By: Sean Crose
“WE ARE REALLY BACK!!”
So declared Gleason’s Gym, perhaps the most famous boxing gym in the country. With New York City reopening gyms after months of Covid-19 induced quarantine, Brooklyn-based Gleason’s has good reason to celebrate. For Gleason’s “will reopen at 5 AM ET, Wednesday, September 2nd.” Although members will be able to return, things won’t have gotten entirely back to normal. For starters, members will have to make an appointment before workouts or training sessions. What’s more, Gleason’s, like all gyms in New York, will not be open to full capacity due to Covid-related safety measures. “We will have 90-minute training slots,” Gleason’s claims, “10 per day in which we will admit 35 persons per slot.”
Opened during the Great Depression, Gleason’s has survived good times and bad. Some of the biggest names in the sport have trained there, along with many less well known but prominent pros and armatures. For almost forty years now, the gym has been owned by Bruce Silverglade. According to the New York Post, “Silverglade estimates that there are 50 professional boxers at Gleason’s, and 12-20 trainers who train them, and 92 trainers in total.” That’s a lot of people without a place to ply their trade.
Still, the fact that Gleason’s and other New York Gyms are now able to reopen is nothing but good news for owners, employees, fighters, and New York boxing in general. “This is an evolving process,” Silverglade said, “and conditions are subject to change without notice. Please be understanding and patient, and bear with us. We promise we’ll be trying our best to accommodate everyone.”
Another City Gym happily reopening its doors is Eric Kelly’s Bronx based Southbox Gym. “I’m as happy as can be,” said Kelly during a recent interview with Boxing Insider, adding “the members, they’ve been hitting me up on social media.” Kelly went so far as to use the pandemic downtime to improve his business. “We’re opening in a bigger, better facility,” Kelly said. “We used this pandemic time to grow.” After having gyms throughout New York shut down for months because of Covid 19, Governor Andrew Cuomo is encouraging a safety-first approach.
“New Yorkers must closely adhere to the guidelines,” Cuomo says,” and local health departments are required to strictly enforce them to help ensure gyms and fitness centers reopen safely and protect the public health.”
Gleeaon’s Gym can be reached at the following web address: https://www.gleasonsgym.com/
Southbox Gym can be reached at the following web address: https://www.southboxgym.com/