Brownsville Recreation Center — Attraction in New York

This place is a rose in the concrete. I must say, I have been spending and wasting my money on commercial gyms, when I had the Brownsville Recreation Center right here in my own back yard. Where do I begin?

First, the art that is displayed all over this location is beautiful. My hat goes off to the person(s) who has blessed the walls of the BRC. You can bring your children here and have a Black History lesson, alone. From the top level to the bottom level. It's amazing. From King Tutankhamun to Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. Oops! I mean, Muhammad Ali.

Upon entering this location you will always see the youths engaged into something. Playing video games, in an activity and/or a playing sport. I even saw one of the activity rooms converted for young girls to learn how to braid hair on a mannequin. This was a beautiful site to see. The most important part to me was that the youth was OFF THE STREETS!

When I go into the BRC I only go for the weight room. However, I always take my time going straight the the weight room because I LOVE taking my time to stroll through the center, being nosey and looking around. The staff is nice, comforting and knowledgeable. I have never encountered a rude staff member, I'm always greeted with smiles.

Kudos to the staff and site...

I sent my babies here & this is my review.

I know that there is some renovation going on so I can say but so much...

I love how this place is for the community. When you go in you feel the love, You see joy & You hear the laughter. They treat you like family. This is more then just a recreational center/community center. We need to not only have more places like this for the children (especially the teenagers) but for the neighborhood. We need staff like these people. I have two teenage girls and a toodler & one of my teens are very troubled, I put her in here to help keep her off these street & engaged in activities.

The cons about this place is they don't have enough teenagers involved so my girls felt like they was there with " babies" but they still enjoyed some other activities they had going on. I can't wait until the pool opens because I hate the Betsy head pool & i am truly looking forward to an inside pool. They're friendly, commutative, could use more funding for like snack & stuff but other then that this is...

I'm giving this facility five stars simply because I appreciate the professional customer service. The receptionist was kind, polite and patient.

The bar may be low if giving such a high rating based off of something so simple, but I highly appreciate it. I'm tired of feeling apprehensive before I call with a query.

St. John's Recreation Center has a few, rude staff members and I had an unpleasant experience this morning with a receptionist at the Red Hook location.

This unprofessional behavior is slowly becoming the norm. It's almost as if this unprofessionalism is encouraged and tolerated. I'm tired of being disrespected, especially since I'm a patron who is supporting the facility.

Whoever the receptionist was at the front desk today on Saturday, October 25th, 2025 at 11:20 AM, thank you so much for being polite. It is refreshing and highly...