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UPPER WEST SIDE NOWAll The Neighborhood NewsVolume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010
Surge In New StresBreathes Lie Int UWSAnd Defes Glmy Trend
When Spanish che Jess
Nez was seeking a spot
to open his New York res-
taurant Grat, everyone told him the
Upper West Side was not the right
area. People dont come to the
Upper West Side to have dinner,
Nez said he was told. They go
downtown.
But Nez ound the perect space
or his restaurant on 69th street and
decided to dey the naysayers, open-
ing on Dec. 12. I could go to a
neighborhood where all the other res-
taurants are, yes, Nez said. But
i I come to the Upper West Side, Ill
be more special because, here, there
is no restaurant like mine.
Nez is joining a mini boom
o Upper West Side restaurant and
store openings. From cookie shops to
a planned retail building on Broad-
way, the area is seeing a surge in re-
tail activity that has some observers
optimistic the neighborhood is re-
gaining its verve ater several years
o decline.
Janet Currie, an economics proes-
sor at Columbia University and UpperWest Side resident, said that the re-
cent lourish o businesses on the
Upper West Side relects both the
act that New York was not as hard
hit as some other areas by the eco-
nomic downturn, and, as such, the
area is able to right itsel relatively
quickly.
The Upper West Side has elt eco-nomic hard times with For Rent
signs popping up all over the neigh-
borhood. Along with OTB branches
across the city, the O-Track Betting
parlor on West 72nd street, between
Columbus and Amsterdam, recent-
ly closed.
But other parts o the Upp er West
Side are seeing a denite surge. In
particular, Currie noted that the area
between 100th and 116 th streets
seems to be picking up. One new
restaurant Currie enjoys is Buca, an
Italian place, on 103rd street between
Amsterdam and Broadway. Buca
uses local and organic ingredients in
their dishes whenever possible and
its location is small but was jammed
with customers one recent aternoon.Amsterdam Avenue around 72nd
Street is also seeing a spate o activ-
ity. Around Thanksgiving, the retail
warm-cookies-and-milk-joint Insom-
nia Cookies (whose Village locations
are mainstays with NYU students)
debuted its new store at 405 Am-
sterdam Ave. Well-reviewed Chinese
restaurant Grand Sichuan recently
opened a branch on 75th Street and
Amsterdam Avenue. Lobster roll em-
porium Lukes Lobster opened Dec.
17 at 426 Amsterdam Ave.
The Yard, a wine bar and casual
restaurant, recently opened on Free-
dom Place and 68th Street. Nearby,
the Graceully ood market at 65th
and West End Avenue opened this
month. West Lake Palace opened in
the ormer Silk Road Palace location
at Amsterdam and 81st Street.
Other recent openings are colo-
nizing parts o the neighborhood
underserved by retail. A Brooklyn
Industries store opened its doors re-
cently on 99th Street and Broadway,
a stretch better known or diners
than trendy ashions. It joins a new
Urban Outtters clothing store on
the block.
And across the street, on the east
side o Broadway between 99th and
100th
Streets, plans are aoot to trans-orm the ormer Metro Theater into
a shopping destination. The art deco
Metro Theater closed in 2005 ater
more than seventy years running.
Until recently, the Metros space has
remained empty as one commercial
project plan ater another commer-
cial project plan continued to all
through. Upper West Side residentMichael Oliva recently started the
Metro Theater Project which is try-
ing to raise money to transorm the
building into an arts, education and
retail space. He envisions the uture
Metro as being what it once was
not the adult lm site it became dur-
ing the 1970s and 80sbut a place
or the diverse residents o the neigh-
borhood to gather and interact with
one another.
According to the Metro Theater
Projects website, the Metro when
it reopens (as the Metro Art Center)
plans to provide a un and exciting
outlet or community nightlie that
is sae and inclusive to an ethnical-
ly and inancially diverse audience
o neighborhood residents. It u-ture Metro Art Center will be a com-
munity-driven eort, the site says,
with an emphasis on involvement
and contributive diversity.
B E B
The Upper West Side has felt economic hard
times with For Rent signs popping up all
over the neighborhood.
The New Years Eve Concert or Peace at the Cathedral Church St.Jhn the Divinewill eature the lighting o thousands o candles, $60.Govt Mule p lays the Beacn Theatre or 2 Nights o Peace & Mule.
Four-course prix xe menu and champagne toast or $175 at Dovetail. NewYr Rad Runnersjog through Central Park to ring in the New Year. Five-hour premium open bar, hors doeuvres and DJ at the Empire Htel or $125.Fatty Crab oers a $75 dinner including a glass o champagne and one hour oall-you-can-eat crab. The Gilords play Prhibitin with a midnight champagnetoast, and a live broadcast o the Times Square ball drop or $125. Sistermonk
plays the Thalia Cae at Symphony Space, ree. Stay home with an ounce oZabars Desietra Ossetra caviar or $120. Open bar and unlimited ood at the
Sunburnt Cal or $100. Bistr Ten 18 oers aour-course menu or $85 with an optional wine
pairing or $45. VIP tickets or $100 will get you
a bottle o champagne, two bottles o premiumliquor, and a selection o appetizers per table or
$100 atVillage Purhuse . The New YrCity Ballet at Lincoln Center perorms GeorgeBalanchines The Nutcracker, tickets $250.
IN THE NEWS
$1.00COM
PLIM
ENTAR
Y
FormEr Bounty huntErCarl Tanner ismaking hisDEBut at thEmEtropolitanopEra with asinging rolEin puccin is laFanciulla DElwEst. Page 3
States BlockNeedle ExchangeDee e fede fded d-
e e ee -
e e je d dd
e ded e e,
eede exe eed -
bed. Page 2
Resident WithIncredible Memorya ue we sde ede
x ae e b-
e, d -
e eebe eve
d f e ve. le oe, 37,
recently proled on 60 Minutes. Page 3
Ex-Riding SchoolGets New Tenantte fe ce rd ad-
e 89 see bee
f e see g s. te
, f de e d-
be, ex e e b 30
de e e. Page 3
Adults ConquerFear of Bikesw e f e d-
d ee be e
eve e ze f e b f-
, e d e de e d-
ing off their bicycles for the rst time
e. ad e d e d e
learning to ride for the rst time. Page 4
Home Is WhereThe Art Is theretee e e e-
e m f
e . tee e - ve ed exd e
denition of a gallery by opening their
d, f e f fed ,
e b d d
e e. Page 6
The Green Fairy ReturnsGovernment ofcials recently agreed
to allow the word absinthe on bottle
labels, effectively ending a 95-year
ban. Absinthe enthusiasts from Seattle
to Boston are thrilled that the spirit has
returned to the United States. Page 7
Researchers SeekAntibiotic AlternativesFacing a growing incidence of bacterial
resistance to antibiotics, pharmaceuti-
cal companies are struggling to comeup with new drugs to ght infections.
