Village Board Approves Roselle Street Fitness Facility

Yet another fitness center is coming to Mineola, the to be approved by the in the last 12 months.

At a hearing to obtain a special use permit on January 11 at the , Logan Schecter of Long Beach stated that he would like to open the facility at in the 7,400 sq. ft. warehouse-stye space at 7 Roselle St. Schecter specializes in offering Cross-Fit training exercises, which strengthen and condition one’s core muscles and which are utilized by both police and professional athletes.

“However, what makes the Cross-Fit program unique is that it’s designed for universal scalability,” said attorney John C. Farrell of Uniondale-based Sahn Ward Coschi Gnano & Baker, PLLC. “This means that any individual that’s committed to the program can achieve a success in it regardless of their conditioning or experience.”

The program utilizes the same routines for professional fighters as they would for a senior with heart condition, simply changing the load and intensity of the workouts to meet fitness member of the member.

“It’s the adaptability of the workout that makes it so popular,” Farrell said.

Schecter’s current location is at 201 Hillside Ave. in Williston Park between Willis Avenue and Mineola Boulevard. The current lease is set to expire in April and Schecter is looking to move to a larger facility. Farrell stated that having the larger space would allow Schecter to vary the routine of exercises to keep clientele interested. There are four partners in the business, of which only Schecter and Tyler McBride are the trainers. The business is an affiliate of the national arm of Cross-Fit, which designs the workout programs.

The hours of the facility would remain the same,with classes held Monday though Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., an afternoon session Mondays through Fridays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Classes typically run one hour with workouts varying from 5 minutes to 45 minutes, consisting of a warmup, stretching and mobility with review and exercises comprising the remainder of the time. There would be only one class at a time with one trainer on the premises. The number of students in a class is between eight to 10 on average, but they do have classes where there could be as few as two. Schecter said that he currently has about 150 members.

Schecter stated that his lease allows the use of the parking lot in the adjacent building, which his landlord also owns. The adjacent building is reportedly used to store auto parts and had about five parking spaces. There are six parking spots at Schecter’s proposed site.

There would be no use of typical gym equipment such as treadmills and weight machines, only ropes, pull-up bars, barbells, etc. The business does not generate a lot of trash, only “very little” paper and a “minimal amount of trash at best,” according to Schecter. No food would be served on premises.

“It’s not your typical gym where people go and hang out and socialize,” Larry McCleary, a Mineola resident and member. “You go there an you work out and you suffer, you’re in a lot of pain for that one hour and then you leave and you’re very happy to leave.”

Farrell said that the bulk of the space being used in the back of the facility. “Pretty much the building is set up for us to use as is,” Schecter said, noting that they would install a sign on the front of the building with the company’s name as well as “modest” lighting which would not be spotlights in the interest of safety of its members.

The program also features a running component which would be done outdoors twice a month on streets to “accomplish a certain distance” Schecter said, such as a quarter mile, but would not be done through neighborhood, instead confining it to their block.

“It wouldn’t be a running club for a pack of 10 people,” Schecter said. “The way Cross-Fit works is everybody is kinda at their own pace so if someone from that group of eight to 10 people comes time to do that run then they’ll go out for that run; everyone’s at a different point at a different time in that workout. You’ve got seven people in class, you’ve got seven people all doing the same thing but they’re all moving as fast as they can move; two people may get to the run a lot sooner before the other five people.”

A number of auto body repair shops and light manufacturing facilities border the Roselle Street location, at which deputy mayor Paul Pereira expressed concern.

“There’s really no neighborhood to run through there,” he said, clarifying that “the running never bothered me,” but in the interest of safety, that he would like to know what neighboring business would feel. “It’s one thing to run up and down Mineola Boulevard with wide utility strips and relatively quiet area. It’s another thing if you’re running through sidewalks where a lot of these automotive shops are moving cars in and out, there are deliveries being made, trucks’ blind spots.”

The permit was unanimously approved by the board.