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Building That Banned Rent-Regulated Tenants From Gym Will Now Let Them in

By Emily Frost | October 26, 2015 2:15pm
 Rent-regulated residents said they'll soon be able to use a gym that they'd previously been barred from using. 
Stonehenge Village Gym
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UPPER WEST SIDE — Rent-regulated tenants who were barred from using their building's new gym will now have access to it for a monthly fee, residents said. 

Stonehenge Partners, which manages Stonehenge Village at 120-160 W. 97th St., sent an email Friday encouraging residents to sign up to use the building's gym for $25 a month. The email went out to both rent-regulated and market-rate tenants at the 417-unit complex, noting that the fitness concierge service hOM would now operate the workout space, according to residents and the email.

In February 2014, rent-regulated tenants, who make up 60 percent of the building, learned that only market-rate tenants would have access to the new lobby-level gym as a rental perk — a move those prohibited from the gym described as "segregation." 

But pressure from Public Advocate Letitia James and other elected officials in the form of an inquiry with the Human Rights Commission, followed by an official complaint to HRC charging age discrimination filed by tenants, made the difference, said building resident Jean Dorsey, a named plaintiff in the complaint.

Though the commission's ruling is not yet clear, Dorsey, who has lived in the building for more than 40 years, is touting the new membership plan as a major win.

"You take your wins how you can get them," she said, noting, "it would not have happened if we hadn’t fought."

Attorney Marjorie Mesidor, who is representing Dorsey, previously called Stonehenge's denial of access "a crass display of injustice," but also age discrimination since the rent-regulated tenants were more likely to be older. 

Human Rights Commission officials ruled the complaint had enough merit for a hearing, and a trial date has been set for Dec. 8 and 9, a spokesman for the commission said. 

Stonehenge Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Dorsey, who called the new monthly fee "reasonable," plans to join the gym and wants to get a Zumba class started there, she said. She's waiting to hear more details about when the gym will open to everyone.

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