Phage therapy is the use of what are
known as bacteriophage, viruses that
are parasites of bacteria. Page 9
Ring In The New Year
Without Leaving UWSw vee f e ebd e e ue
we sde ffe e ed neye Eve? hee e e de:
ne y c Be s
me de geeBe te n-e ne ye Eve l cee
Photo: Pu Koik
8/8/2019 Dec. 23, 2010 Issue
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2Volume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010UPPER WEST SIDE NOW
News
State Laws Block
Funds For Needle
Exchange
Editors Bd
At Dectaexe k
Photographyg kvv
ContributorsEzbe Je, abe
lebv,m.r. oc, Be p,
m seee
Upper West Side Now bed b
ne y n med, llc,188 avee f e ae,
ne y, ny 10013.(646) 397-7143.
ue we sde n ebe f ed
.a eeved.ped e usa.
www.upperwestnow.com
E very Tuesday morning,
Miguel Ramos and his
team rom the nonprot or-
ganization New York Harm
Reduction Educators park two mid-
size motor homes on a Manhattan
street corner. They pitch a small white
tent along the sidewalk; stock it with
sterile syringes, cookers, cottons and
water; and wait or neighborhood ad-
dicts to drop by.
The organization, known by locals
as the Cadillac o harm reduction
programs, is one o the oldest nee-
dle exchange programs in the coun-
try. Such programs were born in the
1980s, during the early stages o the
HIV/AIDS epidemic, when injection
drug users were disproportionately
aected by the disease.
Two decades later, New York City
health workers like Ramos have
helped decrease HIV inection in drug
addicts by 75 percent, according to a
2005 study.
But despite multiple ederally
unded studies showing that access
to sterile syringes makes injection
drug addiction less deadly withoutincreasing use, needle exchange has
remained a political battleground.
Health experts across the country
celebrated victory a year ago when
Congress voted to lit a 21-year ban
on ederal unding or needle ex-
change programs. While legal pro-
grams in states like New York and
Caliornia are already applying or
new unds, underground operations
have little hope o any nancial as-
sistance. Antiquated state law, rather
than ederal unding, is still the real
obstacle to needle exchange, accord-
ing to grass-roots advocates.
Meanwhile, injection drug users
with no access to clean syringes are ac-
quiring atal blood-borne diseases like
HIV and hepatitis at alarming rates.Legal barriers disproportionately aect
poor, minority populations, according
to new research. Improperly discarded
needles litter towns and endanger res-
idents, while increased rates o disease
place nancial burdens on an already
stressed health care system.
Simply put, needle exchange pro-
grams enable the addicted to contin-
ue down the destructive and deadly
path o drug dependence, states the
Florida-based nonprot organization
Save Our Society From Drugs, in its
position statement.
Florida state drug parapherna-
lia laws currently outlaw needle ex-
change.
In November 1988, Congress
banned ederal unding or any pro-
gram that distributed sterile syringes
or illicit drug use. The ban undercut
initiatives providing important public
health services, according to commu-
nity health experts.
States were let with the power to
decide whether they would permit
and und needle exchange programs
via a public health exception to drug
paraphernalia laws. Many decided
against it.
But this past December, Congressdecision to lit the 21-year-old ederal
unding ban gave legalized programs
a glimmer o hope.
There have already been unding
cuts at the state level, says Herbert
Quinones, program director at NewYork Harm Reduction Educators. We
are deinitely applying or ederal
money, but thats not guaranteed ei-
ther. The administration has just de-
cided to reeze domestic unding. So
who knows whats going to happen?
Were hoping or the best.
In states that have outlawed nee-
dle exchange, like North Carolina and
Nevada, activists believe that ederal
unds will do nothing or the injec-
tion drug users they serve.
We dont have any needle ex-
change programs in the state o Ne-
vada, says Jennier Morss, executive
director o the nonprot organization
Aid or AIDS o Nevada. So I cant
really tell you how the unding would
aect our programs.Some 94 percent o injection drug
users surveyed in Las Vegas reported
that they would use a clean-needle
exchange program i one were made
available, according to a 2001 study.
The health department can apply
or all the ederal unding it wants,
says Harney. Even i the ederal law
has lited the ban, this is still a state
issue. I the state doesnt allow us to
receive those unds, were not going
to get them. There is such a ear at
the legislative level.
As in many states, the North Caro-
lina drug laws are tricky. Although sy-
ringe exchange programs are banned,
drug injectors are legally permitted
to purchase sterile needles without a
prescription rom local pharmacies.
But North Carolina has strict drugparaphernalia laws. Anyone caught
in possession o a needle without
having a prescription, even i it was
just bought rom a pharmacist, can
be (and oten is) arrested.
Pharmacists also have the right toreuse to sell a syringe i the customer
does not have a prescription. Some
request identicationsorely lacking
in the homeless populationor other
inormation beore they are willing to
sell needles.
One day a guy came in here look-
ing or me to give him a clean nee-
dle, says Harney. But he couldnt
ind me. So he goes to a pharmacy
down the street. Pharmacist asks to
see a prescription. He says he doesnt
have one but asks whether the phar-
macist would rather be lling him a
prescription or HIV or hep C meds.
The pharmacist replies, I youre a
junkie, you deserve to have AIDS.
Harney started the Needle Ex-
change Program o Asheville in 1994.I was an outreach worker in west-
ern North Carolina, says Harney.
Every day, I was tripping over nee-
dles in the streets. Thats when I de-
B le Be
cided to do something about it.
Harney describes his operation as
illegal but tolerated by local ocials.
Political support in what is considered
by many to be the most liberal pocket
o the state sustains his eorts.
Although there are other harm re-
duction organizations in North Car-
olina, they do not openly advertise
needle exchange services. Injection
drug users are oten too araid to seekout clean needles or other health ser-
vices.
We operate underground, says
said one public health activist in
North Carolina who asked to remain
unnamed or ear that she would be
targeted by law enorcement ocials.
The minute they nd out that were
passing out syringes, we get shut
down. People are scared to call the
police or call the ambulance when
someone has ODd. Theyre araid o
the legal repercussions. They think
they cant go to the doctor because
the doctor is going to see the track
marks. So they never go to the emer-
gency room.
IV drug users account or more
than 20 percent o new HIV inec-tions in the U.S., according to 2007
data rom the Centers or Disease
Control and Prevention. Injection
drug use is also the leading cause o
hepatitis C inection.
Restrictive drug paraphernalia
laws disproportionately aect mi-
nority populations. In the Raleigh-
Durham, N.C., area, white injection
drug users are ve times as likely as
black users to report pharmacies as
their primary source o syringes, ac-
cording to a January report by Family
Health International.
Public health ocials believe that
individuals who do not obtain their
needles rom pharmacies must ac-
quire new needles illegally or simply
reuse the ones they or their riendshave. An estimated 50 percent o
Americans diagnosed with HIV are
black, according to 2007 data rom
the Centers or Disease Control and
Prevention.
But syringe exchange programs
dont beneit only injection drug
users.
My biggest concern is proper dis-
posal o used needles, says Harney.
Dont lush em down the toilet.
Then youre gonna need a plumber.
Dont put em in the garbage can.
It puts garbagemen in harms way.
Dont throw it over your ence andget your neighbors in trouble. This is
about public health and saety or the
entire community. Ive received pizza
boxes o needles, milk jugs, Pepsi bot-
tles, you name it.
