses, but basically they wanted a cushy schedule. He changed that. Then, of course, you have to figure out what you're doing, what the effective tactics are. Then, constant follow up and assessment.You can't give up. You can't say “Problem solved.” A lot of people say it wasn't so much if your plan didn't work, you just needed a Plan B. It was the idea that throwing your hands in the air and saying, “What are you going to do?” that became notoriously unacceptable under Chief Anemone's stern demeanor at CompStat. These were not pleasant meetings. Those are the meetings that both propagated policies that work and held officers accountable. There was some humiliation going on, so CompStat was feared.Lots of folks hear CompStat and think about better tracking of crime locations and incidents. But as you flesh out, the meat on the bones of CompStat was this relentless follow-up. You'd have these weekly meetings early in the morning with all the precinct heads. There were relentless asks from the bosses, “What's going on in your district or in your precinct? Can you explain why this is happening? What are you doing to get these numbers down?” And follow-ups the following week or month. It was constant.CompStat is often thought of as high-tech computer stuff. It wasn't. There was nothing that couldn't have been done with old overhead projectors. It's just that no one had done it before. Billy Gorta says it's a glorified accountability system at a time when nobody knew anything about computers. Everyone now has access to crime maps on a computer. It was about actually gathering accurate, timely data.Bratton was very concerned that these numbers had to be right. It was getting everyone in the same room and saying, “This is what our focus is going to be now.” And getting people to care about crime victims, especially when those crime victims might be unsympathetic because of their demeanor, criminal activity, or a long arrest record. “We're going to care about every shooting, we're going to care about every murder.”Part of it was cracking down on illegal guns. There were hundreds of tactics. The federal prosecutors also played a key role. It was getting this cooperation. Once it started working and Giuliani made it a major part of claiming success as mayor, suddenly everyone wanted to be part of this, and you had other city agencies trying to figure it out. So it was a very positive feedback loop, once it was seen as a success.When Bratton came on the job, he said, “I'm going to bring down crime 15%.” No police commissioner had ever said that before. In the history of policing before 1994, no police commissioner ever promised a double-digit reduction in crime or even talked about it. People said “That's crazy.” It was done, and then year after year. That's the type of confidence that they had. They were surprised it worked as well as it did, but they all had the sense that there's a new captain on this ship, and we're trying new things. It was an age of ideas and experiment.And it was a very short time.That's the other thing that surprised me. Giuliani fired Bratton in the middle of ‘96.It's remarkable. Bratton comes in ‘94, and August 1994 is where you see crime drop off a cliff. You have this massive beginning of the reduction that continues.That inflection point is important for historical knowledge. I don't address alternatives that other people have proposed [to explain the fall in crime] — For example, the reduction in lead [in gasoline, paint, and water pipes] or legalized abortion with Roe v. Wade [proposed by Stephen Dubner].Reasonable people can differ. Back from the Brink focuses on the police part of the equation. Today, almost nobody, except for a few academics, says that police had nothing to do with the crime drop. That August inflection is key, because there is nothing in a lagged time analysis going back 20 years that is going to say that is the magic month where things happened. Yet if you look at what happened in CompStat, that's the month they started getting individual officer data, and noticing that most cops made zero arrests, and said, “Let's get them in the game as well.” And that seemed to be the key; that's when crime fell off the table. The meetings started in April, I believe, but August is really when the massive crime drop began.To your point about the confidence that crime could be driven down double digits year over year, there's a great quote you have from Jack Maple, where he says to a fellow cop, “This is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel. As long as we have absolute control, we can absolutely drive this number into the floor.”One detail I enjoyed was that Jack Maple, when he was a transit cop, would camp out under a big refrigerator box with little holes cut out for eyes and sit on the subway platform waiting for crooks.For people who are interested in Jack Maple, it is worth reading his autobiography, Crime Fighter. Mike Daly wrote New York's Finest, which uses the same tapes that I had access to, and he is much more focused on that. He's actually the godfather of Jack Maple's son, who is currently a New York City police officer. But Maple and co were confident, and it turned out they were right.As well as having changes in tactics and approach and accountability across the NYPD, you also have a series of specific location cleanups. You have a specific initiative focused on the Port Authority, which is a cesspool at the time, an initiative in Times Square, the Bryant Park cleanup, and then Giuliani also focuses on organized crime on the Fulton Fish Market, and this open-air market in Harlem.I was struck that there was both this general accountability push in the NYPD through CompStat, and a relentless focus on cleaning up individual places that were hubs of disorder.I'm not certain the crime drop would have happened without reclamation of public spaces and business improvement districts. Bryant Park's a fascinating story because Dan Biederman, who heads the Corporation, said, “People just thought it was like a lost cause, this park can't be saved. The city is in a spiral of decline.” He uses Jane Jacobs' “eyes on the street” theory and then George Kelling and James Q. Wilson's broken windows theory. The park has money — not city money, but from local property owners — and it reopens in 1991 to great acclaim and is still a fabulous place to be. It showed for the first time that public space was worth saving and could be saved. New York City at the time needed that lesson. It's interesting that today, Bryant Park has no permanent police presence and less crime. Back in the ‘80s, Bryant Park had an active police presence and a lot more crime.The first class I ever taught when I started at John Jay College in 2004, I was talking about broken windows. A student in the class named Jeff Marshall, who is in my book, told me about Operation Alternatives at the Port Authority. He had been a Port Authority police officer at the time, and I had not heard of this. People are just unaware of this part of history. It very much has lessons for today, because in policing often there's nothing new under the sun. It's just repackaged, dusted off, and done again. The issue was, how do we make the Port Authority safe for passengers? How do we both help and get rid of people living in the bus terminal? It's a semi-public space, so it makes it difficult. There was a social services element about it, that was Operational Alternatives. A lot of people took advantage of that and got help. But the flip side was, you don't have to take services, but you can't stay here.I interviewed the manager of the bus terminal. He was so proud of what he did. He's a bureaucrat, a high-ranking one, but a port authority manager. He came from the George Washington Bridge, which he loved. And he wonders, what the hell am I going to do with this bus terminal? But the Port Authority cared, because they're a huge organization and that's the only thing with their name on it — They also control JFK Airport and bridges and tunnels and all the airports, but people call the bus terminal Port Authority.They gave him almost unlimited money and power and said, “Fix it please, do what you've got to do,” and he did. It was environmental design, giving police overtime so they'd be part of this, a big part of it was having a social service element so it wasn't just kicking people out with nowhere to go.Some of it was also setting up rules. This also helped Bratton in the subway, because this happened at the same time. The court ruled that you can enforce certain rules in the semi-public spaces. It was not clear until this moment whether it was constitutional or not. To be specific, you have a constitutional right to beg on the street, but you do not have a constitutional right to beg on the subway. That came down to a court decision. Had that not happened, I don't know if in the long run the crime drop would have happened.That court decision comes down to the specific point that it's not a free-speech right on the subway to panhandle, because people can't leave, because you've got them trapped in that space.You can't cross the street to get away from it. But it also recognized that it wasn't pure begging, that there was a gray area between aggressive begging and extortion and robbery.You note that in the early 1990s, one-third of subway commuters said they consciously avoided certain stations because of safety, and two thirds felt coerced to give money by aggressive panhandling.The folks in your book talk a lot about the 80/20 rule applying all over the place. That something like 20% of the people you catch are committing 80% of the crimes.There's a similar dynamic that you talk about on the subways, both in the book and in your commentary over the past couple years about disorder in New York. You say approximately 2,000 people with serious mental illness are at risk for street homelessness, and these people cycle through the cities, streets, subways, jails, and hospitals.What lessons from the ‘90s can be applied today for both helping those people and stopping them being a threat to others?Before the ‘80s and Reagan budget cuts there had been a psychiatric system that could help people. That largely got defunded. [Deinstitutionalization began in New York State earlier, in the 1960s.] We did not solve the problem of mental health or homelessness in the ‘90s, but we solved the problem of behavior. George Kelling [of broken windows theory] emphasized this repeatedly, and people would ignore it. We are not criminalizing homelessness or poverty. We're focusing on behavior that we are trying to change. People who willfully ignore that distinction almost assume that poor people are naturally disorderly or criminal, or that all homeless people are twitching and threatening other people. Even people with mental illness can behave in a public space.Times have changed a bit. I think there are different drugs now that make things arguably a bit worse. I am not a mental health expert, but we do need more involuntary commitment, not just for our sake, but for theirs, people who need help. I pass people daily, often the same person, basically decomposing on a subway stop in the cold. They are offered help by social services, and they say no. They should not be allowed to make that choice because they're literally dying on the street in front of us. Basic humanity demands that we be a little more aggressive in forcing people who are not making rational decisions, because now you have to be an imminent threat to yourself or others. That standard does need to change. But there also need to be mental health beds available for people in this condition.I don't know what the solution is to homelessness or mental health. But I do know the solution to public disorder on the subway and that's, regardless of your mental state or housing status, enforcing legal, constitutional rules, policing behavior. It does not involve locking everybody up. It involves drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. It's amazing how much people will comply with those rules.That presents the idea that someone's in charge, it's not a free-for-all. You get that virtuous loop, which New York had achieved in 2014–2016, when crime was at an all-time low in the city. Then the politicians decided public order wasn't worth preserving anymore. These are political choices.I had a similar version of this conversation with a friend who was shocked that there were zero murders on the subway in 2017 and that that number was stable: you had one or two a year for several years in the mid-2010s.It was five or fewer a year from 1997 to 2019, and often one or two. Then you have zero in 2017. There were [ten in 2022]. It coincides perfectly with an order from [Mayor] de Blasio's office and the homeless czar [Director of Homeless Services Steven] Banks [which] told police to stop enforcing subway rules against loitering. The subways became — once again — a de facto homeless shelter. Getting rule-violating homeless people out of the subway in the late ‘80s was such a difficult and major accomplishment at the time, and to be fair it's not as bad as it was.The alternative was that homeless outreach was supposed to offer people services. When they decline, which 95% of people do, you're to leave them be. I would argue again, I don't think that's a more humane stance to take. But it's not just about them, it's about subway riders.There's one story that I think was relevant for you to tell. You were attacked this fall on a subway platform by a guy threatening to kill you. It turns out he's had a number of run-ins with the criminal justice system. Can you tell us where that guy is now?I believe he's in prison now. The only reason I know who it is is because I said, one day I'm going to see his picture in the New York Post because he's going to hurt somebody. Am I 100 percent certain it's Michael Blount who attacked me? No, but I'm willing to call him out by name because I believe it is. He was out of prison for raping a child, and he slashed his ex-girlfriend and pushed her on the subway tracks. And then was on the lam for a while. I look at him and the shape of his face, his height, age, build, complexion, and I go, that's got to be him.I wasn't hurt, but he gave me a sucker punch trying to knock me out and then chased me a bit threatening to kill me, and I believe he wanted to. It's the only time I ever was confronted by a person who I really believe wanted to kill me, and this includes policing in the Eastern District in Baltimore. It was an attempted misdemeanor assault in the long run. But I knew it wasn't about me. It was him. I assume he's going to stay in prison longer for what he did to his ex-girlfriend. But I never thought it would happen to me. I was lucky the punch didn't connect.Peter Moskos's new book is Back from the Brink, Inside the NYPD and New York City's Extraordinary 1990s Crime Drop.My reading listEssays:Johnny Hirschauer's reporting, including “A Failed 'Solution' to 'America's Mental Health Crisis',“ “Return to the Roots,” and “The Last Institutions.” “Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety,” by George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson. ​“It's Time to Talk About America's Disorder Problem,” Charles Lehman.Books:Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America, Jill Leovy.​Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York, and the Genius of American Life, Fred Siegel.​ Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore's Eastern District, Peter Moskos.​Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic, Sam Quinones.​Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.statecraft.pub

