Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA
I just have to give a shout-out to the newly renovated YMCA in WestBed. This past weekend I checked it out...it's at Bedford & Greene (?)...and I registered on the spot. It's only about $30/mo. (after a $75 initiation fee) for access to a brand new swimming pool, gym, indoor track, etc. Everything is so brand new and clean and state of the art! I was really impressed. Check it out. They'll give you a tour.
Comments
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The indoor track sounds really nice. Do they also have treadmills? What about stair climbers and elliptical machines? I've been a member of Maxim Gym on Driggs and N9th but if our YMCA's looking good I'd much rather go there.
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This is great info. I've been looking for an inexpensive way to workout in the neighborhood. sounds like this might be it! i will definitely check out the y.
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I checked out the YMCA's website and they seem to be offering everything a health nut would need to stay fit. Looks like I may be changing gyms.
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let me know whoever goes ..about the equipment in gym..like treadmills ellipticals etc. thanks
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I went yesterday and they have plenty of treadmills and elliptical trainers. They also have stairclimbers, bikes, free weights, and machines. The fitness room is located on the first floor as soon as you enter the facility. The staff are friendly and they will give you a tour if you tell them that you are thinking about joining. I wrote a little piece about it on the blog: www.bedstuyblog.com. You can follow the link to the YMCA program guide.
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Subject: BS YMCA
just my $0.02........i checked out this Y and was treated horribly by the girls at the front desk. they seemed more interested in carrying on their personal conversations rather than dealing with the 10 or so people lined up at the front desk. and that reception was after walking down the 4 very questionable blocks of bedford avenue.........wouldn't want to be making that walk after dark. i opted for the burns Y instead......much friendlier and inviting by my experience. -
Subject: Correction
i meant the Dodge Y, not Burns -
I'm surprised to hear this, because the ladies at the reception desk went out of their way to make me feel welcomed. In fact, a group of people had already started a tour of the facility and I had missed them by a few minutes, so the staff offered to show me the fitness room and the woman who was leading the tour told me that I could catch up with the group and when the tour finished she would take me around the areas I had missed. I left wishing that more places in Brooklyn had such friendly staff.
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Bedford is a main street. i doubt you should have any safety issues there. the police walk on foot everyday. Sometimes i question why people move to areas they feel threatened by..
The Y is spectacular - I checked it out yesterday as well. I am all about value and new facilities. -
Subject: "Main Street" - yeah right
[quote="Anonymous"]Bedford is a main street. i doubt you should have any safety issues there. the police walk on foot everyday. Sometimes i question why people move to areas they feel threatened by..
Just because Bedford is a "main street" does not make it hospitable. If I felt uneasy walking it it broad daylight there is no way I would be in that neck of the woods after dark - and by the way - I don't live in that hood, it just happened to be the closest Y to where I do live which is a world away from Bedford Avenue. -
when i went there with my husband and child to go check it out last weekend, we were blown away! i mean, i've been paying more at crunch in fg and for WHAT? it makes crunch look like a dump. i was totally impressed by the staff at the front desk-they were friendly and well informed. i am so going there. viva bedford ave!!!!
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I guess it really depends on your comfort level, and a gym located where you don't feel comfortable isn't one which you will use all that much. For me, I need a gym around the corner and the Bed Stuy Y seems to fill the bill. (Dodge Y is so far away that I am amazed that it would work for "1.23") Is it gay friendly however? I am planning to do a family membership for my son and me, but I am thinking of adding my boyfriend to the membership.
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I hadn't thought about this, but it a good question. I lived for about 9 years in Chelsea, so my idea of gay friendly is based on my former gym, the NYSC on 23rd & 8th. That gym was gay friendly. But the Bed-Stuy Y seems welcoming to everyone, and all of the people that I've seen working out there seem more concerned about being/getting in shape more than anything else. I can't imagine that you would experience any problems at our YMCA...and if you do, putnam-denizen, I've got yer back!
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How does sexuality enter into the conversation of going to a gym? The gym is for working out not for any overt personal interactions, so who needs to know or wants to know about anyones personal choices. I hope the Y would terminate a membership based on any sexual act on the premises!
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Realestateguy, I would hope no sexual acts are going on on the premises of a gym too, but I'm also not naive. This is NYC. Besides, I wasn't talking about any sexual acts (and for the record the Bed-Stuy Y is a clean FAMILY oriented place). I was just trying to give putnam-denizen feedback on the atmosphere at this gym. It seems like a welcoming atmosphere, is all. No one should care about a person's sexual orientation but there are some places where a person might be made to feel uncomfortable because of their sexual orientation (or their religion or gender or race for that matter). That's how sexuality enters into the conversation of going to a gym.
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It's not about cruising or engaging in any sexual acts at the gym -- it's about feeling welcome at the gym no matter what your orientation.
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Exactly, Bifteck. And the Bed-Stuy Y is a place where EVERYONE in this neighborhood can feel comfortable.
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The gym is not concerned with sexual orintation so leave that off of your application and there should never be a problem. I am sure you will feel totally ignored unless you crave attention, just workout and keep things in perspective.