Mickela Mallozzi teaches The Masala
Bhangra Workout Monday nights, 5:30
p.m. at the The West Side YMCA, 5 W. 63rd
St. mickela@masaladance.com
Two decades later, New York City health
workers like Ramos have helped decrease
HIV infection in drug addicts by 75 percent,
according to a 2005 study.
me r, e e f e ne y h red Edeede exe m vde ede e e.
Photo by lu Bow
More than 60 percent of IV druge ne y e feed e c.
There are 12 exchanges operat- e .
In a recent one-year period, ex-e ve 1.9 e, d eed1.5 .
There are between 40,000 and110,000 IV drug users in the.
In New York City, only about 10 20 ee f je d
e e exe.
Source: New York City Ofce of Drug
Us Pvtio
NEEDLE EXCHANGE FACTS
8/8/2019 Dec. 23, 2010 Issue
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3Volume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010 UPPER WEST SIDE NOW
News
It is possible to be awestruck by the exoticsplendor of this meticulously restored sanctuary.
Edward Rothstein, The New York Times
Visit the Museum at Eldridge StreetBased in the 1887 Eldridge Street SynagogueA National Historic Landmark12 Eldridge Street between Canal and Division StreetsSunday through Thursday from 10 am to 5pm
Frederick Charles
Neighborhood In Brie
advee UPPER WEST SIDE NOWceve e,
x exe
email uwsnow@gmail.com or call 646-397-7143
Former BountyHunter To Sing AtMetFe b e c
te deb
e me oe
e p-
l F de we.
te ue we sde e-
de e e
De. 27. te d e
ve exed b
deb d e ee
ee d
fd ee eve-
e fed.
Researchers Find UWSResident With IncredibleMemoryhve d e eebe
d f bef? we, ee uewe sde ede x
ae e b-
e, d
e eebe eve d f
e ve. le oe, 37, ee
proled on 60 Minutes. Owen, a pro-
fe v, ve we 100
see. reee oe e-
ebe de f eve d f 1985
fd.
Controversial TacosHead To Neighborhoodp t t ed e ue we sde fe
getting the cold shoulder at its former location on 86th
see d lex avee. uEs ede ed
b e d e d v fe ed
. te be ev cb uve -
de.
Ex-Riding School GetsNew Tenantte fe ce rd
ade 89 see
bee f e see
g s. te , f
de e db-
e, ex e e b
30 de e e.
se e d $12
million for the ve-story building.
13-year-old Goes Missingpe e e f 13-e-d bee
f e ue we sde e e De. 10. X-
see f 28 w. 91 see ee ev e
e b 9 .. se 5-fee-2 e, 130 d d
ee e e , be je, ed e-
e d b je.
SJP Turns Nose UpAT UWS Pad
te $21.5 ue we sde dex e
s Je pe d bee de eed
b e e. te fee e te
Brentmore building has eight bedrooms and ve and half
b. n d e sex d e c d
bd me Bde deded e ve f
her current West Village digs.
Parents Criticize Success Academy Plante ed ue we se ade e e e ved-
f e ebd, e e d ee bd ee.
te ade e e ue we sde ex e b ed
ofcials havent said exactly where it will go. We just dont believe that
e eve e e e e f
who want to go to your school, said local parent Eric Shufer.
pe e e eed e b de
f de e e d dd ved d deee
ed ee. B e f e ade d
the Dec. 16 Community Board 7 education committee meeting
e e e de.
8/8/2019 Dec. 23, 2010 Issue
4/12
Lie4Volume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010UPPER WEST SIDE NOW
Ihad the lier or a year beore I
nally signed up. Zalima Khan
said with a grin as she waited or
her instructor to help pick out a
bicycle or her petite rame. Its just something
I always wanted to do.
Khan, 44, o River Edge, N.J., had come to a
bicycle shop in New York City where she joined
our other adult women intent on learning, or
rereshing, their bike riding skills. Khan was in
the last week o instructor Terry Chins three-
week course and she and the others made their
way to a nearby bike path. A ew weeks earli-
er they had wobbled and careened. Today they
were pedaling and balancing on their own,
while learning more advanced skills.
Look right, steer right. Look let, steer let!
shouted Chin. Dont pedal when youre going
over a bump!
Chin, 58, has taught hundreds o New Yorkers,
including some whos who o the citys limelight,
to conquer their pedaling ears. People take it or
granted that biking is elementary, but its not,
said Chin. Ive got it down to a science where
everybody rides by the third week, not perectly,
but they get by. From then on its going over pot-
holes, shiting gears, and learning bike signals.
With the cost o gasoline rising dramatically
and people becoming increasingly sensitive to
the size o their carbon ootprints, more and
more riders are dusting o their bicycles or the
rst time in years. And more and more adults
are learning to ride or the rst time.
Bicyclists says the nations population o 57
million bike riders is on the rise, especially in
cities.
In the last ive to eight years, cities like
New York, Portland, Boulder and the Washing-
ton, D.C., area, have seen large increases in the
amount o bicycling, said Andy Clarke, presi-
dent o the League o American Bicyclists, based
in Washington, D.C.
The league has a roster o 1,100 certied in-
structors across the country who are helping nov-
ices get into gear. John Ciccarelli, o San Francisco
has taught students one-on-one or seven years
and this spring he joined other cycle instructors
in the citys rst Learn to Ride a Bike clinic.
The interactive process o teaching someone
to ride is challenging, but un or the teach-
er, said Ciccarelli, whose students range rom
pre-teens to sixtysomethings. Youre teach-
ing someone who doesnt believe they can do
it. Being able to help them achieve a major lie
goal is really ullling.
Mallika Nallani, a 40 year-old wie and moth-
Adults conquer theirfear of bikes to avoid
the gas pumpB cd lze
er o two, attended the San Francisco bike clin-
ic along with about 15 others. She was hoping
to relearn the riding skills she developed as a
child in India. I was nervous I would all, but
it became easier ater a while and I learned
in about two hours! she said. It was so ex-
hilarating. Now I eel encouraged to try other
things I think I might not be good at.
For her part, Susan McLucas o Somerville,
Mass., has run classes through her Bicycle Rid-
ing School and through the Cambridge Center
or Adult Education since 1985. Her Web site
boasts that she has taught more than 2,000 stu-
dents. I can count the people who didnt get
it on one hand, said McLucas, occasionally
people learn in their rst ew minutes. Every-
body starts out terried, she added, but theyare euphoric by the end.
Adult students tend to be more diicult
to teach than children because their ears o
biking have become ingrained over the years.
Older adults have also lost some o their equi-
librium and level o tness. McLucas rewards
each student who learns to ride in her our-ses-
sion, weekend courses with a picnic ceremony
complete and even a diploma or completing
the course. She also oers tips to rst-timers.
Learn on a bike that is small enough that
you can sit and have your oot on the ground,
McLucas said. Stop way beore you need to stop
and, whichever way you start to lean, turn that
way. Wear a helmet and keep it nice and slow.
Even closet nonbikers are giving cycling a try.
I dont know why I never learned, said Lena
G., one o the women in Chins class. But I
want to try and do a triathlon and swimming
and biking are my two weakest links.
Beore departing, the women who have
bonded and cheered each other over the past
ew weeks, exchanged numbers and vowed to
go riding together soon.
