Al Oerter Recreation Center

Me and wife would like to thank Mr. Carl Anton and his staffs for their efforts in keeping this wonderful gym safe and sound. Thank you Carl !

Al Oreator is a solid community rec center with a friendly staff, basic gym equipment, and cheap entry—great if you're looking for an affordable way to stay active. They’ve got mats, cardio machines, weight machines, and a separate room for free weights and calisthenics, which I personally use the most. One thing to note: unlike commercial gyms, the space is split into separate rooms, and it also functions as a neighborhood community hub. On busy days like Fridays or Saturdays, it can get crowded—not just with people working out, but with folks hanging out, socializing, or dancing (sometimes even in traditional Chinese outfits in the mirrored room, which is cool to see). The downside is that sometimes people block the hallway or sit on the steps leading to the track, which can be frustrating if you're trying to focus on your workout. Still, for the price and the overall vibe, it’s a good place if you know what to expect. Just be ready to work around the crowds if you're serious about your training.

My daughter and her friend joined the Women's and Girls in Sports Volleyball Clinic at the Al Oerter Recreation Center last Saturday. They had an amazing time working on their volleyball skills in their off season. They were even more excited to know they could join the Recreation center for free. We're looking forward to visiting on a regular basis especially since the staff is so open, friendly and helpful.

We absolutely love this recreation center! The facility is always clean and well-organized, and most of the activities truly benefit the community. Our kids especially enjoy the Art and Craft sessions with Mariah on Mondays and Wednesdays. She brings amazing and creative craft ideas every week and is incredibly patient and kind with the kids. Mariah always goes above and beyond to make the experience fun and engaging. The entire staff is friendly and welcoming. Highly recommend this place for families!

Litt gym ngl I come here a lot they have lots of equipment and 2 weight rooms. They have a basketball day and open on Saturday until 2. Cool Staff too

Front desk employees are nice as well as the security guards. The gym machinery is limited but you can get a great workout done! It also has parking!

Very good. I attended different classes: steps, zoomba, stretching. Add correction > But after Instructor Gloria left facility there is nothing left. Management not in rush to hire new replacement.

I bring my son here for the children’s activities that are held here throughout the week. They always have a good variety of different sports and other activities available. His membership is free, which is great for us. The instructors are very good with children and knowledgeable of the sports they instruct. I feel good bringing him here because I know the instructors genuinely are interested in the children learning a new sport, and do their best to see that the are grasping the concepts. They have always been patient, friendly and helpful. Most importantly they are always interested in safety and take any precautions that are needed. The facility itself is clean, in good condition as well as the equipment that is used.

If you are a New York City resident, this is a great place to get in shape and exercise for very reasonable prices. There is a basketball gym, indoor track above the gym, table tennis, racquetball courts, gym equipment and computers. There is also an ice skating rink and Olympic sized pool. Staff are kind and helpful. Many programs and scheduled activities. I will be 62 in January and all access will be $25/year. For younger members Gym plus pool $150 for the year. There is plenty of parking. Opens at 6am. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Price: 5/5 stars, $150 for a year membership- could use in every nyc recreation center. Family/ Friend: 5/5 stars, great for all ages. Time spent: 5/5 stars, daily 1-2 hours. Cleanliness /safety: 4/5 stars, some defective machine. Fun factor: 5/5 stars, Saturday Zumba is the best. Best city gym in Queens. With a full membership $150, you get indoor Olympic size pool swimming (next building), weight training, cycling class, basketball, ping pong, indoor track etc. This gym has 6 rooms: (1) free weight room. (1) Machine weight room. (1) cardio room (treadmill and epileptic machine) (2) racket ball room. (1) peloton cycling class. (1) basketball court. I usually attend the instructor classes: boot camp, karate, peloton cycling and my favourite Zumba. Every class is full of energy and you will come out sweating. Every Saturday (10AM) Zumba fills up fast in the gym. I am talking about 150 people doing Zumba together. It felt like mob dance and nobody notice you screwed up in dance. Did I mentioned Zumba is free for all ages? Even for non members.

