Letter: Rec Center v. LA Fitness
Feb 16th, 2010 | By Greg Hazley | Category: On tap, Opinion, SecaucusTo the editor:
I’d like to add my two cents regarding the LA Fitness/Recreation Center “controversy.”
My husband, daughter and I joined the rec center when it opened just over a year ago after touring the facility and deeming it acceptable for our needs at a very reasonable rate. We joined primarily for our daughter, who was heavily into basketball and swimming at the time, but as a fitness buff I also liked the idea of saving money to work out. Atlantis was too expensive; Curves wasn’t challenging enough.
Treadmills at the Secaucus rec center.
I was enthralled with the new center at first. Because I run a home-based business, I had the luxury of heading straight to the facility after dropping our daughter off in school in the mornings and often had the walking track to myself. The weight room was a little busier, but I tend to focus on cardio and do my strength training at home.
It wasn’t long before little annoyances quickly began to pile up.
The first was the unavailability of the basketball court and pool to members on weekdays between 3:30 and at least 5:30 PM. That eliminated any chances for our daughter to use the facility for her two favorite activities during the week. By the time she had dinner and finished her homework it would be going on 7:00 PM, leaving her perhaps a half-hour to swim or shoot some hoops before going home to shower and go to bed. She ended up using the pool only on weekends.
About a month after joining, I arrived at the Rec center on one of the coldest mornings of the year to discover that there was no heat due to a broken heating system – in a building that at the time had only been in operation for a couple of months. It was so cold on the walking track, even wearing a heavy sweatshirt, that I opted to do my cardio on one of the elliptical machines in the weight room, which was a bit warmer.
I often noticed the two teenage lifeguards on duty at the pool busy texting rather than paying attention to the activity in the pool, and they seldom enforced the rules consistently. One Sunday afternoon, one of the girls told my daughter she couldn’t jump off the diving platform; a week later the same girl didn’t say a word.
LA Fitness facility preview from LAFitness.com.
The final straw was the Sunday morning last April when my daughter and I arrived to play basketball and found every one of the six hoops occupied by several groups of teenage boys.
We waited 20 minutes before realizing none of them had any intention of giving up court time for us, so we decided to leave. When the employee at the front desk commented that we’d had a short stay, I explained that all the hoops were occupied and we’d given up after waiting for 20 minutes.
To my surprise, the woman replied that I couldn’t sit passively and wait for them to give up a hoop and I should “get in there and fight for one.” Was she kidding? Did she expect my nine-year-old daughter and me to fight a bunch of boys who were half my age and twice my size for a basketball hoop?
When I politely refused, she marched into the basketball court, approached the closest group of boys and asked them to give up a hoop for us. They reluctantly did so, but as soon as the woman returned to the front desk the boys started deliberately crowding us out.
We played for perhaps ten minutes before giving up for good and left. The employee at the front desk once again remarked about our short stay. I expressed my disgust at the boys’ behavior and the fact that we were expected to fight them over court time. We went home and never went back. When our membership expired last month we didn’t renew.
LA Fitness may cost us a bit more but I know the heat will work, the staff will be professional and I won’t have to fight anyone over court time or a piece of equipment.
Thanks,
(Name withheld by this website at the author’s request because she is a business owner in town.)
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I can see why a person who goes through life expecting people to move aside and give them what they want as soon as they walk into the room would also want to remain anonymous when they decide to complain about it on the Internet. So everyone who doesn’t step aside for you, or doesn’t agree with your opinions for that matter, should be labeled an ignorant elitist. In the end you found a place that works out better for you. You got what you wanted. Congratulations! Feel free to stop complaining any time now.
That is the most ignorant comment I have ever heard…this is a middle aged lady with a young daughter that wanted to play on one basketball hoop. Not asking for too much.
Mr. M, read the letter again. Where does the author say she expected people to step aside for her the moment she walked into the room? I read that she waited 20 minutes. Her expectation seemed to be that these kids who had probably been there long before she and her kid got there would show some courtesy and let them have their turn. I think that’s a reasonable expectation, don’t you? If anyone had an inflated sense of entitlement here it was the kids who seemed determined to hog up the basketball court entirely for themselves and damn anyone else who wanted to use it. To add insult to injury, the rec center’s solution was to instruct the author to take these kids on, in effect to fight for court time that she was also entitled to as a paying member. I would have refused as well.
The “ignorant elitists” comment was over the top and unnecessary, but it’s no worse than some of the insults I’ve read posters hurl at each other here.
