Illegal milk trade ring in Bay Ridge

BY MATTHEW LYSIAK
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Tuesday, January 8th 2008, 4:00 AM

The final deal goes down in a Bay Ridge apartment.

That's where the product can be scored, but the elaborate web weaves through the city.

"I know it's illegal, but that doesn't mean it's wrong," said one Brooklyn mom, one of 20 from the borough who pick the stuff up at the Bay Ridge pad.

The women aren't dealing narcotics, but illegal unpasteurized milk, and they have been organizing into groups that skirt federal law to get the goods.

"There are risks, but it's much safer than pasteurized milk," said another mom who regularly feeds her 2-year-old with milk straight from the udder.

Though it's against the law, more city mothers are signing on to a Web site that reveals dropoff points around the city where the raw milk can be picked up.

"I think people's fear and uncertainty in a time when everyone seems to be getting cancer, immune diseases and a variety of other ailments explains the quest for more natural products," said Maimonides Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Joanna Tsopelas.

The parents must first circumvent the law, because while possession of raw milk is legal, selling it is a crime.

Though it's also a violation of federal law to transport raw milk across state lines with the intent to sell it for human consumption, advocates claim the health benefits far outweigh the risks.

To get around the law, no money changes hands. It must all be done online - and only after the purchaser signs a form releasing the seller of all liability. After paying online, the specific milk pickup spots and times are revealed in Bay Ridge and five additional locations - in Williamsburg, in Queens, in the west 40s in Manhattan, in midtown/Flatiron and in Tribeca - where a milk truck waits.

Before it hits the street, the deal goes down first in cyberspace at www.wprice-nyc.org.

But drinker beware: An FDA report on illnesses caused by raw milk over the past five years says there have been 18 outbreaks of bacterial illness involving raw milk or raw milk cheeses in 15 states.

Those outbreaks have sickened 451 people, a few of those seriously enough to be hospitalized. The report lists diseases raw milk products can cause, such as tuberculosis, diphtheria, polio, strep throat, scarlet fever and typhoid fever.

"Although I am a huge believer in organic foods, I think we need to be careful where we draw a line," said Tsopelas, who added the diseases "can be potentially dangerous to individuals as well as unborn fetuses. ... Granted, all who drink raw milk won't get ill. But would you want yourself or your child to be the one?"