Im of a younger age meaning that it is free to go here, when I went the staff was 1. Incredibly rude 2. not helpful 3. Looked like they didn't even want to be there. Honestly, the whole place just felt super unloved and uncomfortable. If you're a kid looking for a place to play sports I really do not recommend this. I had wanted to play volleyball with my friend in hopes that we come practice here on days that we could. Just to be disappointed and told that we weren't allowed to because there was a schedule for the sports, after we had been told this we asked if there was any volleyball for a later time to be told by an older teen that had been working there. That there was "Karate". ????? I had not ask about that. Also, it is pretty unclear on the NYC website of what goes on in these rec centers until you go inside and try to check it out. I expected more and I hope that these recreation centers will become better for teens and kids to practice different things instead of being disregarded. Also I can tell that these recreation centers are supposed to be targeted towards kids and teens, but in my experience, it really doesn't seem like that.... Fix your center..

This Rec Center in Flushing is OKAY for the price and location. I like that the price of $150/year is not too bad. If you're between the ages of 18-24, you pay only $25/year which is a great deal. I paid $75 for 6 months, and that gives me access to both this Rec Center and the Aquatic Center in Flushing Meadows Park, as well as, any affiliated Rec Center in the 5 boroughs. Plenty of parking available on the street, or you have the option of parking in their lot but there's limited spaces there. And underneath the highway, there's parking available there as well. Inside, once you scan in at the front desk, there's 3 rooms: cardio, free weights and multi-purpose machines. Down the center hall, there's 2 well maintained racquetball courts, and past that is a children's play room and the main gymnasium for basketball and ping pong, as well as, an indoor track. Their racquetball courts cost $7/hour, and the price includes a ball and racket. However, they don't accept cash strangely enough, only credit/debit and check. All 3 rooms are have pretty much the same dimensions..and I pretty much feel the same way about all of them: too small, during busy hours you feel really congested in there. A few of the machines in the multi-purpose room were out-of-order. Treadmills and elliptical machines are not well spaced out. Plus there's no air circulation of any kind making the air in the room really dense. Legit almost feels like a sauna in all 3 rooms. Locker rooms and rest rooms seem well maintained and are relatively clean. There's plenty of decent sized lockers available. Overall, an OKAY Rec Center that can definitely use some improvements!

Very pack and a lot of fun things on the schedule, come here a lot, they have a really big gym also they have 4 workout rooms

For volleyball it's very unclear, on saturdays they say it's first come first serve for the rooms but then they try to lie to you and say someone already ordered a room i guess so they don't have to give you the net. They don't like being around the teenagers and are very nasty, some staff are more on the laidback side. I personally have been kicked out for making a mistake and there was no warning just a kick

i know it's free for certain age which i am but i called to book a room for 2 hours. when i called they said my number was not on file and much more. then they hanged up the phone. first of all that's rude you could put me on hold which she did twice. then i called her back and gave my name and i said my name around 5 times. when the day comes they said that i did not book it like did i go through that trouble for no reason. i'm so done with this might as well pay extra just to have a guaranteed room.

This center is the best , I lost 60 pounds because all the class they set up like chair aerobic, adaptive fitness ,Zumba ,indoor bicycling.The trainer like Mr Rudolfo,Jordan and Miss Luz the best......

The staff in this place are very rude. We went to the building before 9 to register for a membership and when we arrived, they said membership hours end at 8. However, we called earlier, and they said membership hours end at 9. When we were talking to the front desk, another man, seeing how he responded "my staffs" is probably the manager, rudely asked us why we come at 9. His attitude gave off the vibe that he didn't want to deal with us. We said someone said to come before 9, but this man said "i guarantee my staffs never said that" how can a manager guarantee what someone probably did or did not say. Outrageous. This place is also very small and stinky in the weight rooms. Always packed. I'd recommend some other gym besides this one.

