Gleason's Gym Moving This Year to New DUMBO Digs

Pictured: Gleason's Gym. Photos by John V. Santore

DUMBO, BROOKLYN — Gleason's Gym is switching locations in DUMBO.

The famous training facility, currently located at 77 Front St., will take over a first-floor office space around the corner at 55 Washington St., owner Bruce Silverglade confirmed Thursday. He said he hopes to move into the new space by August.

Silverglade said property developer Two Trees, which owns both locations, asked him earlier this year if he'd be open to the move.

He agreed. "I owe a lot to the landlord — they've done a lot for me," Silverglade said.

Gleason's first opened in the Bronx in 1937. It moved to Manhattan in 1977, and then to its current location in 1984.

The gym will lose nearly 2,000 square feet of space in the move, its owner said, but it will also gain all-new facilities — including new bathrooms, high on the wish list for current clientele.

"The membership has really turned around," Silverglade said Thursday, in between taking phone calls and making change for the gym's small convenience store.

When Gleason's originally moved to DUMBO, it was a "desolate area," he said, and most of his customers were fighters.

Professional fighters still train at the gym, which employs around 80 trainers. However, Silverglade said the majority of his 900 full-time members these days are businesswomen and businessmen.

"I'm looking at it as a very positive move," he said of the relocation.

In a statement, Two Trees CEO Jed Walentas described Gleason's as a "tenant that contributes to the great retail mix of DUMBO. We're pleased they'll continue to be a fixture in the neighborhood."

Two Trees spokesman Jeremy Soffin said the company doesn't have a new project planned yet for Gleason's space.

Some of boxing's most famous fighters have trained at Gleason's over the decades, including Muhammed Ali, Jake LaMotta and Benny "Kid" Paret, who was tragically killed during a boxing match in 1962.

It has also served as a scene location for a number of movies, including Raging Bull and Midnight Run.

"We've had a lot of great times," Silverglade said, "but it will continue."