With gyms across New York City reopening today for the first time in five months, Retro Fitness is among those welcoming back members who are eager to get back into their workout routines.
"We have been ready to open for a number of months," said Retro Fitness CEO, Andrew Alfano. The chain has taken "great precautionary steps" to ensure customer and employee safety across facilities, he said, including mask mandates, social distancing requirements between machines, limited class sizes, increased cleaning protocols, and touchless check-in.
While working out in a mask may be an unfamiliar option for many, Alfano says this is a small price to pay for the physical and mental benefits of working out. "I think most people would say a mask is a small price to pay given the fragility and sensitivity of the times that we're in."
Prior to reopening, each facility must pass a virtual inspection conducted by the New York Department of Health. The inspector will ensure the gyms have proper ventilation, are requiring face coverings for all staff and patrons, are enacting proper social distancing measures, and are conducting routine cleaning across facilities.
"We worked with the state on virtual as a way to get started, because the timing is so tough," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "The virtual inspections are a way to at least allow our health inspectors to get started. We will then be doing ongoing in-person inspections as those inspectors' time frees up after school and child care gets going."
Since stay-at-home orders began, New Yorkers have been forced to forgo communal gym workouts, with many people relying on at-home equipment and live-streamed workout classes for their source of daily exercise. Now, Alfano hopes to see many members coming back to enjoy their former routines.
"We are very excited to have the opportunity to be open," he said.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
