I currently work as the Associate Editor of Gourmet Live, a digital reading experience in the form of a free downloadable app for iPad and iPhone. As Content Producer I am responsible for managing the brand’s blog, writing feature-length stories for the app, managing all social media presence online and appearing in a monthly cooking segment on NBC’s NY Non-Stop.

I have interviewed everyone from Wolfgang Puck and Eric Ripert to Frank Bruni and Tom Colicchio. I have also written in depth about the topics of cooking in the 1800s, the frozen yogurt fallacy, Nocturnal Sleep-Related Eating Disorder, professional athlete’s diets, the cupcake cliché, the worst kitchen calamities, low-carb diets, extreme couponing and more. For a selection of my blogging clips, please visit the Gourmet Live blog.

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Upper West Side restaurants joined forces to raise money for local hunger charities at the first ever Taste of Morningside Heights held at Columbia University’s Low Plaza. Kelly Senyei caught up with several chefs and restaurant owners who dished about their love for food and fundraising.

Video produced and edited by Kelly Ann Senyei. © 2011 Just a Taste LLC

The T-Mobile store in Longwood sells a variety of Sidekicks, including the latest model, the Sidekick 08. Photo by Kelly Ann Senyei.

By Kelly Ann Senyei

This article appeared in print on October 16, 2008, on pg. 7 of The Bronx Times Reporter and was also published on ColumbiaJournalist.org [Oct. 5, 2008].

NEW YORK — It was like any other workday last week for Luis Reyes, a jewelry salesman in the south Bronx neighborhood of Longwood. But as Reyes walked outside after work at his store on Southern Boulevard, he saw that his car window was smashed. Reyes knew instantly what the burglar had been after.

“They’d gone through my bag to take my Sidekick,” said Reyes. “I paid $400 for that phone!”

The T-Mobile Sidekick, a text-friendly phone that allows users to access the Internet and to chat online with Instant Messenger, has become the gadget of choice for Longwood and Hunts Point thieves. Lt. James Koschmerl, who works in the Special Operations Unit of the nearby 41st precinct, said the Sidekick’s easily exchanged SIM card makes the phone a popular item among thieves.

Unlike Blackberries or other texting devices, a password is not required to access a Sidekick when a new SIM card is inserted. A thief only has to insert his personal SIM card into a stolen Sidekick and he has instantly hijacked the original subscriber’s service.

The prevalence of Sidekick-toting teenagers in the Longwood-Hunts Point communities only makes it easier for thieves to run off with the pricey gadget, which can range from $150 to $400 depending on the model. Teenage consumers award an almost celebrity-like status to anyone hip enough to sport a Sidekick, which often rings to the tune of their favorite rap song and is encrusted in rhinestones and personal decals.

Moti, who did not want to give his last name, is the owner of Mobile Communication, an electronics store on Southern Boulevard. He sells an average of 20 to 30 Sidekicks each week and said teenagers, who represent the majority of his Sidekick customers, are driven by celebrity trends.

“They see them on MTV and in the movies,” Moti said. “They see all the rappers have them.”

But rappers don’t only own the pricey phones, they also sing about them in their songs. In 2007, rap superstar Soulja Boy wrote a song called Sidekick in which he sang about girls flocking to him every time he flips his Sidekick 3. The Sidekick has become to teenagers what the Blackberry is to busy executives. It provides instant online access, and denotes a constant accessibility to friends, or to fellow professionals.

Reyes, who said he has 45 to 50 friends who have had their Sidekicks stolen in past months, will not be buying another Sidekick because he worries that it will be stolen again. But while Reyes’ Sidekick was tucked away in his car when it was stolen, most thefts occur while Sidekick owners are using their phones. Lt. Koschmerl said Sidekick owners’ behavior invites gadget-greedy crooks.

“They walk down the street with their heads buried in their Sidekicks, texting,” Lt. Koschmerl said. “They don’t look up, so people can just snatch them.”

Cell phone salesman Sean Khan works at One 2 One Wireless on Southern Boulevard, where he said two-thirds of the 25 phones he sells each month are Sidekicks. Khan said about a dozen customers have told him their Sidekicks were stolen in the past six months.

“I always push for insurance,” said Khan. T-Mobile’s insurance plan costs an extra $5.99 a month. Khan said that customers who take the plan can buy a new Sidekick for half the price, if their original phone is stolen.

Bronx authorities have recently taken action to combat the rising trend in Sidekick thefts. In March, Bronx police instituted a borough-wide operation called “fencing.” Lt. Koschmerl said that during the fencing operation an undercover cop attempts to sell a stolen Sidekick to a local bodega owner. If the owner agrees to buy the Sidekick, authorities can then arrest the suspect for criminal possession of stolen property.

