Kaplen JCC on the Palisades

The JCC is truly an incredible community hub with something for everyone! The Early Childhood programs are nurturing, engaging, and filled with caring teachers who create such a warm environment for little ones to learn and grow. The after-school activities are fantastic—there’s such a wide variety of options that keep kids active, curious, and connected with friends. And the summer camp is a highlight of the year! It’s well-organized, full of energy, and packed with creative activities that kids talk about for months afterward. From infants to adults, the JCC really offers it all—education, recreation, and community under one roof. We feel so lucky to be part of it!

It is a nice place , you find a lot of things to do if you become a member , after school classes are complementary and you have to pay for them . Really great service and high security . It’s got outdoor pools and indoor as well . Basketball court , tennis court , and gym . Just to name some amenities. Parking is big but in rush hours is sometimes is hard to find an spot or way far from the entrance . Overall really nice place

Everyday at JCC is a breath of fresh air. Lovely caring people, family friendly environment.

Courteous and easily available to anyone. Great gym, renowned music school for children and adults, and many facilities and activities for families, children, and adults.

It is a wonderful place for everything g you need. The classes are expertly delivered. The games are fun. The pool, tennis and pickle ball courts are kept perfect. All of the staff are involved to make your experience great. Try it. You will join the family.

I love the JCC! There is such a great sense of community. No matter what religion you belong to…. I love the options (gyms, pickleball, tennis, kid clubs, pools)… I especially love my Pilates Reformer instructor Michal Yogev. She is the absolute best!!

My 12YO kids came to the JCC this weekend to play basketball with their friends. They usually pay the $15 daily pass, but this time the policy had changed, and they weren’t allowed to play. I respectfully asked if an exception could be made just this once, especially since all their friends were already inside and they were expecting to join them. Inbal, one of the managers, stood firmly by the new policy and explained that these are now the rules. While I expressed that I understood, I hoped for some flexibility in this specific case. Unfortunately, we had to leave, and my kids were incredibly disappointed and heartbroken. I truly wish the decision had gone a different way it would have made a meaningful difference to them.

Amazing staff, and great care and kindness for all people. I have children that go here and they have such a great time!

The best community center around. They have a fitness center, gymnasium, indoor track, school programs for both kids and adults, and a pool. The staff is very nice and the prices are great! Ally or Allie in membership was amazing to work with as well. If you do decide to get a membership here, go see Allie and she'll hook you up

just had a wonderful deep tissue massage. noel is gentle yet firm. respectful. spa area is well maintained.

On JCCOTP it is Great. They have swimming all Year round, and JCC does day camp, they do clubs and they have great staff. Also it is very clean. They have activities to do online. And they do activities in person like yoga at 8:00am to 9:00. And they have a family water park. It is a great place to be with your family and friends like you can reserve the basketball court, tennis court and the basketball court. If you want to learn a sport, go to clubs or just have fun go to their Community Center Kalpen JCC on Palisades. I hope you think the same. From, Daniel Kunitsa

I recently joined the JCC. My membership includes the Seiden Wellness Center and I love it... each treadmill has its own television, the space is impeccably clean and bright because of all the windows, high end exercise equipment and top knotch personal trainers. After my workout I relax in the beautifully appointed adjoining lounge/spa and sip the complimentary tea . Then I get a great massage, take a shower and snuggle in the complimentary bathrobe. I've had a couple of facials which left my skin feeling incredibly soft and looking beautiful. The JCC has a fantastic swimming pool and a smaller pool for water aerobics down the hall from basketball courts, large gym, pilates gym, racquetball courts on the first floor...upstairs are a wide variety of group classes . It's a full service community center as well with lots of classes/activities/events for all age groups. I recently saw Anderson Cooper speak at the JCC and had my picture taken with him Atxan after party. There is nothing quite like the JCC. It's a place where you can nuture your body and your mind. It's a real gem.

The daycare is not managed well. They don't have licensed educators for the children. They may have religious teaching experience, but they are not licensed educators. Kids get injured there, they don't always report it. It's a chaotic facility.