“It's quiet time at the Fulton Fish Market — though the forklifts still move fast and beep loudly. A fish hook is an extension of oneself, used to sling tuna, black […]

Mike has dedicated his entire life to the seafood business, starting at a young age by driving to New York City every week to procure the freshest fish from the bustling Fulton Fish Market and bring it back to Buffalo. This commitment ensured that Bailey Seafood had the widest selection of seafood in Buffalo. Twenty years ago, Mike purchased the market from his parents and transformed it into a thriving take-out only seafood spot. He focuses on cooked-to-order dishes, specialty menu items, seafood boils, and thetraditional fish fry. Under his leadership, Bailey Seafood has become Buffalo's # seafood spot for decades.

Please see full transcript of the episode hereEpisode Summary & Sponsors:We are kicking Season 3 off with a venerable titan in the culinary industry, a New York Times 4 star and 3 star Michelin chef, Hamptons resident Eric Ripert whose restaurant Le Bernardin was just named number one worldwide.I got the amazing opportunity for a one on one exclusive interview to talk to Eric while he was traveling on tour for his new book seafood simple, the do's and don'ts of buying and cooking fresh fish, the important role meditation and charitable giving play in his life, living in the Hamptons, his favorite farm stand finds and restaurants out east and the essentials every kitchen must have.Thanks to our sponsors:The William Johnston FoundationUS BankWineaccess.com (Instagram: @wineaccess)Fultonfishmarket.com (Instagram: @fultonfishmarket)Today's episode is brought to you by Fulton Fish Market, the most trusted name in seafood. FultonFishMarket.com is the e-commerce shop for  New York City's iconic Fulton Fish Market—the largest in the western hemisphere. As you'll hear in this episode, Fulton Fish Market has been trusted by top chefs for over 200 years.From salmon to caviar, FultonFishMarket.com is your go-to destination for world-class seafood delivery. Visit www.Fultonfishmarket.com to get 20% off your first order - Use code HAMPTONSThis episode is also brought to you by Wine Access, the official partner and wine provider of The Michelin Guide. Wineaccess.com is the best online shop for expertly curated wines and exclusive subscriptions such as The Michelin Guide Wine Club—where each shipment includes a selection of the finest wines curated by summelyays  from Michelin-starred restaurants.Make Wineaccess.com your direct line to wines typically reserved for winery mailing lists and Michelin-starred restaurants—delivered direct to your door. Visit wineaccess.com/cookalong to get 20% off your first order. Full Transcript of Episode:Host (00:09):Welcome back to Made in the Hamptons for the season three premiere. I'm your host, Jill Lawrence, and it's so nice to finally be back here with you. We have some amazing guests this season and are kicking things off with a venerable titan in the culinary industry, a New York Times four-star and three-star Michelin Chef Hampton's resident Eric Ripert, whose restaurant Le Bernardin was just named number one worldwide.  I got the amazing opportunity for a one-on-one exclusive interview to talk to Eric while he was traveling on tour for his new book, seafood Simple. We talked about the do's and don'ts of buying and cooking fresh fish, the important role meditation and charitable giving plays in his life, living in the Hamptons, his favorite farm stand, finds and restaurants out east, and the essentials every kitchen must have. But before we get to the interview, I want to share two amazing offers from our sponsors just in time for the holidays.(01:08)Today's episode is brought to you by Fulton Fish Market, the most trusted name in seafood fulton fish market.com is the e-Commerce Shop for New York City's iconic Fulton Fish Market, the largest in the Western hemisphere as you'll hear in this episode. Fulton Fish Market has been trusted by top chefs for over 200 years from salmon to caviar, fulton fish market.com is your go-to destination for world-class seafood delivery. Visit www.fultonfishmarket.com to get 20% off your first order and use Code: Hamptons. This episode is also brought to you by Wine Access, the official partner and wine provider of the Michelin Guide Wine access.com is the best online shop for expertly curated wines and exclusive subscriptions such as the Michelin Guide Wine Club where each shipment includes a selection of the finest wines curated by sommelier from Michelin starred restaurants. Make wine access.com. Your direct line to wines typically reserved for the winery, mailing lists and Michelin starred restaurants delivered directly to your door. Visit wine access.com/cook along to get 20% off your first order. That's wine access.com/cookalongNow onto my delightful conversation with restaurateur Chef Eric Ripert.Host (02:47):Thank you so much for joining me.Ripert:It's my pleasure really.Host (02:51):I wanted to talk about Seafood Simple and just tell me a little bit about your inspiration for the book and the reason fish became integral part of your work as a chef.Ripert (03:01):So from a very young age in all the kitchen where I work, I was always assigned to the fish station and therefore I started to develop a certain expertise about it and knowledge. And when I started in 1991, there I was already very familiar with all preparations of seafood, seafood, restaurant. It really was meant to be. Also, the reason I created this book after so many years is because I want to help a lot of the people who are intimidated by cooking fish or seafood. It's not very difficult. You just need to have a good guidance and then if you follow what we are giving you as advice in a book, it'll be easy to successfully and make family of friends happy.Host (03:56):I prepared for this interview by making the halibut casserole from your book and was delightfully surprised with how easy it was to make and it used such simple ingredients. Why are most people intimidated to cook fish, do you think?Ripert  (04:12):I believe that everybody has a bad experience and I suspect that people who have the bad experience add fish that was not necessarily the fresher, and if you don't have fresh fish to begin with, then very difficult to have a good dish at the end, even if you're extremely good at cooking. We give a book a lot of tips to when you are going shopping to recognize when the fish is very fresh and really at the end of the day, one thing is very important is never smell like fish. Never. When it's fishy or when it's a bad odor, it means that it's already old and no matter what you're going to do, you're not going to succeed at your house going to, your guests will be not enjoying because it's too fishy. You may even have some challenges because when the fish is not very fresh, it's not firm and sometimes when you cook it, it breaks in a pan. That's why I believe people intimidated by.Host (05:24): And so what's the best tip for buying fish?Ripert (05:28):Well, depending where you are in Hampton, in New York, on the east coast and on both coast, that's actually, we have a lot of fishermen that bring seafood to the stores and supermarket that is of very high quality. And I think creating a relationship with the fishmonger or trusting the fishmonger, and again, when you go to the store, if you buy whole fish, the eyes of the should be very bright, should be bright as well. If you look at the should be very red, the flesh very quickly the sign of fresh. And again, it should never smell bad in that store or the product should never smell bad. Now if you buy the fish in, which is very often the case, the flesh of the fish should be kind of translucent, not kind like opaque, beige, if it has some yellow or gray colors, if the blood vessels are very dark, do not buy that fish.Host (06:32): Oh, interesting.Ripert (06:33):I'm Yeah. The figure of fish or even scallops should have a nice flesh and should also have a nice shape they shouldn't be like. So yes, that's very important. And again, in the book, not only we give you from buying, but we teach you up the season and we take you by the end from the very beginning until the very end and you again trust us in it's guaranteed success.Host (07:05): And I can vouch for that because the halibut that I made was so wonderful and tasty. There was none left over. But if there was, what's the best way to store fish after cooking it?Ripert (07:18): When you cook fish, it's very difficult to make the fish as good again when the fish is not cooked, of course it's easy to store and you should never keep it too long in your fridge. It should stay less than 24 hours. It should be a very cold part of the fridge and if you can have some ice or ice pack, but when the fish is cooked finishes,Host (07:45): Which is easy to do because your recipes are so delicious.Ripert (07:48): Thank you.Host (07:49): I wanted to ask you about farm raise versus wild caught fish. How important should this be to the consumer and more importantly, the taste of it?Ripert (08:00): Today we can start to find some good farm fish from farms that are good and that are not necessarily polluting the land or the water around them. The farm raised fish never test as good as wild. I always recommend to buy wild, but of course sustainability is very important.Host (08:23): I wanted to talk just steering away from fish for a couple minutes meditation with you because you've spoken a lot about the importance of this practice. At what point did