Koschmerl said bodegas buy the Sidekick, which the undercover officer must make clear has been stolen, for $20. But they will then re-sell the phone to a pawnshop customer for a large profit.

“They’ll sell a $300 phone for $150 or $200,” Koschmerl said.

The undercover operation, designed to crack down on the illegal re-sale of the snatched Sidekicks, worked well for awhile, he said. “The first time we did a fencing operation, eight out of 10 locations bought the Sidekick,” said Koschmerl.

But word is out about the undercover program, according to the lieutenant, and a recent fencing operation that tested 11 bodegas in the 41st precinct only yielded two arrests. Still, Koschmerl said the operation will continue because it “is just something that has to be done.”

Sidekick fans say they feel vulnerable every time they pull out their phones in public. “I’ve seen people get punched in the face for their Sidekick,” said Sidekick owner Miguel Martinez. “It doesn’t matter the time of day, in broad daylight, people will just snatch your Sidekick and run.”

This article/slideshow was published on ColumbiaJournalist.org [March 16, 2009].

NEW YORK – While many Americans will sit down to fresh turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, pre-holiday visitors to New York’s World Financial Center got an unusual reminder that for others, the holiday dinner comes out of donated cans.

Canstruction, a food charity organization, hosted its 16th annual canned food sculpture competition last week, featuring designs built by top New York City architectural and engineering companies. Each of the 40 sculptures were created entirely from cans of food – 161,149 cans to be exact.

“It’s an inventive way to present an old problem,” said Marianne Buttell, a visitor to the Canstruction display. “People can enjoy it, and then they know it’s going to a good cause.”

Canstruction uses the sculpture gimmick to bring fresh attention to the perennial problem of world hunger. The group is a foundation of the Society for Design Administration, which describes the annual competition as “the most unique food drive in the world.”

The cans of food used to make the sculptures will be given to City Harvest, a New York-based nonprofit food rescue program. This year’s donation will total more than 250,000 pounds of food, and it comes at a time when food pantries in the city are reporting a surge in clients due to the national economic crisis.

Leah Kaplan, a member of the Canstruction organizing committee, said the economy isn’t the only reason why food pantry shelves are being wiped clean.

“The shelves were bare because of all of the natural disasters that have befallen this country in the last year,” Kaplan said. “Between the hurricanes and the fires, it’s been a real pull on the food banks.”

Andrea Buman, who visited the display with her 3-year-old son Benjamin, said the message of world hunger is no longer a distant concern.

“Right now the message doesn’t have to be spread because it’s not next door, it’s in your home,” Buman said.

Buman was among the 500 to 700 visitors who view the sculptures each day. Visitors are encouraged to donate a can of food, a request that exhibit docent Brent Black said gets a strong response, perhaps because it’s a soft-sell appeal.

“The notion of hunger kind of sneaks in, in a very positive way,” Black said. “You can bring a can, but you get to see something that will never be shown again.”

Each of the 40 sculptures was built in a single night by local architects and engineers, using white albacore tuna, vegetable barley soup, fat free alphabet soup and other canned foods.
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Winning sculptures include the Juror’s Favorite, called the One Can Dream sculpture, which depicts a sleeping muse made out of 7,500 cans of Port Clyde Fish Steaks. Best Meal was awarded to the CANda Hunger End? sculpture, which depicts a panda bear seated among bamboo shoots. Kaplan said the 5,527-can sculpture represented a balanced diet of starch, protein and vegetables.

A sign outside of the McDonald’s at 982 Southern Blvd. in Longwood alerts fast food consumers to the price and the calorie count of two Egg McMuffin sandwiches. Photo by Kelly Ann Senyei.

By Kelly Ann Senyei

NEW YORK – The south Bronx is host to the largest food distribution center in the world at the Hunts Point Cooperative Market. But while fresh produce may be in abundance for the millions of consumers the warehouse ships to, the residents in Hunts Point are fighting a lack of available fresh fruits and vegetables from a dwindling number of local supermarkets. The impact of this paradox is seen in the community’s citywide high obesity rate. It’s an epidemic that many experts say has resulted not only from the less than half dozen regular, full-service supermarkets available to the more than 500,000 south Bronx residents, but also from the abundance of fast food restaurants and the Hispanic population’s tendency to overfeed their children.

Dr. Sharon Akabas, associate director at Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition said the obesity epidemic can’t be solved by any one specific solution.