Otherwise, what would I be doing? saida student named Muriel, Watching TV in the
morning? This, the resh air and sunshine,
is a better alternative.
s ed e-e e b eee f-e J- c, fde f cce, d-bd befe.
a fe ed je e , d row of metal les, the toolsf de, ee ed e e 5-f-e be.
me, e ve- e f ee deed e eee -sphere as it led away burrsde be f ee.
i e f e ffe, d c, 32 , be ed e e 12 e d. B- i ed d bd d ed -e d f i e de.He was deep into the 40-
e f bd ee, ed be--ef ee f -e d $1,000
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c e d e ede f ne
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e 2005, d e - -e
f e e e-be f e ex f de.hf f e bd
fe, e bee,e-e be deedf e ved dbanked velodrome The rstmd sqe gde ne y c e f be e 1879.ree, e be
ed b be eee ne y d e bee ve eeed e b ed ed e fed.
te eee d,e e de-, ebef eee e
dde be, d veefe-bde rd s.se e 1980, b-e eee ve edone-speed, xed-gear trackbe d e jb. w be, ee be ve e ed e e .s, 55,
ce, b ethan 4,000 frames in his
30--e ee.he d e f e
iee de eef ee be f-ed e eqe,d eve eeebe b d e d fe. oe fd vded f e- de f e ee-e ee e ee de, dde fe--specically track bikes.a e, d s.
if e ve e, e e-ee e, de e e f
e be - e eee e.
By Tomas Dinges
BikES ArE BACk, AND So ArE THE PEoP LE WHo MAkE THEM
Z k eebe e fee be d ed e .
Photograph by Cassandra Lizaire
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6Volume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010UPPER WEST SIDE NOW
Arts
Blanka Amezkua didnt change any-
thing about her home when she
began displaying artwork in her bed-
room. The shabby linoleum, the bare
light xtures and the robins egg blue walls are
all still there, but now every month an artist
comes into Amezkuas apartment in the Mott
Haven neighborhood o New Yorks South
Bronx and installs a work o art.
Theres an opening on the rst Saturday o
every month, and on Thursdays and Fridays the
public is ree to wander in to view the work.
Amezkua sleeps with the art at night, and dur-
ing the day, she rolls the mattress up and stores
it in the closet.
Artists have always come to New York City to
make it, but with real estate at a premium, there
isnt enough room in the galleries in Manhat-
tan or many artists to show their work. These
space limitations have led artists to expand the
denition o a gallery by opening their doors, o
those o riends or sponsors, to the public and
displaying artwork in their homes. Not only
do these not-or-prot galleries give artists a
place to showcase their work, but the empha-
sis on collaboration, rather than competition,
also nurtures artistic communities outside o
the mainstream art world.
It is dicult to show in Chelsea or SoHo
galleries. This space is less intimidating, said
Hayato Matsushita, who curates a gallery
named Juntoat his home in Bushwick, Brook-
lyn. It just seems genuine, were not doing it
or money.
Four years ago, Matsushita, a Japanese-
American artist, had to move out o his studio
in SoHo. They were tearing down the building
and he had one month to ind a new space.
Home IsWhere
The Art Is
He came across a listing on Craigslist or two
lots side by side in the basement o an apart-
ment building in the gentriying neighborhood
o Bushwick. He now uses this space as both
his home and to showcase his artwork and the
work o people he knows.
The walls, the foor, and the exposed ducts
on the 13-oot ceiling are all painted white.
The only urniture is a rectangular table, and
our chairs, in the center o the main room. The
other room has a bar with a rerigerator and a
movie screen hanging rom chains bolted into
a wooden beam. Matsushita describes the space
as minimal, and zen-likea nod to his Japanese
roots. He explains that the clean, white space
is like a blank canvas. The minimalist aesthetic
allows the work he exhibits, done by local art-
ists, many o whom live in the same building,
to speak or itsel.
Collaboration is the overriding theme at
Junto. Matsushita describes the lots as a multi-
creative space. Two modern dancers currentlylive there with him. They sleep in the tiny liv-
ing quarters that lie behind a white curtain at
one end o the room and they rehearse in the
large room while Matsushita stays in another
lot next door.
Matsushita pays his rent by making models
or architectural rms. He has managed to es-
tablish himsel in the Manhattan art scenea
couple o years ago he worked at Museum o
Modern Art doing art installation and he has
had two solo shows at Christopher Henry Gal-
lery in the Lower East Sidebut he likes the
grassroots eeling o Bushwick.
I wanted to promote young artists, to show
their work, he said.
Matsushita publicizes shows using postcard
fiers and on the gallery Web site, but the peo-
ple who attend generally hear about the event
by word o mouth.The artists initially unded the Bronx Blue
Bedroom Project but now the project has a
grant rom the Bronx Council on the Arts and
other arts programs in the city, to encourage
home galleries.
This month, at the Bronx Blue Bedroom Proj-
ect, Michelle Frick has made birds nests out o
intravenous cord and placed tiny eggs that have
the names o dierent heart diseases imprinted
on them. There are syringes and other hospital
materials strewn about the room and the sound
o birds chirping is playing on a stereo.
Blanka Amezkuas liestyle changes accord-
ing to what work is being exhibited in her
home. At the moment, shes sleeping on a uton
in her living room because she doesnt want to
disturb the ragile nests.
Amezkua said the project is a huge commit-
ment or the artists and or her, but she nds it
very gratiying. She is almost maternal toward
the artwork. Every night she covers each one
o the nests with abric to avoid getting duston the eggs.
The inormal events in these spacessome-
where between a private and a public venue
have made the artistic community more
inclusive
Sometimes I call people up and say Im
having a dinner party, bring over a painting
so we can talk about it, said Jason Andrew,
who displays art in the windows o his ground
foor apartment in Bushwick. The gallery, called
Norte Maar, is a perect square, with all white
walls, and lots o natural light. Andrew said
that a painting is nished when the public sees
it, and his home completes the circle.
Andrew said he is not opposed to the main-
stream galleries, which do something very di-
erent rom what he is trying to achieve. He
describes his home as a relaxed setting that
acilitates conversations about art in the com-munity.
Its way o the beaten path o the critics and
collectors, Andrew said, the driving machine
that is the art world.
te f J ge B,B. Coutsy of Vi Fost
Artists have always come to New York City to make it,
but with real estate at a premium, there isnt enough
room in the galleries in Manhattan for many artists to
show their work.
B l ce
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Dining
Absinthe is a spirit o myth-
ic proportions: it has been
blamed or violence, in-
sanity, and bizarre halluci-
nations--most notably the conjuring
o little green airies. Some even
claim it helped drive Vincent van
Gogh to suicide.
Absinthe has always had this
strange phenomenon where its the
victim and the beneciary o its mys-
tique, said Robert Lehrman, a lawyer
who represents Kbler, a Swiss-based
absinthe distiller. There is something
dierent about it that has helped and
hurt it at the same time.
Now, ater nearly a century, Ameri-
cans have the chance to sample the
mischievous green liquor or them-
selves. Government ocials recently
agreed to allow the word absinthe
on bottle labels, eectively ending a
95-year ban.
