The History of New Jersey Burger Restaurant White Mana Owner Mario Costa | Eater NY
"A no‑frills boxing gym squeezed into a first-floor studio apartment and connected to the bar, founded in the mid‑’80s to give local kids a free place to hang out. The space is spare — duck‑taped heavy bags, a ring where an older man might be finishing a headstand — but its reputation is outsized: the owner estimates he’s managed close to 10 world champions, and visitors have included Sylvester Stallone when he was filming the Rocky movies and Arturo Gatti, who trained there in the early ’90s. Mike Tyson trained here and stayed in a hidden apartment accessed by a fire escape behind the bar during eras when he needed to escape the spotlight. The owner’s pragmatism about the gym’s grit is summed up in his own words: “Mike says, ‘It ain’t LA Fitness, but I like a place where I can spit on the wall.’” He started the gym to help neighborhood kids — “He has never made any money off boxers” — and the place served as part of a broader, decades‑long effort to bring together Black, Latino, and white residents; after buying the neighboring bar and hiring two boxers behind it, he recalled, “Within a month...everybody was happy, dancing, and singing. You can see, 42 years later, it’s still like that.”" - Mike Diago