Member for nearly 20 years with my family. Had very fond memories of the various facilities - pool, gym, squash/racquetball courts, etc. Price - their price structure is confusing. Growing through a family plan, young adult, then young couples plan, and to a regular member rate....It's been a bit of a roller coaster. I've had to work with membership a few times to figure out the pricing but finally landed on something that worked. More expensive than your average gym, but keep in mind, there's more to the JCC than just the gym (and you can easily get your monies worth with the classes). Keep in mind their hours are odd due to Shabbat, but are good for the most part. Closed Saturdays - I find outdoor activities to fill the void. After being a part of other gyms in between, not having Saturday can be a turn off for many people, but can be worked around once you get used to it. Locker rooms were once meh, but these were renovated back in the early 2000's, to the point where mens and womens locker rooms were switched downstairs after renovations. Cleaner/nicer than before with the code locks, but avoid when there's big team activities as it becomes a zoo. Been to some other JCCs locker rooms; i'm happy with the way ours is. Gym has transformed as well over the years; what used to be a mostly cardio room in a small floor is now spread across 2 floors. Wonderful classes with solid instructors - I really enjoyed the morning cardio classes, along with the nighttime yoga and spin. Water machines aplenty and lots of gym wipes around. Cafe - renovated and moved around, but still a nice place to grab food and they've got a healthy juices + salad bar selection now. Used to dig the falafel pizza - yum. Covid experience - I just rejoined after a 1 year hiatus. Everything is through the JCCOTP app now. Took some time getting used to the app - glitchy at times but the app support crew are responsive and address the issues. Lots of sanitizing and feels safe with the temp check + mask policy within facility. Gym is actually quite open and not crowded so I have been taking advantage of being able to use more equipment without running into people. Pool reservations - limited to 3 a week right now, but ample. Indoor pool well maintained, but I used to gripe about the hours pre-Covid on when i could ACTUALLY swim since there were always the JCC swim team and Tenafly teams to work around. Used to have a golden window of 7:30-9pm on mon-thur if you wanted to swim with more lanes available. Nowadays it seems a bit better with the reservation system. Yes, there's a premium option to get more pool reservations and a separate more exclusive gym - Seiden Wellness center. More per month or annually, and worth it if you like the isolation and upgraded experience (iirc, your own locker and towel service, along with a nice steamroom and sauna. don't forget the nicer shampoo/conditioner/body wash products). They also have coffee and bottled water. I haven't been a Seiden member for some years now, but if I were coming every day, I would consider it again.

The spa, gym, classes and sports leagues are amazing. Highly recommend!

The JCC OTP is a great place for so many activities. My family loves going here, using the many pools, gym facilities and programs. They recently upgraded (redid) the main outdoor pool and it is heaven to swim in (I did laps just this morning!). I also love the variety of fitness classes (Jill & Hagit the Spin instructors are the best!) and the fact that they are very conveniently timed. It has a very friendly, helpful staff and the Kosher Cafe just reopened. I highly recommend the JCC for all of your fitness, aquatic, leisure needs. p.s. YELP says I am from SoCal but I am very much from Englewood, NJ.

Most awkwardly positioned and dirtiest outdoor pools I've ever seen. Water is always murky and my kids always notice stuff floating around at every corners of the pool. They should really invest so that the camp kids have their own pools. Their current pools are way too small to accommodate the number of members they have. I do like their gym classes and instructors.

The JCC OTP is a fabulous, warm environment with many activities serving so many different ages and interests. Our family loves spending time there, whether swimming, running laps, working out, taking Music lessons, playing basketball you bake it. It is our number 1 go to place in the area. Highly recommend it.

We love the dance school for my Daughter. The dance teachers are warm and fuzzy and really love the kids. It's a wonderful nurturing environment.

