Tags Posts tagged with "Redefine Fitness"

Redefine Fitness

Pictured from left, owner Anthony Amen, Councilwoman Jane Bonner, Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich, Legislative Aide Amani Hosein, Three Village Chamber Executive Director Jane Taylor, and Three Village Chamber member Rob Taylor Photo courtesy of TVCC

Redefine Fitness celebrated the grand opening of their new facility in Stony Brook Square, 1113 North Country Road, Stony Brook with a ribbon cutting on April 28. 

Redefine Fitness celebrated its grand opening on April 28. Photo courtesy of Councilmember Kornreich’s office

The event was attended by members of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce, Town of Brookhaven Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich and Councilwoman Jane Bonner, staff, friends and family who came out to wish owner Anthony Amen good luck in his latest venture. 

The new business offers a wide variety of small-group fitness programs including personal training, special needs training, post-rehab and more. It is the second location in Brookhaven Town. The first was opened in May of 2019 at 5507 Nesconset Highway in Mount Sinai. 

“I am delighted to welcome Redefine Fitness to my district. Our community is pleased to have such a beautiful amenity here in our neighborhood. I’m so glad the successful model they established in Mt. Sinai is now coming to Three Village. Congratulations on your new location and I wish you the best of luck with all of your future endeavors,” said Councilmember Kornreich.

“I am happy to welcome the second Redefine Fitness to Brookhaven Town and I wish them the best of luck. I encourage everyone to stop in, say hello and take a look at this beautiful facility. It’s a great addition to Stony Brook,” added Councilwoman Bonner. 

For more information, call 631-364-9027 or visit www.redefine-fitness.com.

Anthony Amen, back middle, with his emplyees at Redefine Fitness in Mount Sinai. Photo from Anthony Amen

As a result of gyms and other fitness centers being taken off Phase 4 of New York State’s  coronavirus reopening plan, owners across the state, including some in Suffolk County, are suing Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), the state attorney general and the State of New York in a class action suit. 

The suit, which was filed earlier this month in state Supreme Court by Syosset-based Mermigis Law Group, alleges that the governor’s shutdown orders violated the plaintiff’s due process. 

“The unequal, random, arbitrary and unfair treatment has continued in the reopening guidance,” the document states. “Tattoo parlors, tanning salons, health spas and dentists are allowed to open their doors, but gyms remain locked down.”

The group of businesses is suing the state for $500 million, for what plaintiffs claim is hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. As a result the businesses have had to lay off at least 70,000 employees statewide. In addition, they are seeking an injunction of the executive order, so they can reopen their gyms. 

A representative from Gov. Cuomo’s office did not respond for comment in time for press time. 

According to court documents, “several hundred members” are a part of the lawsuit, though that number is expected to increase. The primary plaintiff in the case is Thousand Island Fitness Center, based in Jefferson County on the state’s northern border. The suit originated on Long Island with Charles Cassara, owner of SC Fitness, with locations in Hicksville and Farmingdale. Almost 5,000 individuals have joined Cassara’s private Facebook group Fitness Industry Vs. NY Class action lawsuit.

Anthony Amen, owner of Redefine Fitness in Mount Sinai, is one of the many gym owners represented in the suit. 

“All we’re asking for is a shot, we need to get open, let us follow all the [Centers for Disease Control] guidelines — we are not going to make it [if gyms remain closed],” he said. “You can get a massage, you can get acupuncture, you get a tattoo, you can go to a mall that is all indoors, but you can’t come to do one-on-one training.”

Amen’s gym lost about 80 percent of its clients due to the shutdown. The Mount Sinai gym owner said the last few weeks have been a whirlwind, and at one point he thought he would be able to reopen as he provides a “personal service.” 