Al Oerter Rec Center. It's a pretty nice facility but I really wished the weight lifting room was larger. The locker rooms are bigger than the weight lifting room. Membership fee is pretty cheap compared to gyms like NYSC, Bally's, and others. There is a indoor track, indoor basketball court, cardio room, ping pong, indoor handball court, racquetball, men and women's locker room with showers. There's also a parking lot. If there are no spaces available in the lot, you can always park underneath the Van Wyck Expressway. It's you get quite a lot for what you pay for. My biggest problem coming here was always just the weight room. It's always too crowded. The people over there never wipe the benches or machines after they use it. Many of the members also refuse to share the bench or machine, a lot of them tend to chit chat rather than allow others to use the equipment. The best way I can put this is that the weight room here sucks! Some of the machines here are also frequently damaged. The cables are frequently jammed or not aligned with the machine. The weight room also reeks of ass and armpits during the summer time when it's crowded with teenagers and geezers. What I really like about this rec center is their cardio room, indoor track and basketball. It's great during snowy and rainy days. The cardio room can get pretty crowded but there's a staff member who keeps track of a wait list and time each member when they use a cardio machine. It's best to come to the rec center for the weight room and cardio room very early on in the morning or during school days. During the summer, this place can get very hectic. Verdict - It's a very clean facility, everything is pretty well maintained except for the weight lifting room. Cheap membership and instead of driving to the rec center, I recommend cycling to the rec center. It's conveniently located on the outer part of Flushing Meadows Corona Park off of College Point Blvd, next to the Home Depot and near the Western Beef. There are stations outside of the rec center where you can lock your bikes. The Flushing Meadows Corona Indoor Pool is the building running diagonal from Al Oerter. If you're a meat head and looking to get the best daily intense workout, you might wanna look at different gym. If you're a parent or individual looking for some light workouts, this could be a great place for you and your family. This is by no means a 5 star gym. It's a rec center provided by the NYC Parks Department, so make the best out of it.

This place gets three stars mostly because of the price. If you are under 24, then you can get a year's membership for $25. Damn, that's cheaper than a month at some gyms. This place also has a lot of facilities. A weight room, two cardio rooms, a track, basketball courts, handball courts, dance studios, track and a swimming pool. Now on to the bad. It is extremely difficult to get to this location. I think that there is only one bus that rides through this place. I always ride my bike to the location as many people do, and they have a decent amount of bike stands to lock your bike to. They also have a parking lot, however, the parking lot is often full and it once took me 20 minutes to find a spot once. The weight room is also very small and is often crowded. I haven't started my job yet and have experimented with finding the right time to go to lift weights. I enjoy the morning when it is filled with very old people and the random college student. During the afternoon, high school and middle school students come after school and they fill the place and use all the machines and take up a lot of space. At night, there are more high school students and people who are getting off of work. Some of these off work people also seem very suspicious, but I've never had a problem with them and they are friendly enough. The machines are all really old and there's always at least one that's broken. The free weights are EXTREMELY dangerous. I would use caution in using them. They are very loose and one time, the plates from one of the weight plates fell off the dumb bell because the screw was loose. There are no towels, and I'm not even sure if there is a water fountain, but everyone just brings their own bottles of water. This is not a fancy gym, but for the price, you get what you get.

Haven't been here in close to a year and a half, but I can't imagine it changing much. For the price, especially the $25 per year membership for young adults (age 18-24), it's an awesome deal! I'd feel a bit hesitant about paying the adult price of $150 since the Rec Center locations are kind of out of the way across the city, but this still is a pretty good deal if you live near one. The membership gives you access to every center around the city, so that's solid. The facility itself is kept pretty clean, minus the shower/bathroom area, where the sink was especially not in fine shape. The locker rooms were also not air conditioned in the summer, which got pretty stifling. My gripe would be about spacing, as the smallest room utilized in the building was for the free weights. I felt pretty unsafe sometimes as there were a lot of high school students or just people that didn't know how to lift properly in there swinging and flailing around. There are additional machines in the cardio room, but it still isn't really enough as there's basically just one of each (pullup bar, bench, squat rack) and of each machine. Another negative thing is that they didn't allow me to wear the Vibram shoes that are basically gloves for your feet with a shoe sole on the bottom. The woman that runs the center didn't allow me in a couple of times as she argued that those shoes were made for swimming, and not to exercise in. I pulled up the website that depicts people, I don't know, running and lifting weights in them, no swimming shots, althought I'm sure they'd be great for water activities. She would not budge and said she checked in with her boss who also deemed them unsafe to work out in. I eventually sent an email to the Parks Dept and received a response from the woman from Al Oerter saying I could work out in them. All this trouble so I could wear my go-to shoes to lift in that were made for exercise -_- I just couldn't understand how you can run a Rec Center and not be knowledgeable enough about athletic footwear. Yeah, I get these shoes don't provide as much coverage as a regular sneaker would, but christ, look at the website! Everyone else is friendly though!