Worst place possible to work in, not enjoyable at all, unless you are an administrator or a Pot Head Teenager. I found this 8 week summer camp job on indeed, and when I went to the interview, the administrators stated that we would get tips at the end, a guarantee job for the following summer, and free food everyday. I was intrigued in accepting the job and got hired as a Assistant Head Counselor, because my teacher certification is still in process (I still don't understand why you need a teacher certification to be a head counselor, when we don't ever teach the kids anything and it's mostly baby sitting) it was until just a few days before the first day of camp that I was pulled aside from Aaron, the boss, and was told that I was going to be a head counselor. Camp starts, and we are outside 90 percent of the time, the food taste horrible, and is made by a sweaty unhygienic woman with her teenage assistants in the kitchen that doesn't have any Air Conditioner. And we are not allowed to bring our own food because the camp is Kosher. Job: be the boss of 3 teenagers, and take care of 17 kids. I was not allowed to take a break, when I would work 8:30-4:30, and a day I did decide I needed a break, I was told by Leron, another administer, not to take my break in front of JCC members because it looks unprofessional. So I basically would have to hide every time I wanted to take a break. We were given iPads to take pictures of the children (which is fine) and had to call the parents once a week for any concerns. But we weren't allowed to call the parents while being at work, or send pictures either. So I had to make calls and send hundreds of pictures weekly (one by one) to parents while I was home I decided to be a bus counselor because basically Aaron & bus coordinator Begged me. I was picked up by the bus driver at 6:30 and dropped off back home around 6:30 too, so my days turned out to be 12 hour days. Plus send pictures and contact parents when I got home. I told Nicole I would only do it with a minimum of 100$ per week. She said okay, and gave me multiple buses to work in (they were very unorganized and jump you from one bus to the next whenever they could) I kept asking her and Aaron throughout the entire 4 weeks, what was going to be the amount I was getting per week for the bus counseling, they would always say they would get back to me, and to this day, I still don't know how much I earned per week in those 4 weeks (so unprofessional) All of a sudden, one administer asked me what I was earning as a head counselor, and I came to the realization that Aaron never gave me a amount on how much I would be earning now that he made me into a Head Counselor, when I asked him he said (I can't pay you the full amount of head counselors because you don't have a certification) SO WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME A HEAD COUNSELOR KNOWING I DONT HAVE MY TEACHERS CERTIFICATE AND I WAS NOW DOING ALL THE WORK HEAD COUNSELORS DO WITHOUT GETTING THE PROPER PAY!? But wait... it gets better. On the last week, the kitchen gives everyone some store bought cake, I eat some, I feel funny afterwards but not too bad, and 10 minutes later, two of my campers poop their pants. Me and the other counselors had to clean the poop off these children. Later that evening I threw up, and was very sick. I went to work the next day, feeling weak and going to the bathroom every 20 minutes, when I tell the administer Simeon, he smiles puts his hands on my shoulder and says "I was telling the staff not to eat the cake because it's been frozen in the freezer for 1 year" WHY WOULD YOU FEED THAT TO CHILDREN?! I said I wanted to go home and I was told that I can't go home because they will pull my check, and I won't receive my check until SEPTEMBER 1st. I was holding off that day so bad, I kept going to the bathroom, and throwing up. Until I finally decided to go to the nurse and Aaron was called I told him what Simeon had told me, and he didn't even know the cake was frozen for a year. He told me I could go home but the next day I felt all eyes on me and the administers did not talk to me as if I did something wrong. AND YOU GET PAID ONCE A MONTH SO YOU GET TAXED RIDICULOUSLY ! On the very last day, Nicole ask me into her office and tells me I need my social security because of tax purposes. Which I gave them the when I first got hired 10 weeks prior. But they had to ask me the very last day for my social security. She asked me to take a picture and send it to her via text. Which I felt it was so unsafe. I did as soon as I got home and never got a text back saying she got it it thanks or what not. What an unorganized company. Also, the junior councilors literally work a full time job under the sun and get paid about 3$ an hour, 500$ maybe even less a month. CHILD LABOR.I will never work there again.

I'm from out of town and was visiting my aunt here in NJ. She had a membership so we decided to stop by and take a swim in the hot summer sun. WORST Trip ever. We went with kids and found out the outdoor pool was closed till 1pm for camp. Then we went into the indoor pool and were fine until the lifeguards switched and told us we needed swim caps, also fine. $10 for two swim caps!! The ladies at the desk were rude. We went back to the indoor pool and someone stole our lane. We had one of us actually stay in the lane so that wouldn't happen but I guess the old man didn't care. We were done with swimming and wanted to sun bathe knowing we weren't allowed to swim outside. One lifeguard said that was fine and the other said he needed to talk to his "supervisor". He brought someone who was just another lifeguard (clearly) and said we weren't. So no swimming, or sun bathing, or even sitting outdoors. Place is filthy and way worse compared to any other JCC I've ever been too.