it start for you and how has it changed your perspective on life, either professionally or personally or maybe both?Ripert (08:42): It's an exercise, but it's not necessarily religion, meditation, exercise that be in because your mind has always the desire to or think about the future and your mind very rarely in the present. And being in a lot of advantage of a lot of focus on what you supposed to do right now instead of being distracted. And if you think about it for one minute or two or you do a test on yourself and you say, okay, for one minute I'm going to try to stop thinking about the future and each time I think about the future I'm going to come. You realize that in one minute your mind goes in a lot of different place. The meditation is about again, being in control of your mind and not the control. So that's exercise daily, very helpful to again, be in the presence in your life and at work. Now I apply meditation also because I practice Buddhism. For me, guided meditation that obviously religious, but again, you can practice meditation without a belief. It can be a secular exercise that is good for yourself and your mind.Host (10:18): Yeah, I started guided meditation about five years ago and it was a skill I felt I had to really learn to allow my mind to just stop, if you will. And it took some time to get there, but once I did…Ripert (10:33): Yes, it takes a long time, of course, like everything else, right? If you go to the store and you want to have a body that is muscular and in good shape, it's going to take you many and years of practice and going to the gym and exercise, and it's exactly the same with meditation for the, it takes a lot of practice and the beginning, nothing is easy. The beginning it's difficult, but repeating the same exercise days after day, you definitely create certainly a certain pleasure. I'm great mornings when I meditate and if I cannot meditate, it's something that I'm missing.Host (11:20): Yes, the days are off a little bit when you can't. I wanted to ask you a little bit about the Hamptons. What drew you to the Hamptons?Ripert (11:27): The Hamptons are beautiful, as we all know. It's a very special place where you have the water, you have the forest, have the, and the late nineties, after coming to the and staying with, I had have a house and I'm enjoying it all year long in the summer, of course spending more time than in the winter. But every season in Hampton is magical. One of the best places in the world where everything is beautiful.Host (12:08): What are some of your favorite local ingredients to cook with out there? Ripert (12:11): It's all seasonal, of course, but I go to the farm stand and I look what they have and what it's coming from their farm, and it can be delicious salad, even buy flowers, they have incredible tomatoes, all of that inspire me, but I have to go to the farm and check and for myself and then go refine and flavor. Host (12:48): That's my favorite season is in June when the asparagus comes.Ripert (12:52): Yeah.Host (12:53): Do you have a favorite place to dine out in the Hamptons when you're not cooking at home?Speaker 3 (12:57): Oh my God, I have so many. So many I like and I like The Beacon in Sag Harbor because of the sunset, sunset at night, Host (13:09): And they do good fish there.Ripert (13:11): They have very good fish there. And bell and anchor is open. All is very close to my house. It's not even five minutes away. Host (13:20): You've done quite a bit of work with City Harvest. Tell us a little bit about their mission with food and what participation with the organization has meant to you.Speaker 3 (13:32): Is the oldest and biggest food rescue organization in the world. Food rescue means it's food that will go to waste that time fresh and instead of being wasted, rescued, and then that either way and shelter throughout the New York boroughs the food are very important because a lot of people cannot cook for some reason for their family. And they go there and they have some meals that are being prepared with during the day. So it's two tractor trailers to go far away to pick up some food. And this year, we'll deliver almost 90 million pounds of foodHost (14:52): Right. And as a restaurateur, I'm sure you realize how much food goes to waste, so that might have more meaning to you as to why city harvest is important.Ripert (15:03): Yes, of course. We see that, and it's an interesting statistic in America, 40% of the food is being wasted. When you look at all the food being produced, percent goes to waste. It's a statistic for the country. Restaurants are also leftover food that through the restaurant as well, and they go through the supermarket, but also we don't buy actually donations. We also source from a lot of the farmers and big companies. Companies and many big companies. Food.Host (15:47): That's amazing. I didn't realize so many corporations were involved too.Ripert (15:51): Yeah, a lot of big corporations are involved by excess food. Sometimes if it's in a can shelf, sometimes the can has a little problem with the or, it's not perfect and therefore they cannot sell it. And it goes to markets of bananas sometimes that are too ripe but they're perfectly fine. They're the ones that you want to eat right now. But for the market is a problem because they like to have green bananas, but longer on a shelf. Again, those vegetables and products and serve immediate, that need to have food on the table. I bring a lot of attention to, I help as much as I can, raise money, raise attention. It's a big job that I enjoy very much.Host (16:43): So most people know you as a restaurateur, a TV personality, and an author. How would you define yourself?Ripert (16:52): I define myself as someone like everybody has. I'm trying to do the right thing. I think  I'm a good citizen trying to make a difference in my community. I'm trying to be a good family person, a good family member. I'm trying to be a good chef, a good boss in my company. I try to inspire people and I try to create happiness around myself, be happy myself to all of us, right? We all try to be happy. What I make sure is that by creating happiness for myself, I create it for all this.Host (17:34): Oh, that's wonderful. And given all your professional accomplishments throughout a long career, if you could name this chapter of your life, what would it be? Ripert (17:45): Well, if myself, if I look at myself in the mirror, I have a lot of white hair, actually. My head is covered with white hair. I think it's time at my age to be a mentor. So therefore, I'm a mentor of the team that work with me and I bring all the wisdom that I have accumulated in life at work, but also with my family and my son. And I try to share again, all the benefits that I accumulated and to success during all those years, until today.Host (18:25): When you get to a certain point in life professionally and personally, that you've gone through the victories and the challenges that maybe could help someone along the way. Ripert (18:35): Yes, Actually even challenges during this time is when you learn lessons that are the most helpful and meaningful when everything is easy and when you have a lot of success and you learn less. But of course we don't want to have challenges. We all want to have success, but life is not like that. As you know, at the end we learn from both.Host (18:57): What advice would you give to a young person who wants to become a chef or work as a restaurateur?Ripert (19:05): I would give the advice of trying to go to a culinary school if you have the budget, because of course it's, and it's a commitment. What I like about going to culinary school is that you have a lot of information in a timely manner. Of course, you can go work in a restaurant, but it's going to take a long time for you to have all the information school, but before you make the commitment of going the culinary school, I think it's to spend couple of days here and there in a restaurant, if you're interested, the kitchen or the dining room to spend time and see how it works and what is the dynamic in a kitchen, what is the dynamic in the dining room? And make sure that before you make a decision of investing in a school or going straight up to a restaurant, that you have the passion and that that'll make the right choice and not change after six months or a year and go in another food.Host (20:07): And what are the five most important cooking tools every kitchen should have!Ripert (20:11):  Well, you must have a good stove and oven because you don't have the right equipment, difficult to bake or to cook when we don't have the energy that needed. Pot pans of quality are very important because if not with the heat, they're going to change the shape and they will not be flat any longer. And then it's difficult to quality essential. I don't think you can do good cooking, cutting board, very good cutting board, extremely clean because you cutting a lot from the cutting board and they have to be in condition. A good fridge is important because you can preserve your food there and it's one of those pieces of equipment that is essential in the kitchen. So I think we look at the fridge, the stove, the knives , the cutting board and the pots. With all that, then you can be assure that you have the complete kitchen.Host (21:25): Well, I just wanted to thank you so much for your time. I know that you're really busy on your book tour and running the restaurant and everything else that you do. So thank you so much for joining us and for answering all these questions!

