Jukebox NYC — Local services in New York

I spent over a year and a half at Jukebox going 5+ times a week. I participated in almost every extracurricular-outdoor classes, social events, and spar club/fight night. I felt like I was a staple member of the Jukebox community, and I think many others would agree. Take a scroll through the gym's instagram, and you can find my mug scattered across it.

That said, I was unceremoniously pushed out of the gym. It was very hurtful to feel cast out from a community I cared deeply about and actively supported.

I do feel this was a targeted, personal effort by the owner Carrie.

The core programming of the gym is great, but the facilities are lacking, the cost is heinously high (even for Park Slope). Worst of all there is a pattern of troubling behavior coming from Carrie.

As a result of my exit, as well as some other reasons, I cannot comfortably recommend Jukebox.

Membership information is intentionally obfuscated. Members are paying different amounts for the same memberships.

Here are prices as of March: $279/mo for 8 classes $349/mo for 12 classes $599/mo for unlimited

After a year and a half of support, my unlimited membership tier was eliminated one week after being told I was "invaluable" in an email directly from Carrie--a rather naked scheme was deployed to price me out of the gym.

Ostensibly, the reason I was pushed out was "membership changes," but I am certain Carrie just didn’t like that I am friends with some former members and some former coaches. She believed that I was (and I heard this from several folks): “using my membership to steal members from her gym for former coaches.”

To play that back: she believes I was paying her $400/mo to…funnel money to someone else. This was during spar club–a program with an additional cost of $650. The mental gymnastics required to paint me as some kind of thief in this situation are olympic level.

Then there's some other questionable behavior.

Carrie often gossips on members, commenting on their jobs or their lives. She has a particular hatred for one member’s wife—she would repeatedly trash talk their marriage, even though this member volunteers regularly to help the gym. I regret ever sharing anything personal with her.

I’ve seen her fly into a rage at members. She would scream publicly at them, embarrassing them. She’s flown into these fits for such crimes as: wearing another gym’s tee to class, using handwrap gloves instead of handwraps, and the war crime of not wiping your shoes enough.

One of the more troubling things to me personally was how she treated me as a gay man. I felt tokenized. In class, she would tell me how cute I was and say I was “the hottest guy at the gym,” and had to keep posting "my handsome face" on the gym’s instagram. She teased me for talking to someone she perceived as attractive, as if there were no other reasons to talk to this person. This behavior flies in direct contrast to the inclusive space that “the only women-owned boxing gym in the city” purports to be. To be exceedingly clear: I have only felt discomfort in classes taught by Carrie.

A business practice that I found troubling was that payments for extracurricular programs didn’t go to the gym. Some went through her personal business Underwraps, LLC. I don’t know the level of legal entanglement with Jukebox and Underwraps is (if at all), but I was not comfortable sending the $650 for spar club–which took place exclusively at Jukebox–to Underwraps directly.

Given her behavior, I knew one day I would be pushed out. I didn’t expect having friends would be the reason. I shouldn’t have to justify my friendships to anyone—let alone to a place where I go to sweat and to punch.

She could easily feel a sense of pride for fostering this community. She could reward the people who support her. Instead she boxes with shadows.

If you’re looking for a gym with no emotional stakes at a quarter of price, look two blocks in...

TL;DR: Horrible boxing class with an unprofessional coach—it’s not actually boxing, just a fitness class with major safety concerns: no equipment checks, no warm-ups, no instruction, and no regard for prior experience. The coach was too busy acting cool, making jokes about smoking weed, and interacting with students in an overly familiar and unprofessional manner rather than focusing on training.

I attended the free class at Juke Boxing yesterday, and as someone with over 10 years of martial arts experience, including training in boxing gyms across the US and worldwide, this was by far the most unprofessional and honestly dangerous experience I’ve ever encountered in a so-called “boxing class” for beginners.

When you walk in, they take your name and hand you a pair of gloves, which they emphasize are free. The gloves “seemed” clean, but I can’t be sure. They don’t give you wraps, and when I specifically requested them, I was told they’re $15 but that I could have them for free if I left a Google review—ironically, the main reason I’m writing this now. After getting the wraps, there was no instruction on how to use them. I knew how to wrap my hands, but no one else seemed to receive any help.

From the start, it was clear there was no concern for safety or proper technique. Nobody checked if anyone had prior experience or if this was their first class. Nobody ensured gloves were on correctly or that anyone even knew what they were doing. The class began with picking up random weights and shadowboxing—without any stretching, warm-ups, or even a basic explanation of boxing fundamentals. No one explained what a jab or a cross was, let alone proper form. People were using weights ranging from 2 pounds to 10 pounds, with no guidance on what was appropriate, which is a recipe for injury, especially for beginners.

The coach, named Carrie (or something similar), was too busy trying to act cool, making jokes about how much weed she smokes, and interacting with students in an overly familiar and unprofessional manner to actually teach. Throughout the session, she and her team seemed more concerned with making Instagram content than teaching boxing. This wasn’t a boxing class—it was a poorly organized fitness class at best.

The class ended with the coach telling everyone to “exercise their demons” on a bag. This essentially meant a room full of people flailing wildly at heavy bags with no instruction, no gear fitted properly, and absolutely no regard for safety or technique. It was dangerous, plain and simple.

Bottom line: This is not a boxing class. You will not learn anything about boxing here. It’s a chaotic fitness session led by someone more interested in promoting their lifestyle than teaching. If you care about safety, learning proper boxing techniques, or having a professional experience, avoid this place at all costs. Perhaps it’s someone’s cup of tea, but if you’re looking to learn boxing or train seriously, this isn’t the...

I spent years supporting this gym. Because I liked the classes, I tolerated Carrie's occasional outbursts of rage and abusive behavior as long as I could. I did call her out once and she broke down into tears and apologized. When it happened again, I decided I would just take any classes but hers.

I continued on until this last weekend, when I was denied access to Jukebox. No explanation was given until this morning, when I was given an impersonal email that claimed my membership was terminated because of "recent complaints from both male & female members and coaches of disruptive & aggressive behavior, specifically instances of aggression towards female members of the gym leaving them to feel unsafe during class. This constitutes a severe violation of our code of conduct."

There is no truth in this--not even an ambiguous moment I can wonder about. But obviously it's hard to dispute, since Carrie claims that no "details can be given to protect members."

The only conclusion I can draw from this is that in simply putting up boundaries between me and a person I deemed to be unhealthy, I enraged her to the point where she needed to hurt me and exile me from the entire community. It's honestly heartbreaking. I was with this gym from the beginning and put over 10 G into it. And I never said an unkind word about Carrie. I just didn't want drama. That was the point.

Also worth mentioning is that I was invited to drop in for sparring the final week. I was told I would be given headgear and protection but then, after paying 80 dollars and wrapping, was told actually there was none left for me...and me alone. I was punched in the face four times without protection before being frozen out forever. I thought it was weird at the time, now I guess I get the message. Chef's kiss for absolute cruelty.

It goes beyond unprofessional. This place is not inclusive,...