Absinthe enthusiasts rom Seattle
to Boston are thrilled that the spir-
it has returned to the United States.
Most now realize that it does not
cause violent rages or visions o green
airies, and while van Gogh did im-
bibe, the stu didnt kill him.
Absinthe was an important ingre-
dient in some o the earliest cocktails,
and its been missing in our coun-
try since 1912, said Gwydion Stone,
ounder o the Wormwood Society, a
Seattle-based absinthe aicionados
club. Not only are bartenders learn-
ing to recreate pre-ban absinthe cock-
tails, Stone added, but they are also
mixing innovative new drinks using
the licorice-favored spirit.Absinthe originated in Switzer-
lands Val de Travers in the late 18th
century. It contains a minimum o
nine herbs, usually including worm-
wood, anise and ennel. The result-
ing pale, lime-green liquor is a very
perumed spirit with the lavor o
anise, said Ted Breaux, an absinthe
researcher and distiller who creat-
ed Lucid, one brand o absinthe now
available in the United States. Its
slightly sweet, goes down easily and
packs quite a punch.
Though originally consumed as a
medicinal stomach-soother, absinthe
soon spread through Europe as a pop-
ular social lubricant. But the potent
liquor was banned throughout much
o Europe in the early 1900s amid ru-
mors that it caused violence and in-
sanity. The United States ollowed
suit, outlawing absinthe in 1912.
Later, the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration kept absinthe o shelves by
banning thujone, a chemical ound in
wormwood that is toxic in high doses.
There things stood until a ew
years ago, when several people who
were determined to reintroduce the
spirit to the United States petitioned
the ederal Alcohol and Tobacco Taxand Trade Bureau. When they point-
ed out that products with less than 10
parts per million o thujone are con-
sidered thujone-ree by the FDA,
the government relented and agreed
to allow the term absinthe back on
bottle labels.
When it is not mixed into cock-
tails, absinthe is most popularly con-
sumed with sugar cubes melted into
it, a concoction dubbed the absinthe
drip. The spirit is best consumed care-
ully, as the alcohol content o most
brands hovers around a stinging 60
percent. Distributors say that ab-
sinthe is gaining popularity as more
bars and liquor stores start to sell it,
but it can still be tough to nd a bot-
tle, or even an absinthe cocktail, since
only a handul o companies current-
ly distribute in the United States.
Quality absinthe can be expensive
and time-consuming to produce, dis-
tillers said. The secret o absinthe is
not only in the wormwood and the
thujone, its in the recipe and all the
herbs involved, said Peter Karl, a
partner in the Kbler distiller. A bot-
tle o Lucid retails or around $60,
and other brands are similarly priced.
In New York City, where a drink
can be had on nearly every street cor-
ner, absinthe is relegated to high-end
cocktail bars.
Aside rom the classic drip, I think
they dont know what to do with
it, said John Deragon, a bartender
at PDT on Manhattans Lower East
Side, reerring to other bars. Deragon
has been mixing absinthe recipes, old
and new, or the past several months.
His repertoire includes some pre-1912
classics, like the Sazerac, a bitter cock-
tail that was popular in New Orleans
in the 1830s, and the Sea Fizz, whichcalls or egg whites and lemon juice.
He is also experimenting with some
new combinations o his own, includ-
ing one kumquat-favored concoction.
Since absinthes herbal lavor is
so intense, it can be tricky to incor-
porate it into a drink. Its like hav-
ing a bright, sharp color, explained
Breaux, who has devoted much o his
career to recreating an absinthe that
meets ederal ood and drug guide-
lines. It works with some things,
and not so well with other things.
Preparing an absinthe drip is a
complicated process compared to
mixing a drink or pouring a beer,
said Sunita, owner o a Manhattan
bar that goes by the same name, and
who preerred not to give her lastname. It calls or sugar to be melted
over a slotted absinthe spoon, which
can take several minutes. It takes a
while to prepare, so that time is lost,
she said. At Sunita, an absinthe drip
costs $14.
Is absinthe a passing ad, or will
it become a bar-shel standard? Ab-
sinthe makers think that by keeping
the standards or their product high,
they will eventually reestablish the
liquors ormer popularity.
We eel the introduction o a prod-
uct that oers quality will help those
in the United States understand why
it was so popular in France beore it
was outlawed, said Breaux o Lucid.
He and other distillers want Ameri-
cans to know that absinthe is notgreen dye in a bottle o vodka.
Sunita agreed. I think its here to
stay, she said. People enjoy s ipping
it. In a cocktail, its quite delicious.
B Je Zeveff
The Green Fairy Returns To America
It was Valentines Day, and Adam
Whitten wanted to give his girl-
riend, Julie Edmonds, a school
teacher in New York City, an experi-
ence she wouldnt easily orget. He
knew she had super sensitive taste
buds, so sensitive that eating any cit-
rus ruiteven oranges and grape-
ruit--made her mouth pucker up like
a wizened prune.
So he presented her with a tiny
a box, inside o which were six red
berries, about the size and shape o
cranberries. Whitten told her dont
ask any questions, just eat one o
the berries, and then he presented
her with a selection o some o her
least avorite ruits--oranges
and graperuits. Prepar-ing hersel or the
usual distasteul
experience, Ed-
monds got a sur-
prise: They didnt
taste sour at all;
they actually tasted
sweet. Edmonds was
delighted, he said. She had
never eaten an orange beore, Whit-
ten said. I thought that would be a
perect Valentines Day git.
The berry that made the U-turn in
taste or Edmonds is called magic
ruit. The plant grows commonly in
tropical climates, but, thanks to some
enterprising and adventurous eaters,
it is now nding its way to the living
rooms around the country where peo-ple o all ages are enjoying its magic
eects.
The plant was rst discovered in
the 1725 by a French explorer, Des
Marchais, when he traveled to A-
ricas Gold Coast where magic ruit
grows indigenously, said Adam Leith
Gollner, author o The Fruit Hunt-
ers, a new book that explores the
history o magic berries and other
ruit. During the trip, Marchais ob-
served that locals ate these berries be-
ore consuming bland porridges and
tart palm wine and noticed that the
berry signiicantly sweetened nor-
mally sour oods.
Food scientists are still not certain
about how the berry works. They do
know that, in order to taste ood, hu-mans rely on the tongues receptors,
o which there are our types, one
each to identiy sweet, sour, bitter
and salty favors. According to Harry
Lawless, a proessor at Cornell Uni-
versitys ood science department,
magic ruit contains a protein called
miraculin that seems to attach itsel
to the sour receptor and acts some-
how to neutralize the reaction to
sourness. A spoonul o sugar helps
the medicine go down because it
masks the bitterness, Lawless said.
The same eect may occur with
the miracle ruit. When miraculin de-
tects oods that have low pH value--
ones that are acidic and taste sour--it
releases sugar molecules into the sour
receptors, changing the perception o
sourness into sweetness, according to
one theory. The eect lasts approxi-
mately one-hal hour, beore
it wears o complete-ly. And it leaves no
adverse eects, Dr.
Lawless said. Its
a naturally occur-
ring berry and, as
ar as I know, its
totally sae.