From its opening in 1822, the Fulton Market was an essential part of life in old New York, selling vegetables grown on Long Island, fruit harvested in Cuba, lobsters taken from the waters of Maine, chickens raised in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and oysters–and fish–hauled forth from New York harbor itself. Over the decades Fulton Market became known as Fulton Fish Market, dominated by wholesale dealers in fish that came not only from New York Harbor, but from all over the world. What Chicago became for beef, New York became for fish. “A business that specializes in fish,” writes my guest Jonathan Rees, “has to regularize an inevitably uneven supply through a mixture of knowledge and technology.” Rees's book The Fulton Fish Market: A History is therefore not simply the story of the creation, life, and decline of a New York place, but a description of that place where community, politics, economy, nature, and culture all came together on the New York waterfront. Jonathan Rees is Professor of History at Colorado State University-Pueblo. This is his third appearance on the podcast; he was last on in episode 222 to describe the strange career of Harvey Wiley.   For Further Information Previous conversations with Jonathan were about refrigeration, and the purity and nutritional value of mass-produced food. It doesn't take too much of a guess to figure out why he's now writing about fish markets. Jonathan Rees and I talked briefly about Joseph Mitchell, a legendary New Yorker columnist not least because he eventually had a case of writer's block so massive that it transcended the metaphor "block". Here is Mitchell's book Up in the Old Hotel, in which the Fulton Fish Market is essentially a supporting character, if not primary character, and more on those thirty years without writing.    

Barbara Mensch is a Brooklyn-born photographer who for years has wandered around her home city taking pictures. Her latest collection explores the archives of her work around Lower Manhattan, and how the area changed from the 80s, 90s, and into a post 9/11 world. A Falling-Off Place: The Transformation of Lower Manhattan features images of scenes like the Fulton Fish Market near the Brooklyn Bridge, construction of glamorous housing that would replace blue collar homes in the neighborhood, and the destruction that laid in the aftermath of 9/11. Mensch is with us in studio to discuss the book and her practice.

This episode is brought to you by FultonFishMarket.Com, the most trusted name in seafood.  Visit the official website, www.fultonfishmarket.com and explore their incredible selection of seafood and let your clients experience quality that has captivated palates for generations. Use code PRIVATECHEF at checkout to get 15% off your first order.We have another TREAT for you that could get you $100 towards your first order from FultonFishMarket.comSwing by FultonFishMarket.com's Instagram page @FultonFishMarket, where they've just shared an awesome post about our latest episode. Give them a follow, like the post, and drop a comment sharing what you enjoyed most about the episode – whether it's a hilarious comment, a surprising insight, or just a moment that made your day.You'll be entered for a chance to win a $100 gift card, perfect for trying out world-class from FultonFishMarket.com. Giveaway ends 9/10/23!In this special episode of the Private Chef Podcast, we had the privilege to have an exclusive interview with Jody Meade, the President and Founder of FultonFishMarket.com.  Jody generously shares the ups and downs of his journey, from his early days as an oyster salesman to his pivotal role in revolutionizing the way we access fresh seafood. His  entrepreneurial spirit led him to the historic Fulton Fish Market, where he identified the potential to bridge the gap between tradition and technology in the seafood industry.  It wasn't an easy path, he faced doubters, resistance from vendors, and the logistical complexities of seafood delivery. However, his unwavering determination and countless pitches eventually caught the attention of an investor who believed in his vision. By fully embracing e-commerce, FultonFishMarket.com can  deliver the freshest seafood right to your door and has evolved into a thriving multi-million-dollar success story, earning the trust of top chefs worldwide. Jody's story is a testament to the power of persistence and proves that with vision and perseverance, even the most ambitious dreams can become a reality. Listen to this brand new episode of The Private Chef Podcast on:Apple - http://tinyurl.com/22m7bma3Spotify  - http://tinyurl.com/58kx5jkaWatch the full interview on YouTube Youtube - https://youtu.be/5BQ18WaJuEU Connect with Jody Meade LinkedIn  - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jody-meade-555731148/Website - https://fultonfishmarket.com/ Timestamps[00:01:23] Selling oysters and success[00:06:31] The unique positioning of the Fulton Fish Market[00:08:26] The Amazon of FishQuotes "I would say half of my best friends are chefs"."I didn't start the business to make money because all those years passed where money didn't exist in my mind, I just wanted to do it"."The beauty of the Fulton Fish Market and why we're here today is because we sell it all, and 25% of this country's seafood, fresh and frozen, comes through this market every day"."We broke the shipping model. We trucked with our own trucks to the New York airports"."The thing I love about private chefs is how distinct they are and they know exactly what they want when they call". "If you want fresh, we have fresh. If you want frozen, we'll freeze. We'll freeze tuna, from every continent in the world. You want caviar, we have every caviar you could think of, plus our own private label. It's a selection of the most amazing things that you're about to see".

Magnolia lovers, the delightful culinary expedition that is Recipe Lost and Found, is now available on Max! Catch this intriguing series which digs into the roots of lost family recipes and brings them back to life, creating an entertaining watch for both food and culture enthusiasts alike. Join classically trained chef and culinary anthropologist, Casey Corn, as she navigates the intricate maze of memories, family traditions, and sensory clues to uncover the secrets behind treasured dishes. From unraveling the robust flavor mystery of a meatless, depression-era Lasagna, to pinpointing the elusive sweet ingredient in a personalized Filipino chicken adobo, Recipe Lost and Found is a delightful journey that unearths the hidden culinary gems embedded in family histories In each episode, Casey gathers clues from family members and explores possible ingredients and techniques alongside renowned figures from the culinary world. Guests include esteemed historian Dr. Jessica Harris and Chef Rawlston Williams, who demystify the browning styles of a complex stew chicken. MOFAD Founder Dave Arnold, who deciphers the science of dairy-free meatball binding. Plus Brianna Abrams of Winston Pies, who imparts her custard pie mastery to recreate the perfect texture of a treasured Thanksgiving recipe lost in the Woolsey fires. Other culinary collaborators lending their expertise include Chef Paola De Re of Pasta Sisters, Latin cuisine expert Bill Esparza, Armenian cookbook author Ara Zada, and Chef Justin Foronda of Hifi Kitchen. Produced by GoodLike Group, Recipe Lost & Found is more than just a cooking show; it's a celebration of culture, history, and the enduring power of family traditions in recipes. Experience the love, warmth, and joy of these rediscovered recipes on Max, Discovery Plus, the Magnolia app, or Amazon Prime, today. Follow: https://www.instagram.com/case... Bio: Casey Corn was born and raised in Santa Monica, CA. Upon graduating from Santa Monica High School in 2006, Casey attended Connecticut College where she found that her love of food could be explored academically. She graduated in 2010 after focusing her studies on food anthropology and writing her thesis on olive oil. Since then, her love of traveling and food has taken her all over the world to live, learn and eat, from her hometown to New York, London, St. Tropez, Southeast Asia, India and more. Casey also attended Le Cordon Bleu, London, and received her diploma in Cuisine. In 2017, Casey started her own culinary company, The Cornivore, and began working with Tastemade as a Tastemaker, starring in recipe videos and covering unique food experiences around the world for their social channels. She's since worked with companies like The Truffleist, Fulton Fish Market, Subway, Tabasco and more. The end of 2021 brought another move, this time to Atlanta, Georgia. Though Casey continues to work in development and consulting, you can also find her hosting Magnolia Network's Recipe Lost & Found, streaming now on discovery+. ► Luxury Women Handbag Discounts: https://www.theofficialathena.... ► Become an Equus Coach®: https://equuscoach.com/?rfsn=7... ► For $5 in ride credit, download the Lyft app using my referral link: https://www.lyft.com/ici/ASH58... ► Review Us: https://itunes.apple.com/us/po... ► Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/c/AshSa... ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/1lov... ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashsa... ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/1loveAsh ► Blog: http://www.ashsaidit.com/blog #atlanta #ashsaidit #theashsaiditshow #ashblogsit #ashsaidit®