The point is there was no reason to come here and resort to name-calling like this person did. Anyone can remain anonymous here. You don’t have to make an announcement that you are going to remain anonymous because of the “ignorant elitists” that frequent the site. Use that kind of an attitude in a public place and people won’t be too quick to take your side. She stated her opinion and I stated mine. That’s the way this kind of a site is supposed to work. I don’t personally believe for even one second that she was told to go back out on the court and fight for a space. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t treated badly, and if she was she has a right to be upset. But telling her to go and fight for a space just seems a little extreme. Again, she’s happy where she is now. Problem solved. She could have told her side of things without the attitude.
I agree with a lot of the points made here but I think that for the price it serves its purpose. I believe that if the situation was reversed, and there were a group of boys standing around waiting for the courts while the writer and her daughter were playing, she would have complained about that. It seems like she is a difficult person to please and expects a private gym rather than a health club.
I’m glad that LA fitness fits her needs but she should know that they boast about their basketball & other leagues that they will have for both adults and children so the courts will be taken up a lot of the time to make room for these organized clubs. The same goes for Racquetball as well as the swimming pool during their organized lessons.
Well, is it my impression or it is the second time eSecaucus gives a front page space to some “anonymous” resident who happens to be unhappy with the Recreation Center? Do I sense a smear campaign or marketing strategy behind it? You betcha! Oddly enough, as in the previous case the arguments are flimsy, clearly biased and sound more like a personal vendetta.
First the Recreation Center as the name suggests is not a fitness academy, it is a Recreation Center and it is not meant to compete with private enterprises in the same way that the Public Library is not meant to compete with Barnes and Noble. The Rec Center is the best effort possible to provide quality time to residents at an affordable price, it is not perfect, but it is something unique that many cities wish they could have.
The funny thing is how this anonymous reader , like the other one I saw a couple months ago, makes all sorts of assumptions of how great LA Fitness will be and how life will be trouble free in the new facility; but a quick Google on the Internet shows wide spread complaints about LA Fitness. Try this link for a starter:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/health_clubs/la_fitness.html
Let me say that if you had to wait to get the basketball court, good!! Means the Recreation Center is busy, people are using it and that is how we like it, our children exercising instead of sitting in front of a computer or video-game the whole day. Mr M got it right! Wait for your turn, lobby to get the Center expanded, or go to LA Fitness. Life is not about getting everything you want when you want.
Just to clarify, secresident, I post front-page letters from those who give me their contact info and I know to be residents of the town. I withhold their names at their request if their arguments are reasonable and they seem to have a legitimate justification for remaining anonymous, but I won’t run a letter from someone who won’t identify themselves to me.
Since last year, this is the fourth letter about the rec center I’ve been sent. I’ve only run two of them, but they’ve all been critical. If I get a signed letter supporting the center, I’ll gladly run it.
Thanks for reading.
Hi Greg – You have made some very good points and I can see why my remarks may look off base. The devil is on the details. You received four letters, you chose to publish two. You chose not to publish two. I don’t know the content of the two letters you have not published but I assume they contain some valid criticism about the cost and the vetting process of the Recreation Center, many already posted on forums and some of which I agree.
I do know however the content of the two letters you published, and aside from being utter garbage they are nothing short of propaganda for LA Fitness. The first one is about a lady who goes on to make vague assumptions about fitness equipment, and then closes the letter with an instantly recognizable marketing piece. The second one, which is a little bit worse, is about a Prima Donna who is ranting about having to wait to use the basketball court and decided to use the LA Fitness topic for petty purposes.
Neither piece contributes to the discussion about the topic with is tax payers money and what to do with the center. It doesn’t matter anyway, there is no Rec Center/LA Fitness controversy as you might suggest, there is only one controversy which is the Rec Center, one that started way before LA Fitness and will last long after.
Finally, consider that both pieces, specifically the old one have been front page for months, longer than more important topics that have already gone to the history tabs, and definitely longer than other recent opinion pieces. Actually, consider that no other opinion topic has earned such distinction on your web and you can probably see my point.
I won’t dispute the possibility that this is just how the system works and there is nothing sinister behind it, your note seems very clear, honest and credible, still allow me to show some skepticism every once in a while.
Good points, secresident. I hear you and don’t think you’re off base at all. It’s valid criticism. I left the old post on the front page because it has been one of the most popular pages ever on the site — even when I removed it for a few weeks. (I’ll also admit to being a bit lazy about changing the stories in that middle column, because it takes a bit of tech work.)
I also agree that the rec center is getting to be a tired topic (if that’s what you meant). It is a huge problem for the town, but there’s plenty more to talk about. That said, it comes up at every council meeting and is brought up by both the public and members of the council. I’ll try not to overdo it on here, though.
I’m not a member of the rec center (although I could certainly use a trip to the gym) or any other facility so I have no stake in it succeeding or failing other than the financial welfare of the town.
