Harlem Loses Fitness Shops In Pandemic, Fueling Health Gap Fears

HARLEM, NY — Amid the pandemic's many casualties in Harlem, one has flown under the radar: locally-owned fitness and wellness businesses, nearly half of which have closed in the neighborhood since last year, according to neighborhood leaders.

At least nine gyms, fitness and yoga studios, and other wellness-oriented enterprises in Harlem have closed permanently since the start of the pandemic, according to Carey King, director of the neighborhood nonprofit Uptown Grand Central, who put together the list along with the owners of a few remaining businesses.

"It’s really tough for fitness studios right now because we’re literally at the full-year mark of being closed," said Tammeca Rochester, founder and owner of Harlem Cycle. "No one’s contingency plan has that you have a full year of closure."

Some fear the losses could worsen the already-severe public health disparities in Central and East Harlem, which both have above-average rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension, according to city data.

All of those conditions can worsen cases of COVID-19, which helps explain why Harlem's death rates have been among the highest in Manhattan, Rochester noted.

"Our neighborhood was hit the hardest when it came to COVID cases because one, we have the most essential workers, two, we’ve been plagued generationally by diseases that are preventable," she said.

"The government isn't talking about fitness"

The businesses that closed Harlem locations this year include: Sword Class, ISH Yoga, Metropolis Fitness, Revolutionary Fitness, Superior Fitness, Balanced Pilates, Bikram Yoga Harlem, Shaktibarre and Bread and Yoga (which still has a studio in Inwood).

Many of those had opened within the past five years — part of a wellness boom in Harlem, which had far fewer such businesses a decade ago.

Vivian Williams-Kurutz was one of those pioneers, having taught her first yoga class in Harlem in 2003.

"More than 95 percent of the people that walked through our doors were experiencing yoga for the very first time," said Williams-Kurutz, who later founded the nonprofit Harlem Wellness Center.

The donation-based Wellness Center has survived the pandemic even as its 127th Street studio has sat empty for the past year. Still, the pandemic has not spared its customers: at a recent memorial service that Williams-Kurutz hosted, "one woman came in representing 45 people in her circle that she lost due to COVID," she said.

Rochester has kept the lights on at Harlem Cycle thanks to private grants for minority, woman-owned businesses, she said. Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to reopen fitness studios this week will have little impact on Harlem's businesses, which have such small footprints that the 33 percent capacity limit gives them few reasons to bring back customers.

Aside from a single PPP loan, the federal government has been of little help, Rochester said.

"The government isn’t talking about fitness at all," she said. "You’re seeing a lot of bailout money coming to restaurants and other industries, but they’ve completely left out the one that we need the most."

"Get people moving"

Now, seeking to prevent any more closures, a handful of Harlem's roughly 11 surviving fitness studios are coming together to offer free, virtual classes, hoping to get neighbors thinking about wellness after a mostly sedentary year.

Kicking off Sunday, the "Spring Into Fitness Sampler" will include three weeks of virtual classes hosted by a rotating cast of local businesses, including Harlem Cycle and Wellness Center.

"The idea is just to draw attention to the issue that the businesses have closed," said King, who helped organize the event through Uptown Grand Central. "Get people moving and excited about moving — and maybe sign up for paid classes afterwards."

Rather than competing, joining together may help the studios outlast the pandemic, Williams-Kurutz said.

"If you separate logs in a fire they’re going to burn out," she said. "But if you bring them together, they’re going to burn stronger."