Nice and quick to enter especially if you go in the morning love the pool . The open swim is longer in the morning 10-3. Need to bring locks and swimming caps Lifeguards on deck

If I was not in desperate need I would refund my $25 and never come back. Thank the Lord my job is taking me out of the state at the end of the month, and if it weren't for this winter weather I would seriously consider not joining a gym in New York at all (the prices everywhere are steep except for this place.) The facilities at Al Oerter are very nice, actually. They have two cardio rooms, that so far when I've gone have been about half-full. Parking seems like it could be a real PIA, but again me and my friends go on the off-times and it's not so bad then. There is a massive soccer field just alongside the building that looks like you would be better off running around then entering this purgatory. The dance and raquette ball rooms in the back seemed to be the nicest--not that I would know, considering the instant I stepped past the doors on my first day I was accosted by an incredibly rude security guard that snapped at me STUPID questions ('what do you want?' 'why are you coming back here?') instead of just telling me the back was closed, which (don't worry!) she eventually told me after threatening to revoke my gym membership for being in the back. Jesus take the wheel, if this wasn't a sign, today certainly was. There I was, ten minutes into running on the treadmill (after the boy at the front didn't spare us a hello upon entering. The bar-scanner for the cards was broken, and he allowed us to fling our cards stupidly around the front of the desk for a good minute and a half before he finally took the proffered card and started writing the code down. I don't know what to make of this experience, I was laughing too hard at this ridiculous nature of the event to actually be offended that he seemed to be incapable of speech although he answered the phone competently enough.) I'm on the treadmill, reaching my stride, when a broom handle suddenly appears on my left and taps the middle of the monitor. I slow my pace frantically, trying to turn to the cleaning lady standing behind me while not tripping and take off my headphones at the same time. She's continuously jabbing at my sweater (small, innocuous fleece thing that it is, tied securely and out of the way to the right arm of the treadmill, just as I did the last time I came here) and then pointing at me. I finally slow the machine to a walk, very confused as to why this hostile janitor has taken to snapping at me, when she shouts "Turn off the machine!" I turn it off, worried that I've done something wrong. This psychotic woman then repeats "Get off this machine! Put this in a locker!" and then swinging her limbs at me as if I was too stupid to understand what she was rudely telling me to do. Now. Looking around, there are at least three other people with a single sweater slung over or around their machine. Now I'm pissed. She's inturrupted my workout, treated me like I was trying to burn down the building, and now she was glaring at me like I was the b***h. The woman gestures at me and scowls some more, indicating that I should hurry up, and irritated beyond belief I dash to the lockers, slam my fleece into one at random, and come back just in time for my settings to disappear. For such a nice facility, the amount of rude, incompetent people I've met in less than two total hours being in this stupid gym is infuriating. I know New Yorkers don't A-List on polite, but if one more person snaps at me from this gym and treats me like I just broke into their house or impregnated their daughter, I'm going to bark out the manager of this establishment, take my money, and never, ever come back. This place is a hot mess. Do you people understand anything when it comes to customer service? I've been in plenty of public rec center, NEVER have I been treated this way! What a travesty. People are just trying to work out, I don't want the third degree when literally all I am doing is going about my business and not hurting anybody. Short and sweet: this is the rudest public installation I've ever paid to be in, and this place is not worth your time. Invest in a place where people will treat you with respect.