As for the two letters I didn’t print, one contained personal attacks that were way out of line and the individual refused to identify him/herself. I hold a higher standard to letters because I treat them as articles on the site — edited and approved — as opposed to comments which I want to be a forum for anyone to say what they feel within the terms of use and common sense. I’m seriously considering a halt to anonymous letters, however. Your thoughts are appreciated.
The second letter that didn’t run was held back because the person who sent it never responded when I asked for more information.
Anyway, I greatly appreciate your input. It can be hard to step back and see this website from an outside view sometimes.
Cheers,
Greg
Seems we are pretty much in sync. The Recreation Center is a mute point, the money has been spent and it is not going away, at least not for now. Unfortunately, Gonnellli and his gang (in a populist maneuver) used the Recreation Center and the supermarket as political distraction to take advantage of a more ill-advised parcel of the population who just doesn’t understand the complexity involved of getting rid of such massive project and the financial and political implications to the city. Now the genie out of the bottle and no one can control these people who just have gone berserk in every possible way, making any and every type of non-sense argument.
Where I do disagree with you a little bit is your statement that the texts you posted for the two letters constitute articles. They just don’t meet the criteria. The first one is selling advertisement, plain and simple. The second is public vendetta.
Anonymous letters should remain both for freedom of expression and also for the safety of the people who voice their opinion. Secaucus is a small city after all and verbal conflicts can easily escalate into something more serious. Editorial reviews should always be used to maintain a minimum standard. It is time consuming but besides being a basic requirement it also affords you liability protection.
The only reason the rec center was used in politics is because this is another example of wasteful spending. It will cost this town close to $1,000,000 per year and less than 10% of the people utilize it. It should have not been built and at the very least we as taxpayers should have had a say in it. It was built using the Hudson County Democrats model of doing business, create political jobs and maximize the most votes you can get by hiring everyone.
I would like to know how much money is spent on the various senior citizen activities and services that are provided free of charge or at a small expense such as the senior center, bus trips, free shuttles, and medical escort (which does charge $2 but costs far more) just to name a few. I am sure that if it was investigated, it would turn out to be a huge and unnecessary expense.
The reason that I bring this is because the Rec Center provides access to everyone in town who choses to use it. While only 10% may participate, it is open to 100% of the town. The senior citizen services provided using the tax dollars is only open to the 16.1% of our population over the age of 65.
While many may see the rec center as an unnecessary expense, it is not the only place that this town is wasting money.
I would like to say that my Dad and I joined the Rec Center last week and it was a good price for both of us. Other gyms cost too much money and, yes, other gyms have better equipment and staff but this gym has town residents working at it.
I know this gym cost the town money as I have read on here more then once and I understand the concerns about the wasted money, but it is there and there is not much we can do about it now.
I am happy so far with it. I have been to Curves in Secaucus and they want almost $400 for the year and all you’re getting is a 30-min work out. It does work for some but not for all. I am on a fixed income and so is my dad, and it is nice there is something that is in town that is affordable.
I know if I joined LA Fitness i would get more, but the price for the year is way too high. I called them and they want $80.00 a month for membership. I asked why so high and they said this gym in Secaucus is a elite gym not like the other gyms.
I use the pool in the Rec Center and I know the restriction from 3pm to 5:30 is harsh ,but we do have a Secaucus swim team and they need to practice some where. I know I have seen young life guards on duty but I have not seen them using any cell phones. I used to be a life guard and a swim instructor and if I saw anything wrong I would have said something right away.
As of right now, I am happy with the Rec Center and I know they are not perfect, but they are trying their best to work with every one from my stand point. I also want to say to everyone that reads this we all have our own opinions and I respect yours and I really don’t want to go back and forth with why this gym is here and why this gym stinks.
Just remember we all have bad experiences at places we join.
Hey don’t complain the rec center is fine, as long as you don’t mind a broken heater, a cold pool, a leaking roof, an unavailable basketball court, and an unsupervised pool. other than that, I love it.
Dont forget an incomplete workout area, horrible staff, and inept management.
There are complete gyms in the area with ten times the amenities of the rec center for $20 a month.
Then why don’t you go to those other gyms Voice of reason….you seem to run your mouth alot on these blogs …Why not use your feet ?
I’m an avid gym goer and the rec center is no workout gym. Having said that the rec center fits my needs and it does so at a bargain basement price. You get what you pay for.
However, you can make the rec center work for you if you know how and are open to being flexible. It’s not easy but with some creativity it does work. And lets face it if someone is serious about fitness, knowledge is what you need, not a fitness center. Anyone who wants to get fit and healthy can stay home and just use what God gave you, your body and some creative movements.
I do go to a very nice gym six days a week within two miles of town and pay $19.99 a month. Your point?