quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1=
ex">Maybe they should have converted it to a Shmorah Matzah bakery





Now, what are the Yekis going to do in Washington Heights?



Ruevain









On Wed, Jan 07, 2015 at 10:57:30AM -0500, einker wrote:

> Streit???s Matzo Factory, a Piece of Lower East Side History, Is Movin=
g On

>

> By JOSEPH BERGER

> <ple/b/joseph_berger/index.html" target=3D"_blank">http://topics.nytimes.com=
/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/joseph_berger/index.html>JAN.>
> 6, 2015

>

> o-close-its-lower-east-side-matzo-factory.html?action=3Dclick&contentCo=
llection=3DFood&region=3DFooter&module=3DMoreInSection&pgtype=
=3Darticle" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/nyregion/st=
reits-is-set-to-close-its-lower-east-side-matzo-factory.html?action=3Dclick=
&contentCollection=3DFood&region=3DFooter&module=3DMoreInSectio=
n&pgtype=3Darticle

>

> The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the people who abandoned =
the

> squalor of the Lower East Side tenements have been moving back into th=
ose

> very same buildings, paying sums like $3,000 to rent apartments that a=
few

> decades before went for under $50, turning the neighborhood into one o=
f New

> York City???s hippest.

>

> Yet Streit???s matzo factory <om/" target=3D"_blank">http://www.streitsmatzos.com/> in four

> converted 19th-century brick tenements on Rivington Street has withsto=
od

> the tides of gentrification, one of the last vestiges of the classic L=
ower

> East Side that was the foothold in America for millions of immigrants =
and

> that one scholar calls ???the Jewish Plymouth Rock.???

>

> On Tuesday, however, the descendants of the founding Streit (rhymes wi=
th

> ???right???) family announced that they will be shutting down their ov=
ens

> sometime after Passover

> <jects/p/passover/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-classifier" target=3D"_blank">http=
://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/passover/index.h=
tml?inline=3Dnyt-classifier>,

> baking matzos elsewhere, possibly in the Meadowlands of New Jersey. Th=
e

> factory is being sold to a real estate developer.

>

> That will leave only a handful of places like Katz???s Delicatessen>
> <rs-much-has-changed-but-the-pastrami-is-the-same/" target=3D"_blank">http:/=
/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/in-125-years-much-has-changed-but-th=
e-pastrami-is-the-same/>,

> Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery

> <rget=3D"_blank">http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/knish/>=
and Russ & Daughters

> <iew-russ-daughters-cafe.html" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2014=
/07/30/dining/restaurant-review-russ-daughters-cafe.html>

> on Houston Street and Economy Candy <andy.com/" target=3D"_blank">http://www.economycandy.com/> on

> Rivington Street among the remnants of the traditional Lower East Side=
.

> Well-known outposts like Ratner???s

> <-report-lower-east-side-blintz-evolves-tamale-leaving-ratner-s.html" target=
=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/30/nyregion/neighborhood-report-=
lower-east-side-blintz-evolves-tamale-leaving-ratner-s.html>

> dairy restaurant, Schapiro Wine Company

> <y-in-the-basement-who-knew.html" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/1=
997/01/05/nyregion/kosher-winery-in-the-basement-who-knew.html>

> and Schmulka Bernstein???s

> <tml" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/nyregion/fyi-78864=
3.html>, famous for

> its kosher Chinese food, are all gone.

>

> ???For the last few years, it???s been clear we are the last remaining=


> connection many Jews can relate to because their parents and grandpare=
nts

> came through the Lower East Side,??? said Alan M. Adler, a great-grand=
son of

> Aron Streit, the business???s founder. ???Most of these places don???t=
exist

> anymore, and it???s very sad this one will be closing as well.???

>

> The closing was first reported on Tuesday by the blog Bowery Boogie>
> <atzo-factory-contract-leaving-lower-east-side-spring/" target=3D"_blank">ht=
tp://www.boweryboogie.com/2015/01/exclusive-streits-matzo-factory-contract-=
leaving-lower-east-side-spring/>

> .

>

> Annie Polland, senior vice president for programs and education at the=
Tenement

> Museum

> <anizations/l/lower_east_side_tenement_museum/index.html" target=3D"_blank">=
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/l/lower_e=
ast_side_tenement_museum/index.html>,

> said that there had been something sweet about alumni of the Lower Eas=
t

> Side descending on Sundays to shop and still find mainstays of the old=


> neighborhood.