If you are an adult looking for a place to exercise, this is NOT the place to be! From what I've seen, the JCC is probaby only good if you have kids to send to their programs. The facility is constantly overrun with children unsupervised. The fitness center is not well maintained and pretty small. The locker rooms are old and are in need of an update- especially the showers. The Olympic size pools, which were the main reason for joining, are too packed with kids lessons and senior citizens with no regard for common pool etiquette at all hours of the day. I spent more time waiting for a lap lane and waiting for fitness equipment than exercising. For the prices charged ($113/month), it is so overpriced and not worth it. If you are looking for a "real gym", this is NOT the place to go. Save your money and join any other fitness center in the area.

A pleasant and green space. A rich and varied structure in activities. A serious guard service (we were during the activity on Sunday). Large parking space. A good cafeteria with also Israeli products for anyone interested

I tried to find a way to enjoy the exercise offerings but could not. The downstairs gym is not maintained or run well. Cardio machines are sticky with sweat, personal trainers not keeping appointments. So I joined the upstairs gym for an additional cost. It was cleaner, but when it came time for renewal I told the desk that I am only in town 9 months out of the year so I'd need my monthly charges to be prorated to reflect that. They refused, and referred me to the manager, who never returned the call. Additionally, because this is a facility with a religious affiliation, the security is not as good as you'd expect. The main entrance is a steady flow of people coming in without showing ID, and cars are left at the curb in the fire zone without anyone inside. The security on duty does not monitor or ask car owners to park elsewhere, even when prompted to. Your money is better spent in a better managed facility.

We've been members of the JCC for over three years now. The place is closed on Saturday and jewish holidays (which is weird considering other JCCs that are open, including pools and centers in Israel). The pools are over crowded, the bottom of the indoor pool is not leveled (deliberately, artistically built) and the gravitational forces actually make it harder to swim straight in the outer lanes. The indoor water is cold, especially for children. The outdoor pool is open very short period of the year because of the weather and then they reserve it for camps and only let members access it after 1pm. My kids took swimming lessons there and the swimming instructors are not all good (some are but there isn't a lot of vetting there) and although the swimming lessons are really expensive (and there's no discount to siblings unless they are in the *same* group and then it is only 5%) they let up to 6 kids in a group which in the low levels gives less than 5 minutes to each child. In addition my kids got fungus and wards from the pool on two separate occasions although we are very careful to wear crocs at all times. The showers and indoor pool sides are not cleaned properly, they don't look clean and it doesn't look like they use any disinfecting detergents. The group exercises are good but the schedule does not offer many options for working parents, especially in the evening and weekends. The membership is expensive and everything costs more on top. Hebrew school, swimming lessons, dance lessons, folk dancing, etc. There are discounts to members but they are insignificant and the annual payments to the JCC with all activities adds up to an obscene amount of money. The cafeteria is insanely expensive and the food is not great there. In addition they often don't open on time and I've had instances where I had to wait for them to arrive. In short, in my opinion, the only reason the JCC still has members is because there is no competition...There is no alternative in the area for a sports center with a pool that is open all year long. I wish that someone will take the initiative and build a competing center. We will be the first members.

My family has been JCC members for the last 7 years. I swim there approx 4-5 days per week, the indoor and outdoor pools are incredibly well maintained, the lifeguards are attentive and available, and the pool hours and availability are very flexible, however, during the winter you are competing with the swim team to get access to some of the lanes. My wife has been going to zumba, pilates, and other classes every day Mon-Friday and loves the classes. Parking availability is excellent, and I feel very safe there, as I cannot gain access to the building unless I scan my membership card. I have also used the gym equipment and find the machines clean and the trainers are available to help you if you do not know how to operate the machinery. The only downside is the inability to use the facilities from sundown Friday-Saturday; I recognize the religious significance of observing the Sabbath, however, for people who work Mon-Friday it would be great to get access to the pool all weekend.

I like the updated gym. Lots of exercise classes to choose from. I have been a member for 5 years now. Highly recommend!

Coming to the Kaplen JCC for my PT, I have found the exercise area to be clean & well-maintained. I bump into other Dwight Englewood staffers & other friends of all ages. The pool appears to also be in good shape, and my son has also enjoyed the variety of strength & cardio machines available in an exercise area with lots of natural light that is a cut above most commercial gyms. My husband and I have also enjoyed the educational programming, especially for seniors, and have even had a bite to eat after working out at this wonderful facility. We have also found the staff to be friendly. My kids have participated in the Kaplen JCC's annual road running races through the lovely nearby Tenafly neighborhoods. My regret is not becoming a member sooner. Downside: closure sun down Fri-Sat.