Not bad for a Parks Dept. gym. A little hard to get to but fairly clean and close to Flushing Meadows and the new olympic sized pool/hockey rink across the way which can be bundled with your Parks Dept. membership. They have a running track above the gymnasium and a small weight room. Sign up for the machines first thing when you show up as the spots fill up fast. I mostly come here for the free shape up nyc classes sponsored by the city but not a bad place to go if you wanna get your work out on. They have wallyball and computer classes and lots of classes and activities for kids even table tennis night and jianzi hackeysack for seniors. The staff are always very nice but can be somewhat disorganized at times or it might just be the influx of young summer volunteers. A great place to warm up before heading out for a run or something in flushing meadows.

Ok first things first - bring a padlock and an official ID. No matter what you are doing, even just a free class, you will need both. This is a great value gym. No its not NY Sports Club but its also only $150 a year (including the pool!), not to mention free for some classes. I was a member for a while and really liked it - except the weight room, which always seemed to be full of really intimidating looking guys. The track over the gym is short, but its comfortable to run on, most people follow the rules and its air conditioned. I recently started taking the free yoga (Shape Up NYC) and really enjoyed the class. One big downside is the lack of nearby public transit - its about half a mile from Main Street and the nearest buses, and no train is nearby. I don't mind a mile round trip walk (I'm going for exercise after all) except when the weather is bad.

I came here for a Christmas event run by the city. There is free parking at this center. Inside the facilities look very clean and it is very big inside. I would get a membership here!

One step into the weights room will make you forget about the cheap price 1 barbell for 2 of the most popular machines : Bench press & Squat rack. I just can't even

It should be free as I pay a boatload in city, state and federal taxes. I need a water fountain. Apart from that, no complaints. Bigger weight room should have been thought of.

Staff service sucks balls. The bathroom smells like mold. When you go to the front desk you are ignored for 10+ minutes at a time while the staff socializes with their friends. Nice facility but shitty service.

The staff is a bit careless and the bathrooms are often dirty and wet. I misplaced my glasses the other day when I had come here, and I called to ask if I had left them in the gym. They told me they are going to look for them. Two hours later, I called again only to find that they changed the story and said "No one's brought anything to the lost-and-found." They also told me to wait overnight. I plan on going today (This all happened yesterday) and looking myself since they are too lazy. The no-cash policy for needing a replacement card is also bullcrap. Being a teenager, I have no credit card to use myself. I don't understand why they're so strict on how to get paid, yet are too lazy to help a member of the gym find a pair of eyeglasses that they lost at THEIR gym.

This place has only 3 rooms to exercise. There are very few machines and materials to work out. Especially, when I use a running machine, an old man forced me to get off. I only use it less than 1 minutes. Not even me, so many seniors forced many young people to get off the machine. Some refused and the old people call the security to pull those young people off the machine. Young adults paid the most money and seniors paid the reduced fare, it's not fair that young adults have to get off. I never get to use those running machines for 5 minutes. there were so many empty machines available but those seniors still want to use my machine. The securities are even helping the old people. After that moment, I never went back there anymore. To be honest, doctors also says that people have to take care of themselves while they are young. Old people are too late. Giving young people stress is the worst. This place is discriminating young people.

One of the workers wouldn't even let us in without a parent even though it was "family time" when we had a parent with us . They said that every single kid needed a parent even though most of our parents work on sundays. Terrible service and you should never come here. The people are also disrespectful and rick was very rude. Rick told us our parents were even slacking off even though they were working their hard earned jobs for our family.

What a horrible place, the weight room is extremely crowded, not enough weights to go around, rude staff. How do they get hired? My car mufflers were stolen in the parking lot. There is no security what so ever. Sign up at your own risk!! cheap price is to lure you in!!

At some hours of the day, it's crazy crowded but if you know what time is best, it isn't too bad. The classes are really good and the instructors are friendly. The bathrooms and locker rooms are always clean. You get what you pay for. If a machine is broken, it typically takes 3 months for them to get it fixed. The worst part about this gym is THAT THE AC IS NEVER ON IN THE CARDIO ROOM.

This is the worst Recreational Center in the world. EVERY SINGLE TIME I visit the center, I am confronted by angry rude staff who yell and then tell you to leave the facility before they ban you.

