New Cycling Gym to Open in Mineola

A new cycling gym is taking over the former martial arts facility at 155 Jericho Turnpike in Mineola.

The new facility, Revolution Athletics, focuses on group fitness through indoor cycling and TRX suspension weight training as well as group circuit training, a class which is geared towards strength and weights. TRX weight training primarily uses straps that are anchored to the wall while customers use their body weight as resistance to develop strength.

“We’re not like some other gyms that I know you have in the area where they actually run outside, it’ll all be done in the facility,” owner Michael Bonacuso said during a September 12 special use permit hearing in front of the village board at the village hall.

Currently residing in East Williston, Bonacuso originally lived in Mineola, graduating from Chaminade High School in 2000 and is currently one of the school’s soccer coaches. He was also a member of the East Williston Fire Department from 2004-09, and is a Captain in Army National Guard, having been deployed to Iraq.

His business partner, Samantha Johnson of Freeport, is a graduate of Uniondale-based Kellenberg Memorial High School, received a bachelors from NYIT with a masters in architecture from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 2011. Johnson is certified in indoor cycling, TRX suspension and fitness training and formally worked at several gyms, including Sky Athletic, Dolphin Fitness and Sportset, all of which are in Rockville Centre.

The facility would be open from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays. On Saturday and Sundays hours would be only from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The classes would hold between 10 to 20 people at any one time and there would be three additional instructors in addition to Johnson and Bonacuso. No food or beverages would be sold on the site and there would be negligible trash because of that practice. Customers would have to park either on the street or make use of the nearby village municipal parking lots, something which is not anticipated to cause a problem.

“Because we’re going to be open during the off-peak hours in the morning and at night and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., when most businesses are open, we will not be open so it shouldn’t be a problem,” Bonacuso said.

Restrooms and sink are available to customers, but shower - one of which does exist at the facility - would not be available to the public.

The former martial arts studio left about 3 years ago with the space remaining vacant in the interim.

There would be no structural changes to the facility, which would retain the current open floor plan, which fits into the owners’ plans of changing the various exercise stations, consisting of 22 bikes and five exercise stations which would develop different muscle groups.

“You build the stations specifically for that class,” Bonacuso said. “So you’ll have 5 different stations that will rotate every minute, 45 seconds on, 15 off, it’s circuit training. So, you might come to a circuit training one day and it will be A, B, C, D, and E training and then the next time you come, it will all be different, the muscle groups will be different, the stations will be different; it’s all using steps and weight machines or weight apparatuses whether it be barbells or weighted bars or kettle bells, things like that, so it does change.”

The new gym is not part of a franchise and is open to everyone from teens to seniors and every level of experience.

“We’re able to accommodate different levels of fitness and backgrounds,” Johnson said.

“Because we have cycling classes, the thing that’s so great about that is that it’s low impact on your knees so instead of having to run outside you can actually get on this bike and we can fit you perfectly to the bike so there’s low impact,” Bonacuso added, “a lot of people that actually train for marathons, they use cycling because of the fact that is is low impact so it very much can be used by senior citizens.”

Payments would be accepted online at the gym’s website but customers can also pay at the store. Packages of 10 classes would be available as well as one, three, six or 12 months unlimited passes or pay-per-class. Senior discounts would also be offered.

Speakers for music inside the gym had not yet been installed, but the owners said that they would test them and make sure that the neighbors would not be able to hear the music.

“I’m lonely, I’d like a new neighbor,” Tony Lubrano, the owner of Piccola Bussola, which is next door, said. “There’s are very old building and with very thick walls, we’ll wait and see but I don’t think noise from either of us is going to be an issue.”

The board unanimously approved the permit and the gym’s grand opening is scheduled for September 22.