In act, Lawless was
enthusiastic enough about
miracle ruit that he contributed his
research to a cookbook o dessert
recipes. Each o the dishes would be
sweetened with lemon juice, a clev-
er substitute or sugar, and then peo-
ple would take some extract o the
berry beore eating the dishes. But
the innovation was never approved
by the Food and Drug Administra-
tion. Theres speculation that thesugar lobby was involved, said Goll-
ner, the author o the upcoming book.
The agencys disapproval may en-
hance the experience or some: Its
a orbidden ruit; what could be more
exciting? Gollner said.
For todays legions o oodies,
magic ruit is oering a unique op-
portunity to rediscover everyday
oods. You look at a lemon that
youve tasted a million times, and
all o a sudden it tastes delicious and
sweet and nonsour at all, said David
Barzelay, 25, a law student.
Barzelay oten hosts miracle-ruit
parties, inviting riends to sample the
berrys eect on a variety o oods.
Last February, he ordered 75 miracle
ruit berries and invited a ew dozenriends to his apartment. First, he
asked his guests to taste a wedge o
lemon and watched their aces p uck-
er up.
Taste The Magic:A Tropical Berry MakesSour Foods Taste Sweet.B k B
Absnthe Dp
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SPoTS To SiP ABSiNTHE:
8/8/2019 Dec. 23, 2010 Issue
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8Volume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010UPPER WEST SIDE NOW
Family
In her most critically acclaimed
moment on lm, Augusta Mill-
er is in her car seat holding a
sippy cup. The opening notes
o Journeys Dont Stop Believing
play on the radio as she sits quietly,
seeming to contemplate the lyrics o
the classic 1980s rock anthem. Then
the music ades and Augusta, age 15
months, looks perplexed and a little
angry. She begins to wail and extend
her arms skyward. When the music is
turned back on, she is pacied. When
the music is cut again, she cries until
it comes back.
Its like a calm washes over her,
Augustas mom, Zoe Miller, 34, ob-
serves rom o-camera. The video is
a part o a series Miller has posted
to YouTube entitled (with tough in
cheek) My Brilliant Daughter. This
episode led to a sequel a ew months
later, when Augusta developed the
ability to sing along.
Theres no telling how many par-
ents like Miller post videos o their
inants and preschoolers on sites
such as YouTube, MySpace or AOL
Video, but its clear that tens o thou-
sands are doing it. Even as they con-
ront privacy issues, parents use the
video sites to connect with amily and
riends or share their children with
the virtual world. Truveo.com, a vid-
eo-specic search engine, has thou-
sands o videos starring young kids
in its index.
I started thinking, this will beunny or the grandparents, Miller
said recently, explaining why she put
the videos o Augusta online. While
uploading the videos, Miller used
YouTubes keyword tagging system
and soon earned the respect o Jour-
ney ans across the Internet. Peopleshe had never met were leaving com-
ments.
Your daughter is brilliant! Jour-
ney and Steve Perry ROCK!, one an
who goes by the screen name bib1956
wrote o the rst video.
At irst it kind o creeped me
out, said Miller, a computer tech-
nician. Then I thought, well, I did
it to mysel by putting those tags on
there and now I just think its kind
o unny that people have discovered
her rom all over the place. Miller,
who lives in the Midwest, is careul
never to give away her location too
specically in any o the My Brilliant
Daughter videos.
While impressive, the 600-plus
views that Millers rst Journey video
has received havent quite made it a
YouTube blockbuster. Star Wars ac-
cording to a 3 year old, the sites lat-
est viral smash to eature a toddler,
recently scored more than 4 million
views in two weeks. (In that video,
hilarity ensues when a 3-year-old girl
tries to explain the major plot points
o the rst Star Wars movie.)
Yet the majority o parents who
post on the site deal in more mun-
dane content. Videos o rst steps or
birthday parties are ar more prev-
alent than oul-mouthed toddlers
or diaper-wearing American Idol
hopeuls.
For many parents, YouTube pres-
ents a way o sharing the same
kind o home movies that amilies
o an earlier generation might have
watched together in a living room on
holidays or at reunions. The easy-to-
share videos connect with grandpar-
ents and amily members in ar away
places without chewing up e-mail
inbox space. Its a very big world
out there and were able to make it a
little smaller, said Mike Levinstein,
31, ather o 8-month-old Jonah, the
star o TheLevinsteins.com.Mike and his wie Leah use You-
Tube to host videos o their son and
his play companion, their 2-year-
old pug. The couple is living in Ohio
while Mike earns his masters in
higher education administration,
and they want to keep in touch withtheir extended amilies in Pennsylva-
nia and elsewhere.
YouTubes privacy settings allow
users to limit who is able to view their
videos by designating who can watch
or comment on them, but parents
such as the Levinsteins are comort-
able with anyone in the online com-
munity seeing their home movies.
We dont show the ront o the
house, we dont put the address out
there, Levinstein said. Weve taken
a lot o measures in our home and in
our lives to make sure that were se-
cure. I dont think that being public
is endangering him. I we ever elt
that it was we would change it im-
mediately.That view is shared by privacy ex-
perts.
I dont think we should live in
total paranoia and ear that i we put
a picture or a video o our kids on-
line, that immediately places them
in danger, said Stephen Balkam,chie executive o the Washington-
based Family Online Saety Institute.
Common sense is really whats re-
quired here. The video o the tween
or teenage kid acting out in a risky
way is ar more problematic than, say,
parents posting their 1-ear-old walk-
ing or the rst time.
Balkams institute is a member o
the Internet Saety Technical Task
Force, which launched this month as
part o an agreement struck between
MySpace and 49 state attorneys gen-
eral. It will review, among other con-cerns, identity authentication and
age-requirement enorcement on so-
cial network sites including YouTube.
Parry Atab, executive director o
WiredSaety.org, an online saety
and education group, urges parents
to use privacy settings and to be judi-
cious about the videos they post. We
just need to weigh our wanting to be
proud and showing o images o our
kids with the risks that were posing
because o sharing, she said. The
best way to do it is to control who
sees it. Look at what youre posting
beore you post it and decide you re-
ally want to make it public.
Users oten ind out how public
such videos are only ater theyve
posted.Ken Wong, 39, a web designer, has
been sharing videos o his 21-month-
old son, Joshua, on YouTube since
Joshuas birth. His riends oten
pass links to the videos onto riends,
whom Wong might not know.
When they inally meet Josh-
ua, theyre like, Oh my God! Ive
watched you since you were a little
baby. Its really cool that way, Wong
said. I didnt expect the whole viral
element.
When Joshua approaches school-
age, Wong said he may set the videosas strictly private, so that only those to
whom he has granted permission can
view them. Ultimately, parents who
post online let their comort levels dic-
tate what goes up and who sees it.
O course, it will be a ew years be-
ore the stars o these videos will be
able to give their own user eedback.
I do sort o worry that hes going to
get really mad, said Wong. At the
same time I hope he thinks its cool.
Many ecologically conscious par-
ents view the modern baby shower as
particularly wasteul, with its throw-
away git wrap and bonanza o plastic
toys headed inevitably or the landll.
In contrast, they see an eco-shower as
a simpler, homier aair, more about
good ood and conversation, and lessabout ribbons and balloons.
