THIS IS QUEENSBOROUGH
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QUEENS CHAMBER MEMBER NEWS
INFIT NUTRITION OPENS IN GLENDALE BY BENJAMIN FANG Glendale’s newest health and nutrition-focused store celebrated its official grand opening over the weekend. Infit Nutrition, located at 69-44 Cooper Avenue, offers a variety of products to help customers live a healthy lifestyle, whether their goal is to lose weight, gain weight or boost their energy. Among the options on the menu are low-calorie, low-sugar and high-protein smoothies, teas, bowls and other specialty drinks and snacks. Owner Jonathan Acosta, who opened Infit Nutrition in January, said the smoothies taste like ice cream and their teas taste like juice, but are all healthy. He said they put aloe in many of their products because it helps clean out the digestive system and burn fat. “We want people to have healthier options,” he said. Acosta said since changing his own diet, he has lost more than 100 pounds. “I feel amazing,” he added. “I want people to feel the same.” Acosta, who lives in Flushing, spent nine months looking for possible locations for his healthfocused business, but couldn’t find many affordable options. His aunt, a Glendale resident, suggested that he look in the neighborhood. When he found the corner store that would become Infit Nutrition’s future home, Acosta said he liked the area because it looked like a calm space where people would gather. He also saw that there was no nearby competition to what his new store would offer. “I want to create that family environment where people can come, sit down and have a conversation,” he said. The process to open the new storefront was “a little tedious” and time-consuming, Acosta said, which included figuring out the permit process and how to comply with government regulations.
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Though it only took him a few months to open, Acosta said he had the advantage of collecting the information before really starting the process. “If I didn’t look this up months before I planned on opening, I wouldn’t be open today,” he said. “It was definitely a battle, but I was persistent and wanted to do it.” Acosta also had the help of dedicated friends, some of whom came after work or worked overnight to help him renovate, decorate and prepare for the store’s opening. He also enlisted the help of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, which he joined last March after hearing about the organization from his friend. Acosta said the chamber gave him a lot of guidance on support systems, filing taxes and finding elected officials to attend the grand opening. “They walked me through everything,” he said. Infit Nutrition already has a robust social media presence, including more than 1,180 followers on Instagram. Acosta said 93 percent of customers who walk in say they’ve seen the new business on Facebook or Instagram. “Social media has been major,” he said.
Assemblyman Mike Miller (second from left) presented a proclamation to Infit Nutrition owner Jonathan Acosta (third from left) during the grand opening celebration. The Glendale store owner said he also plans to use social media platforms as a space to solicit feedback and suggestions from customers. That way, he said, customers will feel their voices are heard. Acosta said he intends to make Infit Nutrition more of a community space, hosting monthly events. They’ve already planned a sip-and-paint night on February
28. “We want the community to come in, bond and get to know who we are,” he said. “We want to be the middleman to connect people.” Though the business just opened, Infit Nutrition hopes to be a mainstay in Glendale for years to come. “We’re here to stay,” Acosta added.
FACTS VS. CRITICAL THINKING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 “People who are critically thinking are not afraid of failure,” he said. “Don’t be frozen in place by the fear of failure.” Bienstock broke down the process of critical thinking into five separate steps. The first is to “inform and describe,” where a person asks questions to better understand an issue. The next step is to “discover and explore.” The NYIT professor said that means staying focused on the issue and keeping your “eye on the ball.” The following step is to “negoti-
ate and cooperate,” which includes considering what other people have to say and exploring “without any preconceived notions.” That’s followed by “test and review,” in which a person objectively weighs the facts and evidence. The final step to critical thinking is to “integrate and apply” formulated ideas into new understandings. “If we change the way we look at things, this is a process we’re going to be doing continuously in life,” he said. Bienstock said there are ways to improve one’s critical thinking skills, including practicing, think-
ing several steps ahead and keeping one’s ego in check. He also encouraged attendees to be in tune with their emotions, always ask questions and to even set aside time to think. The professor noted that one problem with education today is that students are only learning facts, but not critical thinking or analyzing. “We know we don’t know things, that’s the point,” Bienstock said. “If we know we don’t know something and try to discover the information, we can go through the process.” “It’s a liberating way of thinking about the world,” he added.
