Sayedul Alam is not much of a history buff, which is surprising, considering that
 his Middle Eastern grocery story, Kalustyan's, is located at 123 Lexington Avenue,
 one of the most historic buildings in the city.

Blame the building's false, glass-and-aluminum façade, but it's easy to forget that
 Chester Arthur was sworn-in here as president of the United States -- the only
 president besides Washington to take the oath of office in New York City.

Where else but New York could a building be a former presidential home  AND the home
 of an outstanding mujadarra sandwich? Unfortunately, more people know about the
 lentils than the leader.

"It really doesn't come up that often," said Alam, who is called upon only rarely to
 show the inaccessible, decades-old plaque that indicates that history once happened
 here.

On the morning of Sept. 20, 1881, Arthur's home was surrounded by reporters after
 the news spread that President Garfield had finally died from being shot by a
 disgruntled office seeker three months earlier. Vice President Arthur (perhaps
 anticipating the "undisclosed locations" of Dick Cheney) had been holed up in New
 York to avoid the appearance that he was waiting in Washington for Garfield to die. 

But when Garfield died, Arthur was anything but pleased. The Times quoted Arthur's
 doorman saying that the veep was "sobbing like a child, with his face buried in his
 hands" (thank goodness for indiscreet doormen). That account placed Arthur almost
 exactly where the mujadarra is prepared today. A couple of hours later, Arthur took
 the oath of office as 21st president in the ground-floor parlor -- where  you can
 get great deals on bulk nuts and spices.

"Chet Arthur, president?" essayist Henry Adams said later in the day. "Good God!"

OK, so maybe Chester Arthur was an accidental president, a political hack who became
 Garfield's running mate to balance the ticket -- but he was OUR hack, a great New
 Yorker who has been unfairly forgotten.

"There should be a museum at 123 Lexington," said James Bradley, senior editor of
 the "Encyclopedia of New York City" and an Arthur champion. "He had significant
 achievements, from integrating city streetcars, to serving as the quartermaster
 general in the Civil War, to running the Port of New York."

And as president, Arthur reformed the nation's civil service laws -- the very same
 laws, would you believe, that Al Gore ignored when he made those fundraising calls
 from the White House.

"Chester Arthur was a great New Yorker," Bradley said. "He deserves his due."

So until someone builds a museum, all we can do is head to 123 Lexington Avenue,
 grab a mujadarra sandwich and eat a toast to Chet Arthur, New Yorker.

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gersh.kuntzman@verizon.net