At these parties, parents may even
request re-gits, items that have been
handed along rom one amily to the
next. Guests present coupons or ba-
by-sitting or homemade meals and
oer handmade books illed with
sage parenting tips. Presents, perhaps
bought rom consignment stores, ar-
rive wrapped in reusable materials like
baby blankets, or not wrapped at all.
Baby, Youre a YouTube starB me l
a me e 15 vde e e ded ytbe.Coutsy: Zo Mi vi YouTub
For many parents, YouTube presents a way of sharing the same kind
of home movies that families of an earlier generation might have
watched together in a living room on holidays or at reunions.
B ke Je
There were no gits tr immed in glit-tery wrapping paper and nylon ribbon
at Susan Rosenkranzs baby shower.
There were no baby-themed paper
plates or the soon-to-be mother, no
streamers o pastel crepe paper orcakes accented with plastic rattles.
I the men and women gathered in
the glow o reusable Christmas tree
lights hadnt been plying Rosenkranz
Eco-baby Showers and her husband with gits, it mighthave seemed like just any environ-mentally conscious couples potluck
party. But there were gits: a green
wooden dragon, organic cotton re-
ceiving blankets, baby outts in pawprint and jungle motis and used chil-
drens books, to name a ew.
Ecologically minded amilies like the
Rosenkranzes want everything they
own to be as natural and earth-sustain-
ing as possible. And with low-impact
and organic goods rom ood to urni-
ture increasingly available, expectant
parents arent waiting until their babies
are born to involve them in earth-con-scious consumerism. Instead they are
updating a ritual or new parents into
one that better refects their liestyles.
Welcome to the eco-baby shower.
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Health
Rita Smith is a tness anatic and step
aerobics is her passion, so when the a-
miliar motions in class let her with an
unamiliar pain, Smith knew something was
terribly wrong.
As soon as I stepped up onto the step with my
right oot, I was in so much pain, Smith, 59, said,
but as soon as I stopped, the pain went away.
Smith tried to go on with her daily lie, going
or mile-long walks each morning, but the pain
caught up with her. Ater one particularly ex-
cruciating walk, she removed her right shoe
and took a closer look.
My oot was completely white, Smith re-
called. No blood was circulating to my ootin my shoe.
It took six months and several tests to dis-
cover what was really going on in Smiths right
oot. Peripheral arterial disease, also known as
PAD, was the culprit.
I had never heard o this disease beore,
Smith said
Like many Americans, Smith ignored the
situation because she simply thought having
trouble walking was part o getting old. And,
like many Americans with PAD, Smith was put-
ting hersel in danger o something even great-
er: the heart attacks and strokes that doctors in
recent years have ound oten ollow this symp-
tom traditionally seen as a mild inconvenience.
There are a lot o things that can cause pain
when you walk once youre older, like arthritis
and back problems, said Dr. Diane Treat-Jacob-
son, assistant proessor in the school o nursingat the University o Minnesota and author o a
recent PAD awareness study published by the
American Heart Association. Many older peo-
ple think its just another part o aging, so they
dont bother to talk to their doctors about it.
Only 25 percent o Americans are aware o
PAD, even though it is both common and dan-
gerous. Roughly nine million American men
and women are aected with the condition,
which is associated with a high risk o heart
attack and stroke.
We tend to think o coronary disease as one
primarily o men, but PAD is denitely an equal
opportunity disease, Treat-Jacobson said. Its
oten thought that more men have this type o
disease and women might think, Oh, I dont
need to worry about that.
The risk o PAD or both men and women in-
creases ater the age o 50 and or people whohave diabetes, high blood pressure or high cho-
lesterol.
Also at risk are smokers and ormer smok-
ers, like Smith: Though she quit 20 years ago,
she used to smoke heavily, going through 40
cigarettes per day.
Together with his own history o smoking,
Daniel Sullivan, 68, who has high blood pres-
sure and high cholesterol, was at high risk or
heart attack and stroke when he elt a similar
pain in his let leg our years ago.
Once a runner on his high school and college
track teams, Sullivan, o New York, ound itkind o ironic that someone who spent eight
years running as much as he did would have
leg problems today.
His gol hobby was the rst to go when Sul-
livan could no longer bear the pain he elt in
his legs when walking.
He continued to ignore it until he went out
or dinner with riends one night and had to
walk several city blocks to reach the restaurant.
I could walk about three blocks and ater
that the pain would become more severe, Sul-
livan, also a ormer smoker, said, at which
point I would either have to wait at the corner
or start limping.
Sullivans riends noticed he was lagging be-
hind, and encouraged him to see a specialist.
It turned out that PAD, a disease he too had
never heard o, was responsible or his pain,
and his doctor inserted a stent in an artery inhis let leg.
Oten, people dont even have symptoms or
the symptoms are hard to describe to doctors,
Gwen Twillman, executive director o the PAD
Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., said, and
might only maniest when the case becomes
advanced--a blister or a sore on the oot that
does not heal in our to six weeks.
This is a sign that the blood isnt getting to
your oot to heal that wound, Twillman said.
Some therapies that people with PAD can try
to control the disease and lower their risk o
heart attack or stroke include stopping smok-
ing, taking aspirin, lowering cholesterol and
taking anti-platelet medications.
In addition to the risk to heart health, simply
putting a stop to the pain was what motivated
Smith to consult with her doctor.
I used to walk a mile a day, she said, andthen I couldnt even walk to my mailbox with-
out having to stop. It was like a clamp on my
leg. It elt like a shin splint in addition to a
pulled muscle.
Walking With The Unknown
Facing a growing incidence o bacte-
rial resistance to antibiotics, pharma-
ceutical companies are struggling to
come up with new drugs to ght in-
ections. The solution may lie in one o natures
natural killers.
Phage therapy is the use o what are known
as bacteriophage, viruses that are parasites o
bacteria.
Phage attach to a target bacterial cell, punc-
turing through and entering its host. Once
inside, a phage can use its new home as a rep-
lication actory beore bursting and destroy-
ing the cell in search o new hosts. Phage can
kill bacterial cells and disinect contaminated
ood products.
Phage were discovered in the early 20th cen-
tury separately by Frederick Twort and Flix
dHrelle. DHrelle quickly realized the medi-
cal applications o this natural phenomenon,
administering phage to patients suering rom
dysentery, but his crude experiments produced
varied results. While his research was pursued
in the ormer Soviet Union, it was abandoned
by the West in the 1940s in avor o newly dis-
covered antibiotics.
Now Western companies are returning to
this eld o research armed with a better un-
derstanding o natures bacterial predators.
Intralytix Inc., a phage company based in Bal-
timore, was established in 1998 and has been aleader in phage therapy, in particular applying
this technique to decontaminate ood. In 2006,
it was the rst company to receive approval
rom the Food and Drug Administration or
a phage product. Phage International, Inc., o
Los Altos, Cali., was ounded three years ago
and is conducting research in Tibilisi, Georgia,
into bacteriophage therapy technologies.
Phage are stealth killers, said John Vazza-
na, president and chie executive o Intralytix.
Phage even can target and kill a specic species
o bacteria, even a particular strain, he added.