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i thought that perhaps putnam-denizen was asking because a place that is not gay friendly may not honor a gay partner on a family program. hopefully that is not the case, but is a valid concern of his.
in any case, this y sounds fabulous...now if i could just get off my bum and check it out... O:) -
Subject: Your Tone
realestateguy,
The tone of your answer speaks VOLUMES and upsets me. The improvements that you seek in Bed-Stuy will only occur if OPENLY gay families feel welcome in the community. I hope you get this. Diversity of all kinds is precisely what your community needs, despite your barely concealed hostility. Bed-Stuy must be a community that welcomes all who are interested in improving community life. I say this as a straight woman, married w/ children, who misses her beloved old community of church ladies, bodegas, brownstones and always, already there--gay families.
Cheers
& The Hill of Clinton has no "s" : -
Subject: Re: Your Tone
Anonymous wrote: realestateguy,
i applaud this woman. =D>
The tone of your answer speaks VOLUMES and upsets me. The improvements that you seek in Bed-Stuy will only occur if OPENLY gay families feel welcome in the community. I hope you get this. Diversity of all kinds is precisely what your community needs, despite your barely concealed hostility. Bed-Stuy must be a community that welcomes all who are interested in improving community life. I say this as a straight woman, married w/ children, who misses her beloved old community of church ladies, bodegas, brownstones and always, already there--gay families.
Cheers
& The Hill of Clinton has no "s" : -
The improvements I seek don't discriminate against anything but bad behavior. I have gay tenants and have never had problems or conversation about their personal business. My applications are based on ability to pay and maintain property and your personal life is yours. The Y as a business would be foolish to discriminate on these issues. The improvements that I seek have never and never will have to do with anyones family and is open to all. My cause is about my community and your preferences are yours. Thanks
i
i -
Subject: Re: Your Tone
Anonymous wrote: realestateguy,
It would be appreciated if you responded to all the business information that was posted and left things that are private private. My community needs better schools and security, it already is well served in the diversity aspect. Our Alliance has never had a conversation with anything to do with sex and with so many real obstacles ahead I doubt we ever will. As an aside the bodegas are stronger than ever and are the single largest problem in our community for many reasons.
The tone of your answer speaks VOLUMES and upsets me. The improvements that you seek in Bed-Stuy will only occur if OPENLY gay families feel welcome in the community. I hope you get this. Diversity of all kinds is precisely what your community needs, despite your barely concealed hostility. Bed-Stuy must be a community that welcomes all who are interested in improving community life. I say this as a straight woman, married w/ children, who misses her beloved old community of church ladies, bodegas, brownstones and always, already there--gay families.
Cheers
& The Hill of Clinton has no "s" : -
Wow - I step away from the computer for a day and look what happened. I checked with the Y and they told me that they have two family memberships - one for 1 adult and children the other for 2 adults and children. Different price. Seemed to have no issue with the two adults being two guys. I think posters above have fleshed out the issue I was raising. I certainly understand why "realestateguy" didn't get it - it is not uncommon for nongay folks to be completely oblivious to the extent their "private" stuff is made very public every day. I don't want to join a gym where others are talking about "faggoty ass" this and that, or where people will give me dirty looks when my family and I come in. What "alliance" are you talking about? If it is a business alliance, I wonder if the two gay bars - Langstons on Atlantic and Starlite Lounge on Beford Avenue, are part of it? I think you'll find that gay folks are amongst those creating the better establishments (as opposed to some of the seedier bodegas) which you seem to appreciate. Okay less talking, more pumping (iron).
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Putnam-Denizen,
I think that it is critical that the changes that are happening in Bed-Stuy START out open and inclusive. This is so important. A business alliance must actively reach out to the entire community--afterall it is an alliance.
RealEstateGuy,
Demanding silence of gay families in a world of outward, aggressive, and blantant heterosexuality is the oldest form of homophobia in the world. Lead the choir but leave your partner at home etc. We must move beyond this "benign" repression already. You live in NYC, not small town NC!
Although I too am ambivalent about the bodegas, it must be acknowleged that they were selling the milk, bread, eggs and chicken thighs (sigh) when most others had all but abandoned Bed-Stuy. The bodegas will improve if it is economically advantageous for them to do so. Community suggestions are also helpful. For example, it one were to say, "You really should order The Sunday Times, I'm sure they will all be purchased. And while you are at it, how about some Wolfgang Puck Soup--I will personally buy tons if it," you will begin to see a change, even in BodegaWorld. And you might add, "Keep selling *fill in illegal substance* and the cops will be all over this place." -
You live in NYC, not small town NC!
Uh, Greeneism, I'm from "small town" NC! Believe it or not, there are open-minded people there too!
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Changeling,
I'm sure there are! But's let's put it like this, people don't say, I want to live in an open-minded place. Let's see. Oh, this is a no brainer! I'm going to small-town, NC! -
You're right. They say I want to live in an open-minded place, they head off to NYC and then realize there are more close-minded people here than in the hick town they left!
Seriously, Greeneism, I agree with you--people do assume that small town=closed-minded people, city=open-minded people, but I'm afraid that statements like "this is NYC, not small town X" only feed the misconception. I have to say when I saw "...not small town NC" my face looked like this: :shock: but no harm, no foul.
Overall I was in complete agreement with your statements about Bed-Stuy. -
Changeling,
I'm loving your blog btw. Don't quit because there aren't a ton of comments. Just keep posting and letting people know you exist. There are some many issues to discuss.... -
Thanks so much! I appreciate the support.
Howdy, Stranger!
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