Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Uptown Gym Closes Suddenly, Leaving On-Site Tattoo Shop in Limbo

 A sign posted outside of the gym on October 6th announced that the gym was closed.
J's Big Gym Closes Suddenly
View Full Caption

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A decade-old local gym abruptly shut down Monday, leaving longtime members upset and a tattoo shop that operates inside the space in limbo.

J’s Big Gym, which opened 11 years ago on 181st Street near Wadsworth Avenue, featured a weight room, as well as group fitness classes including boxing, martial arts and aerobics.

The gym space also housed Higher Level Tattoos, which was forced to shutter because of the gym's closure. Owner Ed Rivera said he found out about the shutdown Sunday night when an anonymous phone call tipped him off.

"It's terrible," Rivera said. "We was there 10 years and to be caught off guard like this is terrible."

Rivera, who opened a second outlet of his tattoo shop on Dyckman Street four years ago, said he is now in talks with the owner of the 181st Street building to reopen in a different space at the address.

J's owner, Jay Hirschhorn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"At the end of the day, even though this is a tragedy, that was a great opportunity for me at the time to open in the gym," Rivera said. "Jay gave me that opportunity when I really needed it."

Gym members were also left hanging, with little information as to how they could recoup their $330 a year in membership fees.

Members arrived Monday to find a letter posted next to the building’s entrance announcing the closure and a gate pulled down over the gym’s door.

“We apologize for the very short notice,” the letter read. “Circumstances beyond our control including personal health are forcing us to take this action at this time.”

The letter also told customers that the owners would be in touch soon to discuss individual financial settlements with each member.

However, a dozen members who gathered outside of the gym early Monday afternoon said no one had called to notify them of the closing or to discuss a refund.

Edward Garcia, 36, has worked out at J’s almost daily for the past decade. He said that when he visited the gym on Saturday, no one mentioned anything about a potential closure.

Garcia said he’s noticed fewer people working out at J’s since a few chain gyms have opened in the area.

“There’s a Planet Fitness now over on 177th Street,” he said. “It’s $10 per month. Here you have to pay $300 for the year, so it’s more expensive.”

Planet Fitness opened the location in August 2014, and another low-cost chain, Blink Fitness, is slated to open a Washington Heights branch next year in the renovated George Washington Bridge Terminal.

While Garcia said he would likely join Planet Fitness, others said that the chains are not good options for them.

Alan Sidransky, another longtime member, said he went to J’s because it carried bigger weights than the chains.

“I want heavier weights than Planet Fitness offers — at least up to 100 pounds,” he said. “There aren’t many places like that anymore.”

Sidransky also expressed frustration over the way Hirschhorn had handled the situation.

“He should have said two or three weeks ago, ‘I’m going to close the gym,’ and made arrangements with people," Sidransky said. "This is just not what you do.”