“We reopened June 10, because I called the county and I asked them, ‘Hey, we do personal training, can I open as a personal service, do one-on-one training only, we follow all CDC guidelines.’ They told me OK,” Amen said. “Fast forward five days, I get a call from the governor’s office, threatening me with a $10,000 fine and ordering me to close down immediately and saying that I wasn’t allowed to be open. I told them that I spoke to the county, and they said the county lied to you.”

Currently gyms are only allowed to do outside training, though Amen says that for him and other gyms it is just not feasible to do that long term, especially during the summer months. Gyms were expected to reopen July 8 under Phase 4. 

“It was 90 degrees almost every day last week, totally humid,” he said. “I started training people at 9 o’clock in the morning, and even at that time it is a lot to ask of people. They are going to pass out or have a heat stroke.”

Studies on whether gyms are safe are divided. A Norwegian study, cited in the lawsuit, found that individuals who decided to work out at gyms were not at a greater risk of contracting coronavirus. On the flip side, in a paper published by the CDC, researchers in South Korea discovered 112 COVID-19 cases linked to fitness classes in 12 locations. 

Ed Darcey, owner of Personal Fitness in Rocky Point. Photo from Facebook

Ed Darcey, owner of Personal Fitness Club in Rocky Point, had similar sentiments. He too has signed onto the class action suit.

“These past 18 weeks have been really frustrating — all we want is the ability to reopen again,” he said.

Darcey, who has run his gym for the past 31 years, initially thought that his business would only be closed for a short time. That thought quickly faded as the severity of the pandemic became evident. He said believes he can run his businesses safely.

“Let us open our doors again, so we can get our business flowing,” Darcey said. “Fitness people want to help each other.” 

The Miller Place resident referred to the gyms as a “second family” to people, adding that he misses being around his clients and helping them with their goals.

“A lot of our clients here see the gym as a mental and physical outlet,” he said. “That’s been taken away from them.” 

Darcey said because of the governor’s decision, they weren’t given the opportunity to bounce back like other industries that have been given the green light to reopen, adding that ‘it doesn’t make sense that gyms are left out.

“I might be able to make it through, but some of my peers aren’t [going to],” the gym owner said. “They’ve put their heart and souls into this industry, it’s heartbreaking.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up for Darcey’s gym. At press time, $6,365 has been raised since July 1.

“Ed Darcey has supported every single person that has walked in and out of the door of that gym,” the fundraiser states.

Amen said the situation is bleak for gym owners, saying they are struggling to pay bills with no revenue coming on. 

“Gyms are rent heavy, and payroll light — we are still getting billed,” he said. “We are trying to get the landowners involved in the lawsuit because rent payments are the biggest expense and it is unfair for them too.”

The gym owner feels frustrated being left out in the dark. 

“We don’t get into this business to make money, we do it to help people,” Amen said. “How are we not relevant — it’s unfair, we need to be heard.”

Owners of Huner’s Fitness Advantage in Port Jefferson said they believe they should be considered essential for the work they do helping people remain active and healthy. Photo from Huner’s Fitness Advantage website

The effects of COVID-19 will no doubt change how businesses and customers interact. For gyms and fitness centers that could be challenging. Drastic measures may have to be taken in these facilities normally filled with people, sweat and germs. 

And with Long Island finally having started Phase 1 of the reopening process, gyms will have to wait longer than most to get back to some semblance of normality.

Anthony Amen, owner of Redefine Fitness in Mount Sinai, didn’t have much time to react to the news of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) shutdown order in March. He was busy training with a few clients. 

“We found out that morning and we were forced to close on the spot at 8 p.m.,” he said. 

Initially, Amen and other gym owners thought they would only be closed for a couple weeks, but that hope quickly faded as the magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic became evident. 

“It was tough, I was like, ‘What the hell am I going to do?’” Amen said. 

The gym lost 80 percent of its clients due to the shutdown. In an effort to keep some of them on his books, the Mount Sinai gym owner had to get creative and began offering virtual fitness classes. 

“We had to adapt to the times,” Amen said. “We try to keep them on track with their goals and work with them as much as we can virtually.”