In the 19th century, the Fulton Fish Market in downtown Manhattan was to seafood what the Chicago stock yards were to the meat industry, the primary place where Americans got fish for their dinner tables.Over the decades it went from a retail market to a wholesale business, distributing fish across the country – although as you'll hear, that was a bit tricky in the days before modern refrigeration.Today its former home is known by a more familiar name -- the South Street Seaport, a historical district that has undergone some incredible changes in just the past half century. The fish market, once an awkward staple of this growing tourist destination, moved to the Bronx in 2005. But you can still find ghosts of the old market along these historic stone streets.And you can still find delicious seafood at the Seaport. And the Tin Building has taken dining in the neighborhood to the next level, literally in the architectural remains of a former fish market building.On this show, we'll be joined by professor Jonathan H. Rees, author of the new book The Fulton Fish Market: A History. By the end of our conversation today, we're confident that you'll never look at the fish section of your local grocer in the same way.MORE SHOWS SIMILAR TO THIS ONE:-- South Street Seaport-- Has Jack the Ripper Come to Town?-- The High Line-- Essex Street Market  Visit our website for more stories and images from New York City History.

Vincent Gigante was born on March 29, 1928 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. He was previously married to Olympia Grippa. He died on December 19, 2005 in Springfield, Missouri, USA. The current "family" was founded by Charles "Lucky" Luciano and was known as the Luciano crime family from 1931 to 1957, when it was renamed after boss Vito Genovese. Originally in control of the waterfront on the West Side of Manhattan as well as the docks and the Fulton Fish Market on the East River waterfront, the family was run for years by "The Oddfather", Vincent "The Chin" Gigante, who feigned insanity by shuffling unshaven through New York's Greenwich Village wearing a tattered bath robe and muttering to himself incoherently to avoid prosecution. The Genovese family is the oldest and the largest of the "Five Families". Finding new ways to make money in the 21st century, the family took advantage of lax due diligence by banks during the housing bubble with a wave of mortgage frauds. Prosecutors say loan shark victims obtained home equity loans to pay off debts to their mob bankers. The family found ways to use new technology to improve on illegal gambling, with customers placing bets through offshore sites via the Internet. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgPw... Tom chats with Rita about growing up as Vincent "the Chin" Gigante's daughter. Learn more about Rita here: https://www.ritagigante.net/ Get a copy of Rita's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Godfathers-Dau... Day 1 of the 30 for 30 series. #RitaGigante #armchairmba #mobstersinc #mafia #genovese #truecrime #spirituality

In this episode, Cherise is joined by Christian Giordano, President & Co-owner at Mancini Duffy and Jessica Sheridan, AIA, Principal at Mancini Duffy. Christian and Jessica share insights into their experience as architect of record for The Tin Building, 96 South Street in New York City, New York, designed by SHoP Architects. Set under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, the two-story building offers an unexpected array of culinary experiences designed to delight and engage the senses –including multiple restaurants with open kitchens, innovative retail concepts, and an impeccably stocked central market.Originally built in 1907 as the center of the Fulton Fish Market, the Tin Building is a landmarked structure within a landmarked neighborhood. Mancini, as architect of record, facilitated the move of the building 33 feet to the east—disassembling the historic structure and reassembling it at its new location—while also elevating it 6 feet so it would be above the 100-year flood plain. To see project photos and details discussed, visit arcat.com/podcast This project provided unique challenges and opportunities - raising and relocating a 100+ year old historic building, the challenge of equally highlighting both historic and new architectural elements, coordinating extensive kitchen mechanical systems to provide a thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing design of rooftop equipment and penetrations, and much more.If you enjoy this show, you can find similar content at Gābl Media.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://thecitylife.org/2022/11/03/south-street-seaport-museum-announces-free-event-fulton-fish-market-a-history-book-launch-november-15-2022/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/citylifeorg/support

Dr. Jonathan Rees is a Professor of History at Colorado State University – Pueblo, where he has received the University Award for Faculty Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activity and been recognized as an Outstanding Faculty Member in the College of Humanities and Social Science. He is the author of numerous books, including Representation and Rebellion: The Rockefeller Plan at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, 1914-1942, Refrigeration Nation: A History of Ice, Appliances, and Enterprise, Education Is Not An App, which he co-authored with Jonathan Poritz, and his latest book The Fulton Fish Market: A History, which is the subject of our conversation today. Dr. Rees also recently finished serving two terms on the National Council of the American Association of University Professors.

“Tales of the Fulton Fish Market” -  Matt explains how the Business Integrity Commission of New York wields its power over the little guy and how Carmine Romano, RICO, John Ciccarone, Mario Biaggi, Joe “Socks” Lanza and Meade Esposito all play a part in this fascinating episode. 

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Stratis Morfogen, Book Author and Co-Founder of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, to discuss Dons, dumplings, and disruption.Frischling asks Morfogen about his background in the industry. Morfogen shares that although he has owned Chinese restaurants for the last 17 years he actually grew up in a typical Greek family. He talks about his family of restauranteurs running 14 different restaurants when he was a child, including the Chelsea Chop House which his father owned. The guys talk about Morfogen's concept for Brooklyn Chop House and his commitment to creating a menu that he says, “married Beijing Chinese food to an American steakhouse and I made both cultures true to each other.” He talks about innovating the restaurant's appetizer selection by reinventing and reimagining two subcategories: dumplings and sandwiches. He says, “Everything that was once a sandwich I converted it into a dumpling.” He adds, “When we opened in 2018, we doubled our projections, the restaurant just went gangbusters and everyone was ordering a bunch of dumplings.”The guys talk about Morfogen's new book and his unique pastime as a child. Morfogen shares that as early as age 6, he was hanging out with mobsters at the Fulton Fish Market. He talks about even declining trips to Disney with his siblings so that he could spend time with his dad a the infamous fish market which happened to be run by Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone of the Genovese crime family, or “uncle” as a young Morfogen would come to know him by. Morfogen talks about seeing the hustle and bustle of the scene and learning a lot there that he says, “they're just not gonna teach you in school.” He adds, “My father didn't hide it from me, you know, and I believe that was one of the greatest things he did for me because he really grew me up quickly and basically showed me the real world at a very early age.” Morfogen's experience includes running nightclubs, and 40 restaurants on his own, and becoming a published author. When asked about his new book, he says, “I got to tell you for the last twenty years people would say, “you got to write a book, you got to write a book” and this is what I did with Simon and Schuster, I wrote ‘Be a Disruptor.'”Morfogen talks about the recent MURTEC conference where he was a guest speaker. He tells the guys that one of the members of the audience addressed him with profanity and accused him of stealing jobs. Instead of shying away from the subject, Morfogen decided to use the platform to provide education and insights. He shares that the person was referring to automation. Morfogen explains that he didn't create automat for safety, it was created for economics and efficiencies because the number one reason a majority of restaurants go out of business is due to excessive payroll costs. He says, “If 7 out of 10 restaurants are failing because of 30 to 40% payroll and we have a method and it's proven now, it's not just hype, that you could bring this down to 14 to 18%, you got a chance of not just surviving but thriving.”To hear more from Morfogen about his new book, his thoughts on the rise of technology, and news on franchising the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Stratis Morfogen, Book Author and Co-Founder of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, to discuss Dons, dumplings, and disruption.Frischling asks Morfogen about his background in the industry. Morfogen shares that although he has owned Chinese restaurants for the last 17 years he actually grew up in a typical Greek family. He talks about his family of restauranteurs running 14 different restaurants when he was a child, including the Chelsea Chop House which his father owned. The guys talk about Morfogen's concept for Brooklyn Chop House and his commitment to creating a menu that he says, “married Beijing Chinese food to an American steakhouse and I made both cultures true to each other.” He talks about innovating the restaurant's appetizer selection by reinventing and reimagining two subcategories: dumplings and sandwiches. He says, “Everything that was once a sandwich I converted it into a dumpling.” He adds, “When we opened in 2018, we doubled our projections, the restaurant just went gangbusters and everyone was ordering a bunch of dumplings.”The guys talk about Morfogen's new book and his unique pastime as a child. Morfogen shares that as early as age 6, he was hanging out with mobsters at the Fulton Fish Market. He talks about even declining trips to Disney with his siblings so that he could spend time with his dad a the infamous fish market which happened to be run by Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone of the Genovese crime family, or “uncle” as a young Morfogen would come to know him by. Morfogen talks about seeing the hustle and bustle of the scene and learning a lot there that he says, “they're just not gonna teach you in school.” He adds, “My father didn't hide it from me, you know, and I believe that was one of the greatest things he did for me because he really grew me up quickly and basically showed me the real world at a very early age.” Morfogen's experience includes running nightclubs, and 40 restaurants on his own, and becoming a published author. When asked about his new book, he says, “I got to tell you for the last twenty years people would say, “you got to write a book, you got to write a book” and this is what I did with Simon and Schuster, I wrote ‘Be a Disruptor.'”Morfogen talks about the recent MURTEC conference where he was a guest speaker. He tells the guys that one of the members of the audience addressed him with profanity and accused him of stealing jobs. Instead of shying away from the subject, Morfogen decided to use the platform to provide education and insights. He shares that the person was referring to automation. Morfogen explains that he didn't create automat for safety, it was created for economics and efficiencies because the number one reason a majority of restaurants go out of business is due to excessive payroll costs. He says, “If 7 out of 10 restaurants are failing because of 30 to 40% payroll and we have a method and it's proven now, it's not just hype, that you could bring this down to 14 to 18%, you got a chance of not just surviving but thriving.”To hear more from Morfogen about his new book, his thoughts on the rise of technology, and news on franchising the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the SimplyPHP Unscripted Podcast, our Co-Founder, Tony Capozzi interviews Fulton Fish Markets CIO, Lincoln White about his experience bringing their offshore web development back to North America. Follow us on your favorite social network. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/simp... Twitter: https://twitter.com/simplyphpdotcom Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplyphp/?... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simplymtl/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/tonycapozzi Articles: https://www.simplyphp.com/articles/