“Some people believe increasing produce availability would help,” Dr. Akabas said. “But that in and of itself is not an answer. Adding produce to an already high calorie diet just adds calories. So where’s that going to get us?”
The high-calorie diet of many south Bronx residents was just one factor that contributed to the 2007 New York City Department of Health’s report stating that the prevalence of obesity among public high school students and adults between the ages of 45 and 64 is higher in the south Bronx than in the City of New York as a whole. And with two out of every three south Bronx residents classified as overweight or obese, Dr. Keith Ayoob, a nutritionist and associate director of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, agreed that access to produce is only a partial cause of expanding waistlines in the south Bronx.

“It’s one thing to have fresh fruits and vegetables available,” said Dr. Ayoob. “It’s another thing to eat them.”

Obesity is defined by a person’s amount of body fat, which is calculated from their height and weight to establish their Body Mass Index (BMI). People who are classified as “obese” have a BMI greater than or equal to 30, compared to the average between 18.5 and 24.9. This means that one out of every four residents in the south Bronx has a BMI of 30 or higher. And instead of shopping for low-calorie, high-nutrient foods to curb the obesity trend, many south Bronx residents have turned to fast food for their dietary needs.

Local residents in Hunts Point and Longwood can shop at Key Food Supermarket on Westchester Avenue, which is one of two full-service supermarkets in the area. But around the corner from the supermarket are a Dunkin Donuts and a Baskin Robbins. Walk one block further down Southern Boulevard and you’ll find a McDonald’s. Across from the Golden Arches is the next closest competitor, a bustling Burger King. And if you’re in the mood for Mexican food, it’s less than half a block to the neighborhood Taco Bell.

Dr. Ayoob said consumers are making inappropriate choices when it comes to food; choices that often exclude shopping for the less accessible fresh fruits and vegetables, and instead lead them to join in the nation’s fast food frenzy. As fast food empires rule the streets, and small chain supermarkets become a rare find in the south Bronx, Pat Purcell, an organizer for the Grocery Workers’ Union, said the discrepancy is inevitably tied to cost.

“Fast food places can afford to pay higher rent than supermarkets,” he said. “So they win over the supermarkets with smaller rent budgets.”

But Dr. Ayoob said more fresh produce and less fried foods aren’t the only factors leading to the south Bronx obesity epidemic. Dr. Ayoob said the cultural characteristics of the majority Latin American and Hispanic population is causing obesity to become a factor even at a young age.

“They don’t necessarily perceive of obesity in children as a negative,” said Dr. Ayoob. “Many Latino parents find that having a skinny child is akin to being a bad parent … In some cultures you don’t deny children food.”

Dr. Ayoob said denying food is often synonymous with denying children money to purchase the food items they desire, which includes after school snacks at fast food restaurants. The high calorie fast food cuisine includes single menu items with 600, 700 and even 800 calories. The Dunkin Donuts on Southern Boulevard in Longwood offers a pumpkin muffin for 640 calories. That’s roughly one third of the 2,000 total daily calories the Department of Health recommends for an adult.

High calorie counts from fast food restaurants aren’t only confined to the south Bronx, as each year more New Yorkers join the ranks of those classified as overweight or obese. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1997, 15 to 19 percent of New Yorkers were obese, with a BMI greater than or equal to 30. Ten years later, the number rose to 25 percent.

As the number grew, the Board of Health took action, and in March 2008 New York City became the first city to require all chain restaurants with more than 15 outlets to prominently display calorie count information on their posted menus and menu cards. The requirement also applied to restaurant chains in the south Bronx, which now list the number of calories next to the price of each item.

Philip Alberti, a research scientist at the New York City Health Department’s District Public Health Office in the south Bronx, said it’s a move aimed at informing fast food consumers.

“The goal is to give people the ability to measure relatively one item choice over the other,” Alberti said. “And hopefully to then make a choice.”

While some consumers may be dissuaded by high calorie counts, Dr. Ayoob said the calorie postings will only deter people who are interested in the healthier alternatives.

“It’s just like a warning sign on cigarette packs,” Dr. Ayoob said. “It educates interested people. But education is only part of this. Motivation is the other part, and that’s something that posting the calories may not address.”

South Bronx residents are faced with an even greater need for motivation to eat healthy as the inadequate access to affordable and healthful foods, coupled with the inadequate access to safe areas for physical activity, creates what Dr. Akabas called a “perfect storm” for obesity in the south Bronx. She said that more than education is needed to reverse the current trend.

“We tend to look at this as a matter of too little self control, and I couldn’t disagree more,” Dr. Akabas said. “If you don’t struggle with this, then you’re very lucky.”

