Created: August 04, 2021 06:47 PM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) The GYMS Act is proposed legislation that would offer financial relief to gyms and fitness centers struggling to bounce back from the pandemic, much like the Restaurant Revitalization Fund did for restaurants.
With the exception of outdoor programs and classes, gyms weren’t able to operate from March to October of 2020 during the shutdown.
The Gym Mitigation and Survival Act (or GYMS act), was introduced to Congress in February of this year. While other relief packages have gone through since then, now gym owners are getting frustrated that the package meant to help their industry still lacks the necessary support to move forward.
Destiny USA, Syracuse’s mammoth mall, faces a crisis of debt and uncertainty (Part 1)
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Destiny, New York’s biggest shopping mall, is buried in an almost-unimaginable load of debt.
Pyramid Management Group, the mall’s owner and operator, owes $715 million on the property. That has not changed much since Pyramid opened a big addition in 2012 and changed the mall’s name from Carousel Center to Destiny USA.
Meanwhile, time and some harsh changes in the retail business have pummeled Pyramid. The mall is now worth $203 million, according to a recent appraisal.
Think about it: $715 million owed on a mall worth slightly more than $200 million.
PHOTO PROVIDED Rochester City Council Vice President at his barbershop on Jefferson Avenue.
After a flurry of excited calls from her employees and customers Friday, when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that salons, barber shops, and gyms located in COVID-19 orange zones could reopen on Monday, Kym Reed found herself doing math.
“If I worked an eight-hour day theoretically, at an hour per visit, I could do eight haircuts, at 25 percent of that, two hair cuts,” Reed, who owns Blue Marble Hair Parlour on East Ave. calculated. She’s not sure if it s sustainable.
Her business is in Rochester s state-designated orange zone and like some other businesses, Blue Marble was forced to close on the day before Thanksgiving. Orange zones are areas with high levels of COVID-19 cases.
1:07 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says salons, barber shops and gyms in Orange Zones could reopen. But one business owner says the reality is its tough to pull off. WXXI’s James Brown has details.
Her business, like many in orange zones, were forced to close on the day before Thanksgiving. Orange zones are areas with high levels of COVID-19 cases.
Reed says operating at 25% capacity - on top social distancing and masking requirements - will make it harder for her and her employees to keep going. She’s hoping the state will provide clarity to the requirements in the coming days.