Podcast: Raider-Cop Podcast Date: Jan 29, 2020 Episode# 124 Subject: The Commission Case Host: Alpha Mike Characters: Five Families of La Cosa Nostra, Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino Genovese, Lucchese. Word of Week: Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” 1 Samuel 7:12 Intro: Alpha Mike welcomes the Nation to episode #124. Additionally Alpha announce the Feb 2020 lineup and upgrades to the RaiderCopNation website. Main Topic: Outline Format: 1980: RICO & Title 3 (recording law) are married in an investigation going after NYC Cosa Nostra. Joseph Bonanno, father of the Bonanno family write his bio, A Man of Honor and the Justice Dept takes interest in Chapter 3,"The Commission". Gov't waits 10 years to use RICO, Why? Gov't creates five task forces to investigate the 5 Families in NYC. Cosa Nostra charging a 2% tax on construction within the confines of NYC. Cosa Nostra control the following industries in NYC, Constructions, Unions, Garment, Garbage, Waterfront Port, Produce, Fulton Fish Market, plus much more. Carmine Persico (Colombo Boss) doing time during commission case investigation. Paul Castellano (Gambino Boss) killed during commission case trial by John Gotti. Anthony Tony Ducks Corallo (Lucchese Boss) charged in case and sentence 100 years. Fat Tony Solano, charged as boss of the Genovese Family sentence 100 years. Ralph Scopo, Colombo solider racket construction & union, commission point man. Bonanno's Boss Phil Rusty Rastelli, not charged was in jail already on other case. Gov't need to tie all families together in the case via RICO & Title 3. FBI bugs under title 3, the Lucchese, Colombo, Gambino and Genovese families. Rudy Giuliani U.S. Attroney on commission case. Rudy Giuliani makes annoucement on case after a leak that tips of mob. Joseph Bonanno refused to testify on commission case, contempt of court. 1985 Big Paul out on 2 mil bond, is killed by John Gotti. Lawyer Samuel Dawson used defense as the Hell's Angles 1979 case, fails. Carmine Persico represents himself in case. Nov 19, 1986, all found guilty in case, sentence from 40 to 100 years. Federal Judge Owen imposed fines of 50k to 250k. List of those charged, found guilty, plus fines. In 1988 U.S. Justice admits Fat Tony Solano was not the boss of the Genovese family in case of Vincent "The Chin" Gigante. Reference: Commission Case Commission Case found guilty (NYTimes)  A Man Of Honor Joesph Bonanno  Song of the week: Harry Connick Jr, "Anything Goes" Up next: It's time to merge federal law enforcement #125 @o9TacticalG www.o9tg.com @TestEvery1521 Test Everything 5 minutes on the Power of God Instagram @raidercoppodcastParler: @RaiderCopNationFacebook  Twitter iTunes  Spotify   Stitcher  Google Play  PodBean  YouTube TuneInJoin the Raider-Cop NATIONPistol Pete the Gunsmith Kilo Sierra’s Firearms Training or Investigation: Sepulveda inc#EmpanadaLadiesOfGeorgia#JailsLASD #CACorrections #MDCR #NYPD #LAPD #LASD #MDPD #MPD #NYSP #NJSP #LVPD #Security #HCSO #PBSO #BSO #OCSO #PCSO #SFPD #DPD #HPD #SAPD #LCSO #FMPD #CCSO #NYC #NYCDOC #NJDOC #PPD #SLPD #CPD #TestEverything @RaiderCopNation #RaiderCopNation #TrainUp #o9TG #WiseGuySeries #TrainUpSeries #RollCallSeries #ThinkOuttaDaBox #SideBarSeries #BeLikeJackYoutube Free Music: Triumph by Yung Logos, Rodeo Show by The Green Orbs, Minor Blues for Booker E’s Jammy Jams, The Awakening Patrick PatrikiosMusic: I'm Back by Eye of the beholder.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.  Free Music Borderless, Drunken Sailor, Serenity, Chase, Don’t Look, Lifting Dreams, Lobo Loco 17 Lucky, City Lights. Audiobinger: 04-Starting Over, New Hope, Sunday Soul, Rock Bottom, Minor Blue for Booker, Moveout.  

Cheryl McKissack Daniel, civil engineer, has more than 25 years of experience in all phases of the design and construction industry including major project work in the commercial, healthcare, education and transportation sectors. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Cheryl comes from a long lineage of architects and builders that began with an enslaved Ashanti ancestor in 1790. Cheryl's grandfather, Moses McKissack, founded the family business in 1905. Her father, William DeBerry McKissack took over in 1968, and her mother Leatrice Buchanan McKissack grew the business after her husband died. Today, Cheryl represents the fifth generation of the McKissack family's century old business, McKissack & McKissack, the oldest minority and woman-owned design and construction firm in the nation. McKissack provides construction management, program management and consulting services for various project types throughout the East Coast and the United States. The firm's primary focus is in the infrastructure, transit, healthcare and education sectors. The McKissack family of services extends into areas of expertise beyond traditional A/E/C disciplines, broadly supporting client needs related to their facilities. Over the years, Cheryl has built upon the success of her firm's fore parents by fostering long lasting relationships and by providing innovative solutions to complex projects. Her success stems from her unique ability to listen, ask the right questions, lead through expertise, and always being prepared. To each project her firm undertakes, Cheryl brings capabilities drawn from her staff of architects, engineers, and construction professionals. Her company currently employs over 150 employees and has contracted more than $50 billion dollars in construction over the past decade. Within McKissack clients find a mastery of talent blended with commitment, resources, and implementation skills, all under the leadership of Cheryl McKissack. As President and CEO, Cheryl serves as Project Executive on all of her firm's high-profile projects. In this capacity she provides executive leadership and ensures that diversity is implemented during each phase of a project or program. Her skills include expertise in estimating, scheduling, design review, document control, construction inspection, and developing and implementing quality assurance/quality control programs. McKissack is involved with some of New York's largest projects including: JFK Terminal One; LGA Central Terminal Building Redevelopment; Coney Island Hospital Redevelopment; Harlem Hospital Center Modernization; the NYC Economic Development Corporation Hunts Point Cooperative Market and Fulton Fish Market; MART125 Cultural Center in Harlem; Pacific Park/ Atlantic Yards Barclays Center; The Women's Building; Pier 42 Redevelopment; and The Studio Museum in Harlem. McKissack also serves as the MTA Independent Engineer overseeing the Capital Construction Program of the nation's largest transportation system. Cheryl serves on numerous, corporate, charitable and community boards. As a board member, Cheryl focuses on strategic planning as part of good governance. She believes strategic planning is a critical part to a board's mission and formulating good strategy ensures long-term value creation, building an ethical culture and managing risk. Cheryl has been honored as a “Hero of Liberty” for her support of humanitarian initiatives and for promoting the responsibilities of a free and diverse America. She earned both a bachelor and master's degree in civil engineering from Howard University and graduate course work Columbia University in Civil engineering.

