My butt has been charting new territory in my jeans. I bike a fair amount, walk a ton, eat well, but as 30 approaches, my body is exploring the outskirts, and that’s not cool. I asked around, and got a glowing review of a neighborhood gym for women that costs only $10 a month. Cheap and close were my two main criteria, and this place passed with flying colors (signature yellow, pink, and red, to be exact).
Lucille Roberts, the gym version of Joyce Leslie (that may only make sense in my head), is located on Myrtle and St. Nicholas Ave in Ridgewood. It is a quick bike ride for any ladies off the Morgan through Myrtle stops on the L and some J folks as well. It’s got all the machines you need (ellipticals, bikes, treadmills, weight training, etc…), plus a ton of room for stretching ,and classes (included in the price), my favorite of which is the Butt and Gutt class which I try to attend bi-weekly.
Patrons are a diverse crowd of women of all ages, and the mood is supportive, amiable, and fun. What I like best is that my schedule allows me to go during the day sometimes, and during those hours it is practically empty. It fires up around 5:30pm when many of the classes start, and when daycare hours begin (yes, they offer free daycare for kids while the moms work out). Lucille Roberts herself was a daughter of Polish refugees and grew up in East Flatbush. She built her gym mini empire on the mantra: “know your customer.” She realized that ” the woman who might have two kids and two jobs was an ideal health-club member.” The gym is indeed set up for women without a whole lot of time or money. It’s super cheap, there is no cafe, no sauna to lounge in, and the workout classes are basic and pack a punch. Yoga is not on the class schedule.
Though the place could use an aesthetic makeover, it is always clean and they seem to be big on quality control. I witnessed a visit from who I think was the Lucille Roberts VP (a tanzilla workoutaholic in very white pants), having a strongly worded conversation with the managers about loose threads in the carpet, and an invisible leak in the ceiling. One quote I remember: “It’s about the difference between right and wrong!” For my $10 a month, that’s more consideration than I would expect.
PS: okay, so once I saw a woman put a burrito in the water holder of her treadmill and chow it while working out. That is all I am going to say about that. It’s mostly a great place where women of Bushwick and Ridgewood go to feel healthy and get that butt to behave.
Lucille Roberts
54-32 Myrtle Avenue
Ridgewood, NY 11385
718-628-6262
braunzucker July 17th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Thanks Jessica.
I’m going to start hauling my butt and gut over there as much as I can!
Jessica Elsas July 17th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
awesome! i hope you like it as much as i do.
also, fyi readers…I do know how to spell “gut” but I was being true to the cutesy way they spell it on the Lucille website.
Tony July 17th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
$10 a month and free daycare? And look at the size of that gym! Not a bad deal.
ricmac01 July 18th, 2008 at 11:22 am
REALLY BIG BUTTS and skin-tight pants seem quite the rage for Bushwick females walking Broadway (ba-boom, ba-boom).
jeremy July 20th, 2008 at 3:01 am
is this a gym for women only? if it is a women only facility, is there a gym anywhere close to the kosciuszko J train?
jessica July 28th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Yes, women only. But there is a Richie’s almost across the street for men (and a few women). Also cheap monthly, or $5 a visit if you want to try it out first. Its at the Myrtle Wyckoff stop.
just curious, did anyone join or at least check out Lucille after reading this post?
Angie August 1st, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I joined after reading this. I’m going tomorrow to get my membership card and look around. After reading this, I talked to some women at work (in the Bronx) and they love Lucille Roberts. Thanks for the post!
gar October 28th, 2008 at 3:38 am
u say tht ur butt s getting biggee lik its a bad thing
A. M. January 8th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Lucille Roberts is well known for not letting people out of their contracts, even if they’re moving as far away as the UK. OK, it’s cheap, but I get sneaky scam artist feelings about this place. Google them and a whole lot of nastiness pops up.
tj March 12th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Hello,
I used to go to the bronx location prior to having a baby and never paid attention to the daycare. Just wondering if the daycare at myrtle is good and clean. Also to the above poster pretty much all gyms don’t want to let you out of contracts. Thats just the way of the gym membership.