Bill de Blasio may have failed the pizza-eating test, but at least his taste in bagels passes muster. L.V. Anderson explores the role the humble Jewish bread has played in New York mayoral politics:
So why do we—both journalists and New Yorkers in general—care about whether our mayors have good taste in bagels? Having a good answer to the bagel question is meant, in part, to demonstrate a politician’s appreciation for Jewish culture and, by extension, Jewish voters. But inquiring about our mayors’ bagels preferences also stems from the same culinary chauvinism that spawned Pizzagate. Bagels, like pizza, are an affordable food brought over by early NYC immigrants, and thus are seen to confer a kind of working-class credibility on those politicians who properly enjoy them. Plus, it’s easier to judge a mayor’s taste in breadstuffs than it is to evaluate his or her policies—particularly for the pundits in the press, who are sometimes loath to wade into the minutiae of, say, city tax rates.
The Dish 