BROOKLYN — A Sunset Park gym that closed suddenly in January will refund its members $55,289.77, the state attorney general announced last week.
Absolute Power Fitness, Inc., at 5313-23 Fifth Ave., closed its doors without warning after accepting prepaid membership fees from 650 people, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said. Gym owners Robert Dreiss and Alex Vasquez agreed to pay back the fees as well as penalties and costs of the state’s investigation.
Eligible gym members will have the right to choose either a pro rata refund or use of an alternative health club — Absolute Power Fitness Health at 750 Grand St., Brooklyn, or Kensington Aerobics & Fitness, Inc. at 202 Caton Ave., Brooklyn — for the remaining time on the member’s contract.
“It was the building owner that closed the doors,” said Sandra Frances, who answered the phone at 750 Grand St. and identified herself as a manager. She said the Sunset Park gym was two days late with the rent when the property owner locked them out.
Vasquez, a 35-year-old Brooklyn native, was featured this spring in a Q&A by the online magazine Latin Connect. The interview focused on a hip-hop greeting card company he co-founded in 2004. Official Street Cards (OSC) offers “a surreal interpretation of hip-hop culture,” said Vasquez, who was identified as an owner of two Brooklyn gyms.
Neither Vasquez nor Dreiss could be reached for comment late last week. A local attorney who represented them pro bono did not want to be named. (“I’d be flooded with requests for help, and this isn’t really what I do,” he said.)
Actress/singer Laurie Jill Strickland said the settlement was a huge relief. She joined the gym last October, soon after moving back to New York from Atlanta. Then one morning, she went to work out and found the doors locked. “They were just gone,” she said. “There was no note or anything.” A co-worker encouraged her to call the state Attorney General’s Office. “But it’s New York,” she said. “I never in a million years thought anything would come of it.”
Although she paid a low annual fee of less than $400, Strickland said she’s joined another gym and is looking forward to her refund. “When you live alone in New York, every little bit helps.”
But the settlement won’t really help Jorge Alejandro, who’s headed to boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, next month. He joined the gym last November to get in shape for the U.S. Marine Corps, only to find himself out in the cold two months later.
“I thought it was unfair,” Alejandro, 17, said Friday. The gym was cheap and a few blocks from home. After it closed, he didn’t think it was worth it to pay another annual fee for the short time he had left. He hopes to receive a $225 refund.
Neither Strickland nor Alejandro had heard anything from the gym. If he misses his letter, Alejandro said his parents will sign for it.
To receive a refund, the attorney general said eligible members of the defunct gym must file a complaint form with the attorney general’s Brooklyn Regional Office by September 24, 2007. Lois Booker-Williams, assistant attorney general-in-charge of the office, handled the investigation with Investigator Michael Ward.
State law requires health clubs to post a bond, letter of credit or deposit (“financial security”) with the Secretary of State. Consumers can call the NYS Department of State to confirm whether a health club is bonded and ask for proof of compliance.
Consumer complaint forms are available by calling the Attorney General’s Helpline at 1-800-771-7755 or online at www.oag.state.ny.us .
— Elizabeth Stull
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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