the Hoovervilles. Move people into rational, modern developments, where children won’t have to play out in the street, and no one will live next door to a liquor store or a pool hall, and good families will have some space and some privacy.’
‘That sounds superb, Mr Pearl,’ said Kölmel. ‘But who pays for it?’
‘The city.’
‘In that case, with all due respect, aren’t there a lot of guys who’d do all the same stuff without taking it out of my taxes?’
‘Oh, yes, always those precious taxes that have to be protected like little babies,’ said Berg.
‘Who else will do it?’ said Siedelman. ‘We can’t leave it to the celebrated “free market”.’
‘No,’ said Pearl. ‘Mayor LaGuardia and I are very much in agreement on that.’
‘The Empire State Building’s so empty they have to pay a college graduate to go around flushing all the toilets every day so the porcelain won’t stain,’ said Siedelman, ‘and meanwhile in Arkansas they have families living in caves and eating weeds. When you put your faith in business, that’s what you get. Soon it will be here like it is in Germany. After they lost the war, they had the inflation, the get-rich-quick schemes, the American money coming in, and then the crash. … My friends who live there write me to say that by now it is as if nothing is real any more. Money is a lie, a fantasy, and so it seems like everything else is too. That is why you can make a fortune there selling miracle toothpaste to aristocrats and generals. All that is solid. … No offence meant, by the way, Balfour.’
‘None taken,’ said Pearl. ‘My grandfather’s toothpaste formula made no claim to miracles.’
‘So you think it’s City Hall’s job to fix things up?’ said Kölmel.
‘Not at all,’ said Pearl.
Siedelman looked surprised. ‘I don’t understand, Mr Pearl. I thought we were in agreement. If it’s not business, then. …’
‘Real change,’ said Pearl, ‘at any scale, is the responsibility of the strong individual. Certainly not of government. And certainly not of the market.’
‘The market has no morals,’ said Siedelman.
‘No, it does not,’ said Berg. ‘No values at all. And I must say that before that strong individual Herr Hitler made his entrance, I used to feel that a tyranny of values was better, at least, than a tyranny of no values. But today, it is not so clear to me.’
‘When you’ve seen what we can achieve, I think you may reconsider, Rabbi,’ said Pearl. ‘Of course, the Lower East Side is only the beginning. I’ve seen the Jews in New York and I’ve seen the Jews in London, and I don’t know who has it worse. Talented boys like Seth should not have to grow up in squalor.’
‘I like where I live,’ said Sinner. Everyone turned to him. He sat sprawled in his chair in such a way that, even though he was the smallest man in the room, he seemed, as usual, to take up the most space.
Pearl smiled thinly. ‘I meant no offence.’
‘I’m sure Seth ain’t offended,’ said Frink.
‘Don’t brush the boy off, Balfour,’ said Berg. ‘What exactly is wrong with slums?’
‘They are cramped, criminal, dirty and diseased,’ said Pearl. ‘They are full of whites and Negroes and Puerto Ricans intermingled.’
‘Lay off the Negroes,’ interjected Kölmel. ‘They’re the only people in New York who ain’t even a little embarrassed to say they like boxing.’
‘They are irrational and inhuman, these places,’ said Pearl.‘They are empty of space and light and order. And those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.’
‘Where did you grow up, Mr Pearl?’ said Frink.
‘On East 46th Street. Not far from Grand Central Station.’
‘You’ve never lived in a slum,’ said Berg.
‘No. Nor have I ever lived in an opium den or a whorehouse, but I know enough not to wish them upon my city.’
‘This cunt hates us, Frink,’ said Sinner. Siedelman
‘That sounds superb, Mr Pearl,’ said Kölmel. ‘But who pays for it?’
‘The city.’
‘In that case, with all due respect, aren’t there a lot of guys who’d do all the same stuff without taking it out of my taxes?’
‘Oh, yes, always those precious taxes that have to be protected like little babies,’ said Berg.
‘Who else will do it?’ said Siedelman. ‘We can’t leave it to the celebrated “free market”.’
‘No,’ said Pearl. ‘Mayor LaGuardia and I are very much in agreement on that.’
‘The Empire State Building’s so empty they have to pay a college graduate to go around flushing all the toilets every day so the porcelain won’t stain,’ said Siedelman, ‘and meanwhile in Arkansas they have families living in caves and eating weeds. When you put your faith in business, that’s what you get. Soon it will be here like it is in Germany. After they lost the war, they had the inflation, the get-rich-quick schemes, the American money coming in, and then the crash. … My friends who live there write me to say that by now it is as if nothing is real any more. Money is a lie, a fantasy, and so it seems like everything else is too. That is why you can make a fortune there selling miracle toothpaste to aristocrats and generals. All that is solid. … No offence meant, by the way, Balfour.’
‘None taken,’ said Pearl. ‘My grandfather’s toothpaste formula made no claim to miracles.’
‘So you think it’s City Hall’s job to fix things up?’ said Kölmel.
‘Not at all,’ said Pearl.
Siedelman looked surprised. ‘I don’t understand, Mr Pearl. I thought we were in agreement. If it’s not business, then. …’
‘Real change,’ said Pearl, ‘at any scale, is the responsibility of the strong individual. Certainly not of government. And certainly not of the market.’
‘The market has no morals,’ said Siedelman.
‘No, it does not,’ said Berg. ‘No values at all. And I must say that before that strong individual Herr Hitler made his entrance, I used to feel that a tyranny of values was better, at least, than a tyranny of no values. But today, it is not so clear to me.’
‘When you’ve seen what we can achieve, I think you may reconsider, Rabbi,’ said Pearl. ‘Of course, the Lower East Side is only the beginning. I’ve seen the Jews in New York and I’ve seen the Jews in London, and I don’t know who has it worse. Talented boys like Seth should not have to grow up in squalor.’
‘I like where I live,’ said Sinner. Everyone turned to him. He sat sprawled in his chair in such a way that, even though he was the smallest man in the room, he seemed, as usual, to take up the most space.
Pearl smiled thinly. ‘I meant no offence.’
‘I’m sure Seth ain’t offended,’ said Frink.
‘Don’t brush the boy off, Balfour,’ said Berg. ‘What exactly is wrong with slums?’
‘They are cramped, criminal, dirty and diseased,’ said Pearl. ‘They are full of whites and Negroes and Puerto Ricans intermingled.’
‘Lay off the Negroes,’ interjected Kölmel. ‘They’re the only people in New York who ain’t even a little embarrassed to say they like boxing.’
‘They are irrational and inhuman, these places,’ said Pearl.‘They are empty of space and light and order. And those are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.’
‘Where did you grow up, Mr Pearl?’ said Frink.
‘On East 46th Street. Not far from Grand Central Station.’
‘You’ve never lived in a slum,’ said Berg.
‘No. Nor have I ever lived in an opium den or a whorehouse, but I know enough not to wish them upon my city.’
‘This cunt hates us, Frink,’ said Sinner. Siedelman
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