The Intralytix product that won FDA ap-
proval is LMP 102 and it is known to be e-
ective in combating Listeria monocytogenes,
one o the most deadly ood-borne pathogens
ound in ready-to-eat oods.
Another ood saety product developed by
Intralytix and now under review by the FDA
is eective against E. coli O157:H7, the strain
o bacteria responsible or the recent contami-
nation o spinach in the United States, Vaz-
zana said.
Phage therapy does have its limitations.
According to Dr. Caroline Westwater, rom
the Medical University o South Carolina, the
act that the majority o phage are so highly
specic about which bacterial cells they attack
can pose problems.
This means you would have to know ex-
actly what bacteria youre dealing with, unlike
with antibiotics, where you can simply admin-
ister a broad-range drug to kill a variety o bac-
teria, Westwater said.
Broad-ranging antibiotics, however, can in
some cases cause more damage by destroying
some o the good bacteria in the human body,
Westwater said.
At Phage International, the rms goal is to
promote the commercial use o phage therapy
in the Western world, said David Hodges, se-
nior vice president o Phage International. I
believe that within eight to 10 years, phage
therapy will be a part o Western medicine.
Phage International owns the Phage Thera-
py Center in Tbilisi, in the ormer Soviet Union.This acility oers treatment or people suer-
ing rom antibiotic resistant inections. The
center is very precise about screening patients
to ensure they are a compatible candidate or
treatment.
Patients will send a sample o the bacteria
to the labs in Tblisi, Hodges said. We then
check to see i we have a bacteriophage to at-
tack that type o cell.
I accepted, patients have to travel to Tbili-
si or the treatment itsel. Patients will nd
out about us through word o mouth, Hodges
said. They search on the Internet or nd out
about it rom their riends.
So is it likely that phage therapy will over-
take antibiotics in popularity?
I very much doubt that, said Vazzana, o
Intralytix. I view them as a complement to
antibiotics, not a rival.
As Infections Become ResistantTo Antibiotics, ResearchersLook To Natural-Born KillersTo Fight Diseases
B s re
B Je Fe
a ee f bee -
ed be e.
r s e be ej e fe fve v e -- e d -- e bee eed f ee -e dee. Coutsy of rit Smith
8/8/2019 Dec. 23, 2010 Issue
10/12
10Volume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010UPPER WEST SIDE NOW
Fitness
Balle! Balle! Sarina Jain shout-
ed during a packed session at
a West Side YMCA class on
the Upper West Side on a re-
cent night, calling out the rough equivalent o
Whoo! in the Punjabi language. Nearly orty
women and one man thrusted and stomped and
jabbed the air in the exercise studio in sync to
the hit Indian pop song Jai Ho, which blasted
rom the speakers.
Feel the beat o the drums! Jain ex-
claimed through her headset. Shoulders!
Shoulders! and then Turn those lightbulbs!
as the dancers bobbed their arms and twisted
their hands in unison.
So exuberant was Jains sweat-drenched
class that the YMCA cleaning sta gathered
to watch them through the studio windows.
You may remember Jai Ho rom Slum-
dog Millionairespecically, rom the lms
high-energy train station dance sequence that
enlivens the closing credits. The movie and the
number have inspired a growing interest in
bhangra, a traditional Indian dance common
in Bollywood lms. Bhangra classes are popping
up across the U.S., where Slumdog, which
won eight Academy Awards, including Best
Picture o 2008, has grossed over $125 million.
Jain, who teaches Masala Bhangraspicy
bhangra at several gyms in Manhattan, says
some o her class sizes have doubled since the
movie was released.
When people see that scene in the movie,
Jain says, theyre like, Honey, thats what we
do in class! Thats what we do every Tuesday!
You burn over 500 calories in a 45-minute
session, she adds.
Jain, who is Indian-American, decided 10
years ago to combine tness instruction with
her native culture by creating the Masala
Bhangra workout. Shes since trademarked
the term and had her routine certied by the
Aerobics and Fitness Association o America.
The Jane Fonda o India, as Jain is known to
some, has her own line o exercise videos and
has appeared on Fit TV.
The only reason I joined the gym was or
this class, says Kristin Carey, who credits the
bhangra classes with everything rom greater
stamina on the dance foor to newly glowing
skin. I never worked out until now, but this
just makes you want to move.
For me, its the music, says Carine Desir,
who upgraded her gym membership so shecould take Masala Bhangra. Youre eeling the
drums. You let it lead you. Ater my rst class, I
said, oh my God, that was awesome.
The trend is spreading to some unlikely cor-
ners. At Springstep, a dance and music studio in
Medord, Mass.s, the bhangra class lled past
capacity or the rst time this year, according
to programs manager Allie Fiske.
Right now everything related to India is
on the top because o Slumdog Millionaire,
says Mary Pirela, a tness instructor in Min-
neapolis. Pirela has arranged or Jain, who has
certied Masala Bhangra instructors rom Ma-
plewood, Minn., to Elk Grove, Cali., to fy in
to give a master class in April and certiy local
instructors.
Pete McCall, an exercise physiologist with the
American Council on Exercise, says bhangras
dierent jumps and s ide-to-side movementsmake it an eective and relatively low-impact
orm o training. He likens the cardiovascular
benets to running on a treadmill at a moderate
pace, with a lower risk o repetitive strain in-
juries. Its a great way to train the entire body
at one time, he says.
Bhangra music and dance originate in Pun-
jab, a diverse state in the northwest o India,
below Kashmir, that was divided between India
and Pakistan when the two countries were par-
titioned. Farmers there once celebrated harvests
by dancing in the elds to the syncopated beats
o a dhol drum and the repetitive plucking o
the tumbi, a stringed instrument.
The distinctive sound has seeped into Ameri-
can popular music, especially hip-hop. Rapper
Missy Elliott sampled bhangra beats in her song
Get Ur Freak On, as did Jay-Z in Beware othe Boys. Jay-Z recorded a remix o the song
with Indian musician Punjabi MC.
I have been so emotionalin a good way
and proud and amazed by how this movie has
rejuvenated the appreciation or Indian cul-
ture, Sarina Jain says.
Renu Kansal, an Indian-American dance in-
structor in Denver, wasnt sure i this appre-
ciation had gone mainstream when she added
three new bhangra classes to her roster last
October. Colorado, she says, is not exactly the
teeming hotbed o the Indian community.
But one class illed up so quickly she had to
nd a larger studio space. Kansal plans to s tart
bhangra classes or children.
People get the hang o the steps really eas-
ily, Kansal says. You eel very quickly on
that youre good at it. Theres no baseline t-
ness level required or bhangra, something shethinks will contribute to its appeal and stay-
ing power.
I mean, gigantic, hairy Punjabi men do it,
she says. So basically, anyone can.
Bollywood OnThe Upper West Side:
B a B w
te -ee be e e e ed f sd me ed -ee e Bd-e d, d b.s J e m B de e ne y ve bee fe e f sd me. Photo by Marie Claire Andrea
Slumdg Dance is Nw A Ftness Caze
You burn over 500 calories in a 45-minute session
8/8/2019 Dec. 23, 2010 Issue
11/12
11Volume #1 No. 3 | Deebe 23, 2010 UPPER WEST SIDE NOW
Classieds
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