By Gus Saltonstall
Around 5 a.m. on October 27, MJ Watkins and Lucas Hall received a phone call. Their longtime Upper West Side yoga studio was on fire.
Watkins and Lucas have run NY Loves Yoga for 14 years out of 140 West 83rd Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus.
“The fire department said we were not going to be able to do yoga that day,” Watkins told West Side Rag in a phone interview. “We figured that we’d have to push our sleeves up and paint a little, but then we saw the damage.”
The blaze had ripped through the studio space.
“I was allowed to go in with the Fire Marshal and the owner of the building,” Watkins said. “It’s just really sad. Everything was singed and burned. The walls were gutted because the firefighters had to make sure the flames weren’t rising in the building behind the walls. I’ve cried many tears because we’ve been there for 14 years and we have a community. But, I am so, so grateful that nobody got hurt.”
The blaze also damaged a pilates studio within the 83rd Street building, but the firefighters were able to stop the flames before they climbed to the residential portion of the property.
Along with the gutted walls of the yoga studio, the front section of the business was completely burnt and the floors were ripped up. Watkins is not positive when they’ll be able to return to their longtime home, which is their plan, but she says it will most likely not be for another nine to 12 months.
The day of the fire, Watkins said she and Lucas were in a state of “shock.”
“We had to start canceling appointments. But then, the same day as the fire, a kind human and generous soul named Marco Guanilo, who owns Momentum Fitness on West 72nd Street, sent us an email,” Watkins told the Rag.
Guanilo explained that he used to go to the yoga studio and invited them to come run their business out of Momentum Fitness at 246 Columbus Avenue, off the corner of West 72d Street, saying that together, they could try to fit in as many yoga classes as possible.
By November 2, NY Loves Yoga was up and running in its new, temporary location.
“If it wasn’t for Guanilo, I don’t think we’d be able to have this conversation because we’d be completely shut down. You can’t just find an immediate place to go into and start running a business,” Watkins said. “He’s a rare human being. Kindness is all around us, but his generosity is incredible. We’ve been trying to find ways to thank him other than saying, ‘thank you and you’re a lifesaver,’ we’re still thinking of ways we can honor his generosity.”
Guanilo’s generosity meant that NY Loves Yoga could continue offering classes and their teachers and front desk people the ability to work. Other community members stepped up too.
“I’m getting a little teary eyed. I don’t think we were expecting our community and other people to help as quickly and as generously as they have,” Watkins said. “They’re coming to the classes and offering their love.”
One of those people helped Watkins set up a fundraiser to aid in rebuilding the yoga studio on West 83rd Street, and also continue to pay for salaries, rent, equipment, computers, and more at its temporary location on West 72nd Street.
The GoFundMe has raised $34,000 of its $200,000 goal as of Wednesday.
“It’s been an amazing to see how people care, and we’re just so grateful,” Watkins told WSR.
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I only took class there once (I think it was last year) and absolutely LOVED it. I’ve been to many studios in NYC and the instructors and students here were hands down the best. Many other studios are really cliquey, but not this one. I live on West 72nd street and honestly it is out of sheer laziness that I have gone back to 83rd street but I will definitely check out the schedule and return. And I will make a greater effort to go back to 83rd street when they reopen. It’s a shame because that was such a beautiful space with a nice garden.
NY loves Yoga was such a lovely space with such nice people. I’m glad they have been able to keep teaching.
We go to Renzo Gracie, a jiu jitsu school below Momentum. (It’s amazing.) I’m moved by Marco Guanilo’s generosity as well and will check out both Momentum and NY Loves Yoga. I bet I can squeeze in a pretty efficient workout while the kiddos are in jiu jitsu class. Best of luck and blessings to the great people in our neighborhood!
I’ve been going to NY loves yoga since I moved to the UWS in 2015. It is such a lovely, peaceful place, with the kindest people – both patrons and staff. The instructors are top class and it has always felt like a genuine community. But most importantly – NY loves Yoga might truly be the last affordable yoga (or any fitness class) in NYC. At a time when most independent fitness studios charge $50/class, I appreciated so much that NYLY has maintained affordable prices so that people of all backgrounds could get their zen on. I don’t think there has been a single price increase in the 10 yrs I’ve been going here – truly unique and something we need more of! I will surely be donating to the fundraiser to help get them back up and running!!