Listen to two fishmongers from New York who have made their mark at Samuels & Son Seafood selling seafood throughout the country and buying fish from around the world. John Monteleone has experience in the stock market, and found a unique match switching gears to selling large quantities of seafood to retailers and wholesalers everywhere. Joe Sarcona garnered his experience in the heart of the Bronx, at the legendary Fulton Fish Market before joining the purchasing team at Samuels. Here, Joe sources giant Swordfish, Tuna, live Shellfish and more.  Anthony D’Angelo makes a guest appearance and speaks with the gang about all the changes recently made in the Philadelphia fish market scene.

Unexpected projects derail your marketing process or work management. It happens. How do you prepare or respond to such stress? Do you find a way to complete your work and meet deadlines? Marketing teams are always expected to do more with less.  Today’s guest is Dree Ziegler, director of digital marketing at Fulton Fish Market. Every marketer has similar tactics, but they’re all talking to different audiences and pitching different services and products. Dree brings a fresh perspective and describes how she created a process using CoSchedule to stay organized and constantly communicate.  Some of the highlights of the show include: Not a Can of Corn: Fulton Fish Market in New York City follows the same way of doing things since the beginning of time Nothin’ Fishy about Dree’s Marketing Experience: Digital and eCommerce marketing and technology strategy that moved to the merchant side of the business Remote Headquarters: Dree manages a dispersed team of people in a number of places who are in contact with all the people in the market on a daily basis Challenges: Dree understands the importance of visibility across the team, staying organized, and constant communication Gone Fishin’: Fultonfishmarket.com’s goal is to bring that fresh seafood experience to people, wherever they may live It’s not the same: Fresh fish from a grocery store is fish caught months ago, frozen, kept in a warehouse, trucked across the country, thawed, and put on display Fulton Fish Market features about 40 vendors that bring fresh fish that’s sent overnight and delivered to your doorstep Fulton Fish Market’s Documenting Strategy for Marketing Plan:  Set high-level goals for team that’s still growing Update Website to improve consumer experience Put baseline digital marketing tools in place to plan daily tasks Draft and create day-to-day marketing plan and content Fish-on-the-Fly Campaigns: Ordering and buying fish that’s only good for so long; purchasing department buys what’s fresh in the market and expected to sell Project Plan: Visual waterfall of tasks and who’s doing what; monitor team’s tasks, pickup slack, work collaboratively, and deliver what’s promised  Fulton Fish Market’s next frontier is doing the things that people should be doing vs. automation and machine learning (ML) tools Marinating on Future of Digital Marketing: No experience needed, continue to learn, differentiate yourself, and stay hungry Links: Fulton Fish Market Fulton Fish Market (for restaurant owners) Fulton Fish Market (for retail consumers) Slack MailChimp Google Data Studio Magento eCommerce Platform Shopify The Marketing Management + Strategy Statistics You Need to Know in 2019 New CoSchedule Marketing Suite