>

> ???They could go on walking tours and afterward have the experience of=
stores

> selling Jewish food, Jewish pickles, Judaica shops,??? she said. ???In=
the

> early 2000s they could still have that experience. It???s mostly gone.=
???

>

> The pressure of gentrification, Mr. Adler said, is not the reason the<=
br>
> factory is closing, since the family has resisted offers to sell for y=
ears.

> Rather, he said, ???the reality is that operating a modern factory in =
four

> old buildings has finally caught up with us.???

>

> The two 75-foot ovens, which produce 900 pounds of matzo per hour, are=


> slowing down with age, and ???we can???t find anyone to repair them,??=
? Mr. Adler

> said. The factory has no loading dock, and delivery trucks cannot find=


> parking. ???It???s tough to do business in Manhattan,??? he said.

>

> The American matzo business has also been battered by the popularity o=
f

> cheaper Israeli brands, some of which supermarkets give away free asr>
> Passover

> <jects/p/passover/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-classifier" target=3D"_blank">http=
://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/passover/index.h=
tml?inline=3Dnyt-classifier>

> come-ons. (A five-pound package of Streit???s matzos that can feed a f=
amily

> throughout the eight days of Passover can cost about $18.) Many Jews a=
lso

> splurge on the more expensive shmura matzos that are baked by hand in =
small

> factories in Hasidic neighborhoods and undergo more extensive rabbinic=
al

> supervision.

>

> Streit???s describes itself as the last family-owned major matzo produ=
cer in

> the United States. Manischewitz

> <schewitz-investment-may-leave-bitter-aftertaste/" target=3D"_blank">http://=
dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/04/11/for-falcone-manischewitz-investment-may-lea=
ve-bitter-aftertaste/>,

> which considers itself the world???s largest matzo baker, was also a f=
amily

> business until 1990 but is now owned by an arm of the private equityr>
> <jects/p/private_equity/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-classifier" target=3D"_blank=
">http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/private_eq=
uity/index.html?inline=3Dnyt-classifier>

> firm Bain Capital and owns or manufactures two other leading brands, G=
oodman???s

> and Horowitz Margareten <s/" target=3D"_blank">http://manischewitz.com/about-us/>. Streit???s=
has a

> second factory in Moonachie, N.J., that produces macaroons, matzo ball=
mix

> and other popular Passover products, and it may be the site of new ove=
ns,

> though Mr. Adler cautioned that the family ??? there are 11 shareholde=
rs ??? is

> still deliberating over a location.

>

> Mr. Adler and his relatives informed the factory???s 50 workers on Mon=
day,

> telling them they would find jobs at the company???s New Jersey site i=
f they

> could accommodate the commute.

>

> Streit???s was started around 1915 by Aron Streit, an Austrian immigra=
nt, who

> teamed up with a rabbi to open his first handmade matzo factory on nea=
rby

> Pitt Street. A decade later, Aron and his oldest son, Irving, opened t=
he

> Rivington Street factory in a single tenement. Another son, Jack, join=
ed

> the business, and it did so well that it expanded into three adjoining=


> tenements. Aron died in 1935.

>

> Today the business is run by Mr. Adler, a great-grandson of Aron???s; =
Aron

> Yagoda, another of the founder???s great-grandsons; and Aaron Gross, a=


> great-great-grandson and the fifth generation in the business. Matzo-m=
aking

> was so woven into the family that the 63-year-old Mr. Adler gave up a =
legal

> career 15 years ago to become a vice president in charge of operations=
.

>

> Though matzo is a simple mixture of wheat flour and water, producing i=
t is

> an intricate affair. During Passover, observant Jews are forbidden to =
eat

> grain products that have been allowed to leaven, or ferment and rise, =
so

> the flour and water must be placed in an oven within 18 minutes after =
they

> are mixed. The entire process is supervised by what are known as mashg=
ichim

> <matzo-stimulus.html" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/ma=
gazine/the-amazing-matzo-stimulus.html>

> ??? Orthodox people trained in the fine points of kosher law. Streit??=
?s

> employs seven of them.

>

> At Streit???s, the mixing and baking are done by machine. Three minute=
s of

> mixing, followed by a flattening of the dough and the punching of the<=
br>
> characteristic holes and then a trip lasting 1 minute 40 seconds throu=
gh

> the oven. But the aging ovens are taking longer to process the mixture=
,

> which can change the taste and helps explain why the factory is moving=
.

>

> <RF.html?campaignId=3D48JQY" target=3D"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/subscr=
iptions/Multiproduct/lp839RF.html?campaignId=3D48JQY>

>

> --

> Regards,

>

> Evan M. Inker