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Clinton Hill's First Yoga Studio Asks Neighbors to Help Them Expand

By Janet Upadhye | November 14, 2013 9:19am
 Move With Grace Yoga has launched an online fundraising campaign to help expand their space in Clinton Hill.
Move With Grace Yoga
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CLINTON HILL — Clinton Hill's Move With Grace Yoga owner wants to triple the size of her studio and she's asking the community to help.

When Grace Tappin opened her storefront on Myrtle Avenue in 2007, there were no other yoga spaces in sight and her one-room studio provided plenty of space for the fledgling Clinton Hill yoga community.

But now, her classes are overflowing and the Brooklyn native has started an online campaign hoping to raise $20,000 to expand the space.

"We arrived when Myrtle Avenue was just coming out of the shadows of rough times in Brooklyn," she said. "Now our classes are at capacity and I am hoping to provide more space for a yoga community that has outgrown our one-room studio."

Tappin recently acquired the vacant 700-square-foot apartment behind her yoga studio at 469 Myrtle Ave. that, when renovated, will allow her to add two new classrooms. But upgrades will cost upwards of $50,000 and Tappin is hoping that neighbors will foot part of the bill.

"Assuming 60 percent of the cost is our duty [and] we hope the other 40 percent is your generosity," she wrote on her fundraising page.

Tappin is dedicated to offering affordable classes and with the additional classrooms she plans to teach more yoga, pilates and zumba sessions. She also hopes to host sewing classes, movie nights and arts and crafts events, and provide the community with a music rehearsal space.

Her online campaign has already raised over $1,000 and Tappin is working hard to let local merchants and neighbors know that she needs more.

"I really hope that the community will help us and support this effort towards improving the space and improving the experience," she said.

If Tappin's fundraising efforts are successful, construction on the new space will begin in early 2014.