Bedford-Stuyvesant YMCA — Local services in New York

Today, I brought my 6 year old son to his first swim lesson at 11:10am. It was a busy scene with kids leaving the pool and kids waiting to enter. The swim instructor called the stage 1 kids so I proceeded to the front of the locker room - she said that she was referring to stage 1 kids leaving the pool and to sit tight. After those kids left, I brought my son forward to the pool area again (I stood by the door) I told her that this was his first time there and that he wears glasses so he can’t see far. She said it’s ok and that she “got him”. All of the other kids were getting in the shower and he was waiting his turn. She then started to put the floating device on the kids. I asked her does he have to get in the shower first and she said that she will put his floaty on first. She then directed him in the shower after she put his device on. I turned my head for a moment to see where the parents seating area was and when I turned around, the instructor was walking the other kids to the other side of the pool while my son was LEFT UNATTENDED in the shower. At the same moment I was going to get my son, I said to myself out loud “why did she leave him in the shower”, another instructor walked passed. She proceeded to say that “it was my responsibility to make sure that my child is in the pool area”...HE WAS, AND I WAS THERE THE ENTIRE TIME. She proceeded to say that the instructor has a lot of kids and can’t keep track” (she was extremely rude and unprofessional). Are you kidding me?? This was her answer for a 6-year old swim class? I tried explaining to her that I was there the entire time and that I continuously told the first instructor that this was my sons first time. This young girl totally disregarded all safety issues. She tried to justify my 6 year old being left unattended by trying to blame me. I immediately took my child out of the shower. I spoke to the manager and also received a refund but I’m extremely disappointed. My son LOVES the water. What if he jumped in? Both of the instructors were on the opposite side of the pool. When parents bring their kids to the Y’s swim lessons, they are entrusting them with their safety. I was taken aback with the sheer disregard of safety and the concern for safety in which I’m not sure if this approach is a general consensus at this location. My child was so devastated as he was excited to go to swim class. I don’t believe that either of these young women should be in a setting which required a high degree of safety measures - especially the young girl that didn’t understand the egregious situation that was happening. What if something happened? What would I get...an I’m sorry. She should...

They claim to be a community organization serving the community, but think it is fair to charge $57 a month for a parent and child membership for a woman who is disabled and is on public assistance. Then I discovered that with no contact or warning whatsoever, they began charging my credit card $100 a month instead!!! Searched the website for a way to contact, and it sends me around and around in circles. Evidently I cannot email them about this and will have to call on the phone, which I don't do, or go in there personally which is not going to be easy for me to do physically. It's 2018, people.

They do not increase daytime programs for children OR their "babysitting" hours when schools are closed or over vacations during the school year - a terrible decision for those of us who are single parents without the money for sitters.

I signed my son up for swim lessons and tried to take him there to swim with him myself, but the pool is so cold I cannot get in it, and after about 15 minutes my son's lips turn literally blue, he is shaking, and I have to take him out. If I sit on the edge, which is as far as I can get in without muscle spasms, the staff yells at me that I can't let my son in the pool without getting in with him. He's 9 and he can tread water just fine.

In the gym, there are always dudes slamming the weights down extremely hard at strangely random intervals and the guy whose job it is to stand watch over the gym never says a single thing to any of them. I have to leave when they start doing that because it makes my heart jump out of my chest every single time. The gym is also inexplicably filled with teenagers at random times when they should be in school. I am an extremely out of shape 37-year-old woman with severe anxiety and I had this crazy idea that if I go to the gym at oh, say, 10 am on a weekday, I wouldn't be surrounded by screaming teenagers.

All this and more, I can't go here anymore, and now I have to somehow get it together to go down there and argue with them about why they have decided it's cool to just start charging me $100 a month for no reason. This is no way to run a business, let alone a community service...

This is probably one of the smallest of the nyc YMCA’s I’ve been to. They offer less than some for a lower price— for example, there’s no towel service but it knocks down the monthly fee. I live in bedstuy I went here for years but quit two years ago for a variety of reasons so my review will be a little about that. Also, I’ve lived all around nyc for 22 years and have tried just about ever mid-low end gym (Bally’s, NYSC, Blink, Planet Fitness, Crunch). YMCA is great among those for their family-focused mission. I don’t have my own kids but really appreciate their dedication to supporting families in health and fitness. In addition, they will work with you to apply to an income contingent plan if you’re out of work and they Supposedly give families scholarships.

I loved this YMCA while I was there because it was this kind of family place. I loved the classes (spin and caribbean dance were my favorites) and teachers. I secretly loved that my classmates were not New York’s next too model, like a lot of the Manhattan gyms, because I feel self conscious at the gym.

But, the location is not very convenient to any trains. I live two stops further out on the A train and it’s a good 15-20 min walk to the gym from the train. So when I had access to a car I’d drive there, in the summers I’d just walk or bike, but the location became a deterrent.

When bedstuy became a more popular place to live, the YMCA got more and more crowded. Spin classes became a battle ground to get the working bike (I’d get to the gym an hour early to get on the list, then live up outside the room to get a working bike as some were in disrepair), and the free weight area became overcrowded. The locker room required doing your best not to knock into some other naked person while changing, and sometimes failing.

Eventually I moved on and left the Y. Don’t get me wrong, I hope this institution sticks around, but I hope they are able to grow into a larger space eventually to accommodate their...