World's Oldest Man, Alexander Imich, is 111 Years Old and Lives in NYC
The world's oldest man is Alexander Imich, who is 111 and one-fourth, according to reports. The verified supercentenarian was born on Feb. 4, 1903 and attained his title as the world's oldest when the previous recordholder, Italian Arturo Licata, died last month.
The world's oldest man lives on the Upper West Side of New York City, and even though he has lived so long, he doesn't have any particular secrets or methods to attain the age that he has.
"I don't know, I simply didn't die earlier," Imich told NBC when asked about how to live so long. "I have no idea how this happened."
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However, there are certain vices he has avoided— he never drinks alcohol, he says, and gave up smoking years ago. Imich also abstains from chicken and fish, and used to be very athletic, participating in gymnastics, swimming, running and javelin-throwing, among other sports.
Imich has survived hardships as well: originally growing up in Czestochowa, Poland with other secular Jews, he was there in 1939 when the Nazi army conquered their lands. He and his wife fled to Bialystok, but refused to accept Soviet nationality, and they were thrown into a labor camp. By the time he had gotten back to Poland, he found much of his family had died in the Holocaust, he told The New York Times.
From there, Imich and his wife emigrated to Waterbury, Conn. in 1951 and after his wife Wela's death in 1986, he moved to NYC. Imich and his wife never had children, and his closest relative is an 84-year-old nephew.
Though Imich is the world's oldest man, there are still 66 women older than him, Gerontology Research Group of Torrance, California reported. The oldest of them is Misao Okawa, who is currently 116 years old.
