Crunch Gym Plans to Open New Location Next Year in Park Slope

Crunch has its eye on this 5th Avenue location. Photo by John V. Santore

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — A planned Crunch gym at 555 5th Ave. was given the green light at a Community Board 6 committee meeting Thursday.

Michael Nacmias, an attorney for Crunch, said the new gym will probably open in about a year, due to the permitting process the company must follow.

The community board's Landmarks and Land Use committee approved the plan on the condition that the gym would be adequately soundproofed.

Nacmias said the fitness center would take up part of the building’s first floor, as well as its entire basement and second floor, but wouldn't displace most of the existing businesses in the property.

Those businesses, including a grocery store, were closed Friday.

The gym would offer spin classes and standard exercise equipment, he said, and would employ about 30 people.

Nacmias said the facility would operate seven days a week, from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Crunch's attorney estimated the gym would accept around 4,000 members, with more than 500 using the facility on a typical day.

He said the gym would not create parking problems, as members are expected to arrive by foot and public transportation.

Currently, Crunch has five locations in Brooklyn, including one along Flushing Avenue at the north end of Park Slope.

There are, however, other workout facilities in the area, including the Prospect Park YMCA and Harbor Fitness, a family-owned business operating less than a block away on 15th Street.

On his way out of that establishment on Friday, neighborhood resident Ben Grade, 44, said that while he thinks Harbor is the best gym in the area, he would consider switching to Crunch if it offers enough weightlifting options.

A manager at Harbor, Mike Toledo, said the gym is in the process of expanding, but still thought Crunch would cut into his business.

"We'll definitely lose people, but it's competition. It's what makes the world "(go)," he said.

Crunch's proposal now heads to Community Board 6's next general board meeting, scheduled for April.

After that, the company must also obtain approvals from other city bodies, such as the Landmarks Preservation Commission.