Amen said the industry had been evolving toward incorporating more online training even before the pandemic. 

“The shift toward online personal training has been coming, COVID-19 just sped it up,” he said. “The next phase will be an online/in-person training hybrid model.”

That shift and subsequent social distancing guidelines could cause several issues for larger gyms that thrive on constant foot traffic and by offering a plethora of gym equipment and machines. These facilities are used to cramming equipment side by side and will most likely have to spread out equipment, which in turn could lead to reduced capacity. 

In Hong Kong, some gyms have installed plexiglass barriers to give exercisers space and to keep any potential virus from spreading. In the U.S., larger gyms are poised to offer touchless entry, and increased cleaning, among other things. Retro Fitness, which has close to 10 locations on Long Island, has said it will scrub down equipment using hospital-grade cleaner throughout the entire gym, according to a press release.

Amen said for smaller gyms/studios like his, that process will be much easier. 

“We can definitely make more space by moving equipment — we can easily have one or two people come in and be able to be 6 feet apart,” he said. 

The Mount Sinai gym owner is hoping he can acquire some new clients, saying he could see some people not being comfortable going to their old crowded gym and wanting to be around less people in general. 

The question of when will gyms reopen still looms large. If you look at the state’s four-phase reopening process, gyms are in Phase 3. Given how Suffolk County finally reached Phase 1 reopening this week, it’s not a stretch that it could take several more weeks or even longer until gyms get the OK to open its door again. 

Nanci Huner, who runs Huners Fitness Advantage in Port Jefferson along with her husband Eric, said she believes they are an essential business and should be allowed to be open. 

Huners Fitness provides personal training, nutrition counseling and private and small group training. Their clients are mostly individuals in their 60s through 70s who rely on their services to stay active and remain healthy. 

“A lot of these people that come to us have diabetes, high blood pressure and other problems,” Nanci Huner said. “Exercising makes a big difference.”

Huner said it is essential for those clients to get structured exercise, as in some cases it increases their mobility and it makes it less likely that they could lose their balance and fall. 

“For a few of them it’s about keeping them from getting hurt and with us being closed, they are negatively affected by the lack of exercise,” she said. 

While they wait to reopen, Huner is optimistic that they can adapt to the potential new business climate. At most, there are four clients at their group sessions and even less personal one-on-one classes. 

Equipment spacing shouldn’t be a problem either, according to Huner. Before COVID-19 struck, the duo had moved in its fitness center to a warehouse space on North Country Road. Prior to that, for 15 years, they ran their business from their own home. 

The move happened so close to the shutdown that Huner said they didn’t even have time to put up their new sign in front of the building. 

“We’re hoping we can reopen as soon as possible,” she said. 

Owner Anthony Amen, center, celebrates with his staff, local officials, chamber members and clients last Saturday. Photo by Heidi Sutton

The Mount Sinai-Miller Place Chamber Alliance hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and grand opening for Redefine Fitness in Mount Sinai on May 4. The event was attended by friends, family, staff, clients, chamber members and Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) and Leg. Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai), who presented owner Anthony Amen with Certificates of Congratulations. 

“Redefine Fitness offers personal training and special weight loss programs with a unique approach to guide their clients to reach their goals. The Mount Sinai-Miller Place Chamber Alliance welcomes them to our community and wishes them all the best in their future success,” said JoAnn Klein, membership director for the chamber.

“Leg. Anker and I are major supporters of small businesses. We appreciate you having faith in Mount Sinai and opening up a business here. We wish you all the success in the world,” added Bonner.

“Redefine Fitness offers one on one training, small group training, special needs training. We’re here to help people. We just want to help everyone live happy and healthy lives. We hope to continue and grow,” said Amen. “I just want to thank everyone for their support.”

Located at 5507 Nesconset Highway in the King Kullen Shopping Center, the gym is open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. to noon. For more information, call 631-743-9906 or visit www.redefine-fitness.com.