Joe Knows FishTaking The Intimidation Out Of Cooking SeafoodBy Joe GurreraOwner of Citarella Fine Foods Intro: Welcome to the Cookery by the Book Podcast, with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table, talking to cookbook authors.Joe Gurrera: Hello, my name is Joe Gurrera, and I'm here today to talk about my new cookbook, which I wanted the title to be Taking the Intimidation Out of Cooking Seafood, but I was outvoted by my project manager, my writer, my publisher, my wife, my assistant. They said, "The name's too long," even though that's the premise of the book, so they came up with the name Joe Knows Fish.Suzy Chase: You're the owner of Citarella markets, New York's most respected seafood authority. First off, the burning question, well two burning questions. Why did you write this cookbook, and why are people afraid to cook fish?Joe Gurrera: Being in the business for 40 years, that's all I've heard. That's a lot of what I've heard from my family, my friends, and my customers. How do I do this? How do I do that? How do I do this? How do I do that? That was the purpose, my incentive to write the book. I've been wanting to write this book for about 15, 20 years, but I was too busy building a business. Now I hired different people, and I've been able to take the time to write the book, so that's what I've done. That answers your first question. The second question was why. The reason why, in my opinion, is because it's delicate. Handling a piece of fish requires finesse. I'm going to make you laugh, but even when I used to hire seafood guys, I would look to see how they picked up the piece of fish because you had some guys, they would pick it up like a bricklayer. You can't do that. You could pick up a steak like a bricklayer or you could pick up a chicken like that, but you need soft hands because of the delicateness of it. I know it sounds funny, but it's really true. Because of that, people even years ago when they're cooking, when you cook a steak, you cook your chicken, it's going to take you 20 minutes, whatever you're going to do. When you're cooking a piece of fish, literally it could take you two minutes on each side. In the cookbook, I joke around. I say, "Don't answer your cell phone because if you do, it's going to be more than two minutes and you're done, and you're not going to achieve what you want to achieve.Suzy Chase: For cookbook lovers outside of New York City, give us a little background on Citarella.Joe Gurrera: I bought this little seafood market that was 12 feet wide in 1983, and it was just a seafood market. I was in my 20s. I was always entrepreneurial, I guess, my aggressive nature. I started expanding right away. My store was a middle store of the building. On the 75th Street corner side, to the north were three other stores, a candy store, a dry cleaners, and a shoe repair. They were all older people, so one by one I took the three of them over. Shortly thereafter that, I was able to purchase the building. On my other side was a clothing store, and the clothing store was paying me rent. I'm going to say six months after I purchased the building, I got a knock on the door. "Yeah?" The IRS. I said, "What did I do now?" They said, "It's not you, it's your tenant. We're locking him up. He hasn't paid taxes." They put a lock on the store, and they closed every bank account the guy had, whatever it was. In 30 days, they gave me the store back even though that guy had a lease. They gave me the store back, so now I said, "What am I going to do?" I started talking to people, and I started thinking, and I went into the meat business. I made a separate store called Citarella Meats. That was in 1991. I didn't want to damage my seafood reputation, which I had established. I was afraid. I didn't want to damage that reputation, so I kept it separate, and I started a meat store. Shortly thereafter, I realized what a mistake it was. Then I took the wall down, and that's when Citarella became the full grown Citarella as you know today.Suzy Chase: Describe growing up as an immigrant fisherman's son.Joe Gurrera: When he came to this country, I believe it was 1948, I think he went to Boston, then California, then back to New York. He was working for a mattress company, working for different things. At that time in New York, from where he's from in Sicily, which is a town called Sciacca, S-C-I-A-C-C-A, there was maybe a dozen people from Sciacca that had fish stores in the five boroughs. That's how he got into the seafood business. He opened a one-man seafood shop. I think he went to work for somebody first, and then he opened his own once he learned the business.Suzy Chase: Take us back to the days when the Fulton Fish Market was downtown underneath the Brooklyn Bridge.Joe Gurrera: There was a lot of warmth. There was a lot of character. The conditions were a lot rougher working down there because shortly after I conquered Citarella, I became a partner in a concern in the Fulton Fish Market. Shortly after that, I was working there. I was working two jobs. I'd be getting up at 2:00 in the morning, going to the fish market, working there. When that's done by 10:00, then I could be coming up to Citarella and doing my second job. Working in the fish market, there was a lot of character. There were a lot of characters also. The winters were cold right underneath the Brooklyn Bridge on the river. Even though I loved it and I still miss it, it's a sign of the times. You had to get into health code, a refrigerated building in the cold chain to preserve the seafood, so it was time. That building lasted over 100 years.Suzy Chase: I miss it, too. I miss being over there with the sites and the smells. You could see the fish flying in the air.Joe Gurrera: Listen, it was quite an interesting place, it really was.Suzy Chase: I'm dying to hear your thoughts on sauces.Joe Gurrera: On sauces. First of all, I'm a really simple guy. I eat simple. I like grilled. I'm not a saucy guy. Don't get me wrong, I've gone to those tasting meals, and Jean-Georges is my friend. They're all my friends. I know them all. For me, I just want a plain, simple grilled piece of fish. If you want, I'll put some olive oil on it. That's what I like. Again, that's me.Suzy Chase: Speaking of olive oil, I was surprised to read that you don't cook fish with butter.Joe Gurrera: I never cook fish with butter.Suzy Chase: How come?Joe Gurrera: For me, it's more of a personal preference. I do use butter for other things, but the dairy will overpower the seafood flavor. Even to make a seafood stock out of shrimp shells or whatever it is, it will be camouflaged. I love oysters. I was just in Europe, and I had oysters in Spain, I had oysters in London, and I had sea urchins in Sicily. When I eat them, I want to taste the oyster. Matter of fact, when I was in London, they also had some oysters from Ireland, which were very good also. But I get the oysters on the half shell, and I eat them. I'm ordering oysters, and the guy at the table next to me, he got a dozen oysters, but he's putting his cocktail sauce. He's squeezing his lemon. If I get four Wellfleets, or four Maine oysters, or four Rhode Island oysters, I want to taste the salinity. I want to taste the plumpness. I want to taste everything. The guy that put the cocktail sauce, or the lemon, or the vinegar, the mignonette sauce on it, he's not going to be able to tell the difference. That's not what I do. It camouflages. You've defeated the purpose of ordering three different types of oysters, because you want to taste the difference. Once you put the cocktail sauce on it, you're not going to know the difference of anything.Suzy Chase: This cookbook is dedicated to your wife and the memory of your mentor and friend, Tony Marotta, who taught you the rules of the road. Once you settle for mediocre, they will sell it to you every time. Tell us about Tony.Joe Gurrera: Boy oh boy, okay. Tony was a class act. Tony was the kind of guy who was like Mr. Clean. He had a brand new white jacket every day with a white cap. He was Mr. Perfection. His fish store happened to be in Brooklyn. We met because we parked our trucks next to each other, so we started to become friendly. I was in Manhattan, and he was in Brooklyn. In Manhattan, the items that you sell here, you sell a fuller line of products, where in Brooklyn in an Italian neighborhood or in a Jewish neighborhood, you're not going to sell the oysters or you're not going to sell certain items. In Manhattan, you sold everything. Tony gave me a lot of pointers, and then I just applied myself and I just took everything further. He was a great guy.Suzy Chase: What was the best thing he ever taught you?Joe Gurrera: Quality, always the best. Knowing what the best is. The quality, absolutely.Suzy Chase: I like how this cookbook is divided up by styles and not by fish types. For example, you have a chapter dedicated to poaching and steaming and another one for tossing with pasta. Talk a little bit about that.Joe Gurrera: The reason why I have the chapters the way I did, again, it's all related to taking the intimidation out of cooking seafood. The first one is grilling. The grilling is the easiest one, and it'll be most comfortable for people that are intimidated because I'm sure they know how to grill a burger or they know how to grill a steak. Cooking a piece of tuna and swordfish would be very similar. That's why I started with grilling. Then after grilling, I go to baking and roasting. Again, there's not as much work involved. You put the fish on a pan and you put it in the oven. The same thing with the broiling. Then when you go down, the next one is sauteing. Sauteing requires a little movement. You've got to take it, you've got to flip it. It requires a little more work. Similar even to the frying part or even the pasta part whether it's clams, the cuttlefish ink, or the bottarga, it requires a little more movement and putting things together. That's how I wanted to write the book, as more complicated as it goes down.Suzy Chase: Okay. Home cooks have their seafood shop or even the seafood section in our grocery store. What are the top three things we need to look for in terms of picking out fresh fish?Joe Gurrera: First, you have to trust your fishmonger if the place has a good reputation, number one. Everyone says, "What do I look for? Do I look at the eyes? Do I look at this?" Looking for fresh seafood, the best way that I could describe it simply is it has to look like it's in HD.Suzy Chase: Did you see a couple of weeks ago in the news a fish market in Kuwait stuck googly eyes on their less than fresh fish to make it look like they were fresh?Joe Gurrera: Really? I didn't see that.Suzy Chase: You have to look it up. It's hilarious. Anyway, that's-Joe Gurrera: Can you send it to me?Suzy Chase: Yes, I'll send it to you.Joe Gurrera: Joe@citarella.com. Send it to me.Suzy Chase: Okay. It was really funny. Anyway, is it bad that I hate deboning fish?Joe Gurrera: I'll make you laugh. I have a friend who happens to love spaghetti and clam sauce, and I have a favorite place that does it pretty well. I said, "Tom, you want to go?" He doesn't like to get his fingers dirty to take the clam shells out.Suzy Chase: I love him.Joe Gurrera: I looked him, I said, "Tom, I'll do it for you, for Christ's sake." I said, "I'll do it for you." He goes, "Okay," so we went. People are different. To me, I only want that. I want a whole fish. I love a whole fish. That's one of my top five.Suzy Chase: Can I have your guy at Citarella debone it for me?Joe Gurrera: Of course you can. They could debone it. They could filet it. Any good fishmonger will do anything that you want.Suzy Chase: The other night for dinner, I made your recipes for salmon tartare, baked cod, chunky mashed potatoes, and your tomato and red onion salad. This whole meal was quick and so delicious. The cod, I got it at Citarella, naturally. I got everything at Citarella. The cod was flaky and moist, and the salmon was like butter. Fish is such a good family weeknight dinner option, don't you think?Joe Gurrera: Listen, I think not only that, with all its oils and all the health reasons for it.Suzy Chase: Now to my segment called My Last Meal. If you had to place an order for your last supper, what would it be?Joe Gurrera: Probably would be I'd start it off with a little caviar. Then I'd probably have some oysters. Then I'd have a little bit of, whether it's spaghetti and clam sauce or even spaghetti with the bottarga, which I had in Sicily two weeks ago, which was out of control, ridiculous. Then I would have a grilled piece of whole fish. That would be my last meal.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web, social media, and in New York City?Joe Gurrera: On the web, it is Citarella.com. There is also joeknowsfish.com. We area also on Facebook.Suzy Chase: Where are your locations in New York City?Joe Gurrera: New York City, we are on the Upper West Side on 75th and Broadway, on the Upper East Side on 75th and 3rd, and we are in Greenwich Village on 6th Avenue and 9th Street. We have three stores in The Hamptons, one in Bridgehampton, one in East Hampton, and one in Southampton. I have a Citarella in Greenwich, Connecticut.Suzy Chase: Oh, I didn't even know that.Joe Gurrera: Now we are opening in Hudson Yards.Suzy Chase: Oh, really? That's exciting.Joe Gurrera: It is.Suzy Chase: That's the hotspot. Joe Gurrera: It's going to be some project, I'll tell you that right now.Suzy Chase: Thanks, Joe, for coming on Cookery by the Book Podcast.Joe Gurrera: Thank you very much for having me.Suzy Chase: Follow me on Instagram at cookerybythebook, Twitter is ImSuzyChase, and download your Kitchen Mixtapes, music to cook by on Spotify at CookerbytheBook. As always, subscribe in Apple Podcasts.

On today's episode of All in the Industry®, host Shari Bayer is joined by Joe Gurrera, the owner of Citarella, a group of popular epicurean markets, which started with one of the original and most-respected neighborhood seafood shops in New York; now serving almost 5 million customers annually—and selling 2 million pounds of seafood a year! Joe grew up in the fish business, learning first-hand the subtle differences between the flavors and textures of dozens of varieties of seafood. In addition to Citarella, he owns Lockwood & Winant, a wholesale company at the iconic Fulton Fish Market, and hospitality seafood purveyor Meat Without Feet. Joe is the author of a new cookbook, JOE KNOWS FISH: Taking the intimidation out of cooking seafood. Today's show also features Shari's PR tip, Speed Round, special "On the Road" coverage from Tales of the Cocktail 2018 in New Orleans, and Shari's Solo Dining experience at Danny Meyer and USHG's new restaurant, Manhatta, offering sky-high views of NYC. Listen at Heritage Radio Network and/or subscribe/rate/review our show at iTunes, Stitcher or Spotify. Follow us @allindustry. All in the Industry® is powered by Simplecast.

Gustavo Frias is a man of many talents (and many siblings, he's the youngest of 10!) He's not sure how he caught the lure of the sea, but growing up in West Covina, CA he loved eating fish, and his mother would oblige with a whole porgy for afternoon snack. Fast forward and he's teaching people how to buy, cut and cook fish, and has worked with Greenpoint Fish and Lobster and the Fulton Fish market. Harry and Gustavo talk about the ins and outs of fish, and cover Gustavo's Salsa and forthcoming eatery Chamusca.

The glory of early New York City came from its role as one of the world's great ports.  Today the South Street Seaport is a lasting tribute to that seafaring heritage, a historical district beneath the Brooklyn Bridge that contains some of the city's oldest buildings. But there are many secrets here along the cobblestone streets.  Schermerhorn Row, the grand avenue of counting houses more than two centuries old, is built atop of landfill.  Historic Water Street once held a seedy concentration of brothels and saloons. Not to mention a very vibrant rat pit! And the Fulton Fish Market, the neighborhood's oldest customer tradition, once fell into the river. The modern South Street Seaport, a preservation construct of concerned citizens, become popular with tourists during the 1980s but saw severe damage during Hurricane Sandy.  It's now the subject of some potentially dramatic changes.  How much of an adherence to the traditions of the past will determine the Seaport's future? ALSO: The FDR Drive -- How it almost went below the Seaport! Support the show.