Actually this was introduced in 5.6.0, so new really isn't that relative. In 5.005_03 and earlier you have to jump an extra hoop:

my $foo = do {local *FH};
# etc as above
[download]

or if you prefer a different look, you can use Symbol and then do it with:

my $foo = gensym();
# And so on
[download]

But with 5.6 it autovivifies for you, and that is rather nice.