Sentence:  That exchange was not only possible but commonplace last week in Manhattan , as more and more New Yorkers were discovering 29 th Street and Eighth Avenue , where half a dozen small nightclubs with names like Arabian Nights , Grecian Palace and Egyptian Gardens <WSD>are</WSD> the American inpost of belly dancing . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  be identical to; be someone or something