Inflatable rats and pigs have become synonymous with union protests like this picket line by members of the Local 79 union in New York City. Photo by Kelly Ann Senyei.

By Kelly Ann Senyei

NEW YORK — A small group of union construction workers huddle together outside a worksite on the corner of 37th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan. They gather around an electric generator that gives off heat as it pumps air into a 15-foot tall inflatable rat. The rat’s pointy teeth and beady red eyes stare upwards at a non-union construction site for a new apartment building that’s bustling with movement and noise.

The group of men, all members of the Local 79 Construction and General Building Laborers’ Union, have gathered to picket the non-union construction site, which is rumored to be paying undocumented workers at below the pay line.

“This is the thing that most average people walk by and don’t understand what we’re doing,” says Tom Orlando, a member of the Local 79. “These people literally have their hands in your pocket and they’re stealing your money because they’re not paying their workers enough. It’s not the workers’ fault. It’s the greedy owner.”

And the greedy owner is depicted by the 15-foot tall inflatable pig that stands facing its rat counterpart on the street. Both animals have come to symbolize gluttonous developers and rat contractors that unionized worksites claim are stripping the manufacturing industry of millions in undocumented workers’ fees and causing safety concerns among unskilled laborers. So the union workers form a picket line, a nearly century-old protest tactic first used by female suffrage supporters in 1917 during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.

“We don’t wait to strike. We have the right to organize,” said George Zecca, a Local 79 business agent, from the front of the picket line. “This job is not union and we want to turn it into union. That’s what this job is about.”

But as the men stand shivering in the January cold outside the targeted construction site, no words are exchanged with the non-union workers. No punches are thrown. No threats are made. Their presence on the picket line is all that’s needed to depict their desperation for the most basic of needs.

“All we’re looking to do is feed our families,” Orlando said. Many of the Local 79 workers have been laid off in recent months, while others who are still employed have joined the picket line to protest the developer who is paying $16 hourly wages instead of the standard $30 for union workers.

Despite the nation being engulfed by a recession, and employees being swept up by the highest unemployment rate in 26 years, union members aren’t willing to bury their heads and watch as non-union employees undercut their wages. Picketing non-union worksites is the safest way to protect their own jobs and wages without fear of angering their own union employers.

“We’re striking against nonunion. We aren’t going to lose our jobs,” said Zecca. “You see these guys standing here? They’re on the out of work list,” he adds pointing to a group of unionized construction workers from the Local 79.

Complaints made on this New York City street center on the common battle between union and non-union. While discontent over job cuts and pay cuts are among the other commonly protested topics, historically, picket lines have popped up across the country as protests to everything from gender-based discrimination to poor conditions in workplaces.

It’s a practice that Peter Lazes, Director of Programs for Economic Transitions at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said may be less effective in today’s rocky economic climate.

“It (the recession) is going to force unions to be much more inventive with their approaches to management,” Lazes said. “And traditional approaches that have worked, won’t work as well in this terrible economy, such as strikes or picketing.”

Lazes said strikes, which differ from picket lines in that employees actually stop working for their respective employers, could be the least successful tactic to win back benefits or balance out wages.

“I doubt if strikes are going to be a very effective tool in this economic crisis, when in fact maybe a lot of employers would prefer not to pay employees (at all) who strike,” Lazes said.

Although the economy may be acting against them, unions are benefiting from an increase in membership. In the past year, the number of workers joining unions rose by 428,000 to 16.1 million total members in the US. New York, Hawaii and Alaska each have union membership rates above 22 percent, ranking them the top three states in union participation. According to Zecca, this increase may be the result of employees looking for group security and collective representation to defend their rights.

“Who wouldn’t want to be in a union and get better pay?” Zecca said. “You got to be out of your mind.”

With increased numbers will come more political clout in the form of collective bargaining power. Zecca, who has directed dozens of picket lines and strikes, said power in numbers is essential to achieve union goals. Zecca cited the recent increase in membership as newfound strength for unions across the nation and said it comes down to coordination to meet objectives. “You don’t organize, you die. You die out,” Zecca said.

Whether the recent spike in membership is due to greater fears of job cuts and recession-induced wage reductions, or just a stronger desire to collectively join forces, union employees will inevitably be forced to find new ways to achieve their goals.

“I think they’re going to need to spend more time in figuring out a better solution for their members,” Lazes said. “Whether it’s more flexibility for the contract so people can do broader jobs than they normally would have – I think they’re going to have to be more creative in helping their members to sustain their employment.”

Reported, produced and edited by Kelly Senyei and Hannah Yi. This story was selected by PBS/Frontline.com to be featured as part of their Digital Nation documentary [March 2009].