This is a very nice recreation centre.The facilities really good and clean. Plenty of parking around. It is extremely affordable - more so if you are 62+. Staff are very nice - especially Kevin at the front desk is awesome.He is very friendly and courteous. I would recommend this facility strongly. P. J. Ram

Love the place! Staffs are friendly. And they have great classes. I was in there for a spinning class last night, great workout, great energy, and sweat a lot:))

Really clean facility. Many classes are offered, a decent amount of machines to work on. The instructors are friendly and will work you out. My only wish is to not change the workout classes so often and make more convenient times. Otherwise, 2 thumbs up!

You have to make an appointment for when u can use the machine but people don't listen and take you're machine anyways.also great employers but very rude people.

This place is an ok place to work out, Its worth for 75 for the 6 month, but there are many negatives about this place. Number 1 it is always crowded and there are never any parking spots around 9 on weekdays and the weekend so I would park under this sketchy under which is right across from the recreation center and is there are always homeless people who live there. 2 The weight lifting equipment its all rusty and has blood on them so I warn you dont use the dumbells or weights. 3 There is this rude, annoying angry black lady named karen don't make piss off her off or she would yell at you( the lady who usually wear hats). Overall its worth the 75 for 6 months but I would not agree more than that PS dont use the showers they have mold and refuse to change the shower heads.

This place is an absolute mess. The staff are the rudest people I've ever met. I really would want to know what their screening or interviews are for new hires. They all walk around like it's a privilege for you to be here and everyone should just kiss their feet. Perhaps they're flaunting their pseudo authority to compensate for their own miserable lives. There are a few staff members that are nice and I feel sorry for them to have to work with their egotistical coworkers. The worst ones are the "security guards" who scan your ids and the lady janitors. Why is the security guards in quotes? Because I doubt they can do anything if a real fight breaks. One of them is possibly pushing 60. The first time, I was helping my younger sister register. When I tried to talk to someone behind the desk, the "security guard" butts in unnecessary telling me that I need to fill in a form. After filling the form and returning to the desk, the "security guard" demands to see my ID which I passed along obediently. He then just passes the form and ID to the person behind the desk. Apparently it was all a waste of time since my sister is the one needs to present the ID and she was not carrying one at that time. I could have saved that time if he let me talk to someone knowledgable and actually responsible for handing registrations. The second time, I went in with my friends to try out the Adult Volleyball (I don't understand why it's called Adult Volleyball when 98% of the participants are under 18. They should just change the name to Teen Volleyball to accurately describe the event). This was the first time for me using this facility so I forgot to bring a lock. Luckily one of my guy friends had one. So I proceeded to pass along my bag and my outerwear until this female janitor bombards me and demand that I put my stuff in the women locker room. I explained my unfortunate lock situation and that my friend was willing to put my belongings into his locker. Instead of being understanding like any considerate human being, she replied that I should go to home depot to buy a lock right then. When I said that was ridiculous and I would rather leave my clothes in the car. She snapped back that I should leave now. Grudgingly, I had to go back to my car but I was not going to let one person ruin my volleyball night. Now onto the actual volleyball experience. This is the most unorganized volleyball meet ever. If any locals are trying find a decent queens volleyball meetup, avoid this place like a plague. I would much rather trek my way into the city and pay for Big City or Nyurban. Everyone was either in middle school or high school. Being in my mid 20s, I felt like a grandma. There were no lines or queue on which group/team gets to play. It was basically whoever can get onto the court first and stand their ground can play. Apparently there is a rule that once a team plays two games, they are forced to leave regardless if they won to make ways for other teams to play. No one stood by that rule and stacked teams remained on court the whole night. At one point, one of the "security guards" started to play basketball in the middle of the court when a game was in session. Seriously? I commend your effort to read my long rant since I want to warn my fellow adult volleyball players. Sadly I've already paid for half a year membership (thank god I did not chose the full year) and they do not offer refunds. So PLEASE don't become a sucker like me. This was $50 down the drain.

al oerter rec center. has the rudest staff the cardio room are great, except the room is dusty! dont park underneath the van wyck, cars get broken into. the management at this gym is horrible, poor customer service!

