Dear RocPK Community,

With the recent news last week from Governor Cuomo ending all State mandates on businesses, we were forced to do a lot of thinking on how to best move forward and update gym policies. It ended up being harder than we thought so we crafted an anonymous survey and sent it out to our long-term patrons to ask for their honest thoughts on the matter.

Your answers were extremely informative as well as diverse. Thank you to all who added in their comments to help us land on these changes.

Before we list our updates, it’s pertinent to again state the imposition we’re put in as a small business. As we are currently, the gym remains completely unsustainable. We’ve lasted this long because there exist some extremely amazing families in our community that have financially assisted the gym to give it this chance of survival. Government programs have made up the difference, but those are slated to end in the upcoming weeks.

Given the wide range in diverse answers, any policy changes we make will likely make it seem like we’re alienating some of you. Our goal is to maximize the safe space opportunity for as many of you as possible. We apologize if any of these changes feel like an act against you or your family. We are trying the absolute best we can.

With that said, effective immediately, here are some adjustments to the way our gym will operate:

 

  • Masks are required for unvaccinated patrons
    • This policy is obviously the most contentious and likely to cause some of you concern. Almost every comment mentioned this in some form or fashion, but the truth remains that an overwhelming majority of RocPK members feel more comfortable with this policy for the time being.

      There was an overwhelming majority support for our continuing to ask for proof of vaccination status in order to unmask. We will continue doing so for the time being as well.

      For as long as we require masks for those who have no ability to become fully vaccinated, RocPK Instructors will continue to wear their masks in solidarity when running those services.

  • Distancing is no longer required
    • Maintaining social distance has always been the biggest struggle for our unique gym experience. Our classes revolve around movement and our objects make distancing even more of a challenge. This one policy has had the greatest financial impact on our ability to function as a business and has necessitated our small class sizes. Regardless of square footage, you can’t see through walls. If we are to become sustainable again before assistance runs out, we hope this will be the change that makes the most impact.

      This policy change can help improve the quality of instruction we provide. Up to now, instructors have been limited in designing curriculum that would allow for distancing throughout the entire class and refraining from techniques that might require spotting or hands-on assistance. We are excited to add these techniques back in!

  • Sanitization updates
    • Hand washing/sanitizer was praised in a majority of the comments as well. This policy is here to stay for the foreseeable future but will be revised to say the following: Clean hands when entering the movement space. The movement space is defined as crossing over onto the black rubber floor.

    • Mask touching will no longer necessitate sanitization – Up to this point, we’ve been extremely diligent in maintaining the movement space’s cleanliness by enforcing sanitization whenever someone (staff included) touches their mask. We will continue to educate you that the movement space is a shared space and we are constantly touching objects that other people have touched. While we still think it’s not great that you might crawl on the ground and then immediately rub your eye, we will no longer force you to go sanitize.

  • Lounge updates – No more distancing, no more observer limitations 
    • With distancing no longer required and our vaccination proof requirement in place, the lounge can now be opened back up fully to whomever wishes to use it. We will no longer be limiting access to one parent observer. 

These changes should be presumed as temporary. Many comments that were received in support for maintaining our current operating policies mentioned the difference between the State’s and CDC’s guidelines. Some of these policy changes could be subject to change should the CDC update its guidelines or new research come out that necessitates changes or updates.

Again, we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude and thanks to those of you that have continued your support (verbally, emotionally, as well as financially) throughout this marathon of sacrifice. You are champions by any definition.

Sincerely,

RocPK