Worst recreation center ever. Don't bother going there. I don't mind the weight room being crowded and all, but the rude staff doesn't cut it. You would think the manager would be helpful, but he's just as rude. I lost my card so I wanted to replace one today. I only had cash on me and he told me only card. I wasn't informed that because other centers accept cash AND card. So I told him I will use my last chance. I was told that I have three chances that they would let me in PER year if I ever forgot my card when I signed up. He told me only 3 chances in total. He told me that I used two chances this year and I can't get in because I used my 1st chance last year. That's a lie. I signed up in 2010 because I was visiting NY. My membership canceled after a year which is in 2011. That means my membership was not active until I renewed it this year. So how in the world did I used my chance last year when I wasn't even here? Maybe there was a mistake, but he didn't bother to check and care less about it. He wouldn't let me in no matter what. I asked for the guy that told me the false info to verify, but his reply was "What other guy? I'm the manager here. Rules are rules." Well first off, there are no rules posted anywhere. Secondly, I was lied to about the "rules". I don't know how these guys get hired here. Very unprofessional. In my definition, I would say I was scammed. It doesn't matter how cheap it is, but the fact that I was told 3 chances per year and it's not. That's a scam. I live 40 mins away and I wanted a good workout but I was denied access due to a very ignorant manager. The security guard or whoever he is, is also very disrespectful. I was yelled at for not using my dumbbells that I had next to me even though I was resting between my sets. He was angry at the fact that there were dumbbells everywhere around the room and not on the rack where it's supposed to be, so he decided to lash it out on me. Also when you sign up, they don't tell you that you need a lock to get in until AFTER you pay and sign up. So if you don't have a lock the first day you sign up, then good luck getting in. I have never ever received this type of treatment in any other gyms or recreation centers. If this is how they treat a customer then they need fire those people and hire competent people because who else can I explain these type of situations to? I did not pay money just so I can get yelled at and disrespected by those type of people.

It has affordable price for young adults . If you under 25 years old, you just need to pay $25.00. And It is a good place for family and friends. I like it.

This recreation center is the busiest of possibly every NYC rec center. People stream in and out all day. I have been a NYC rec center member for 12 years and could not believe the treatment the staff attempted to dish out to me. I went inside the lobby and the card scanner was not visible. I asked the staff where the scanner was and they pointed to an arbritrary location without actually getting up to show me its hidden location. It was located on the edge of the front desk opposite of where the staff was. I waved the card in front to activate the scanner as I have always done at other rec centers and the staff YELLED at me for doing that and tried to grab my card away from me. There are people that they can yell at and boost their ego and then there are people that will not allow these thugs to step on you. I decided to take the latter course of action and yelled in return to not touch my card and told them to change where the scanner is located so people can find it. They could not believe someone actually did not allow to be stepped on. The front desk manager came out from behind the desk and asked me for my lock. I then proceeded to tell him that I was in sweat pants and tee shirt and did not need to use the locker room. He told me I needed a lock anyway which is not true. I then told him that I am going into the locker room and will be doing a complete inspection for cleanliness before I use it. His step on me attempts then escalated to a point of asking me to leave because I had no right to inspect his locker room for cleanliness. I told him that I will find the locker room and go in without a lock and inspect the locker room and that he can ask security to aide him in throwing me out of the facility. He was silent and I went inside and he followed me to the gym and told me the gym was closed. There were about 20 people in the gym doing different things so I told him to make an announcement to those 20 people that the gym was closed and that they had to leave. At this point he gave up on trying to step on me and went away and I proceeded to do what I originally went there for. When I left 2 hours later I dropped a sweaty towelette on the front desk in front of him and told him to take care of that for me. People do not allow this staff to step on you, do not allow them to make rules that are not real. If the volume of this rec center was not so high the front desk would have been replaced with better qualified and people oriented staff a long time ago. This front desk staff needs to be audited immediately by the those in charge of the Queens and overall NYC recreation center management.