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Jan. 31-Feb. 6, 2020
DEVASTATING BLAZE
Sitan Muay Thai Gym raises $46,000 after fire burns down longtime Astoria location
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
After a fire destroyed the respected
Sitan Muay Thai Gym
in Astoria on Jan. 17, its owner
and head coach Aziz Nabih is
left trying to find a new space
for the first time in almost 30
years.
“I had been there for 27 years,
training kids and adults. People
that I trained are about 30 now.
I had a lot of good memories
there,” Nabih told QNS.
According to Nabih, one
of the tenants of the building,
located on 2573 Steinway St.,
accidentally started the fire
when she lit up her Christmas
tree. “She was going to take it
out but wanted to light it up one
last time, and ended up lighting
up the whole building,” Nabih
said.
Sitan Gym was on the
ground floor, a dentist was on
the second and the tenant on the
third. Nabih said that although
no one got hurt, they did lose everything.
The Thai boxing coach, who
is also one of the coaches for
Team USA’s Muay Thai boxing,
said that he didn’t even think
about starting a GoFundMe
and instead started looking for
a space immediately.
But thanks to his former
The Sitan Muay Thai Gym was destroyed after a fire broke out on Jan. 17.
student, Rami Ibrahim, who
created a GoFundMe page
to “Rebuild Sitan Gym” that
same night, the gym has raised
more than $46,000 in under two
weeks.
“At night someone just called
me and said, ‘Did you see the Go-
FundMe?’ So all the credit goes
to him,” Nabih said.
Nabih said the community
has been incredibly helpful,
with one gym on Steinway
Street and 34th Avenue even offering
Photo courtesy of Aziz Nabih
their space for him to use
to train some of his students.
Another gear company in Florida,
Muay Thai Addict, is selling
items with a percentage of the
profits going to Sitan Gym.
At an upcoming fight at
Broad Street Ballroom in Manhattan,
where one of his fighters
was supposed to compete but
won’t be able to make it anymore,
they’re also raising funds
for them.
“I didn’t want this to happen
but it feels nice to see people helping,
especially the Muay Thai
community,” Nabih said. “Bad
things happen but it brings people
together, and makes you appreciate
people more. We were
always there for people too, so I
guess now it’s our turn.”
Although Nabih is grateful
for all the help the community
has given him, he’s realized how
expensive rent is in Astoria. He
said he’s looking at a few spaces,
but one space in particular is
$10,000, and in order to replace
the equipment it’ll cost about
$60,000 to $70,000.
Nabih also wants to emphasize
to other business owners to
have their business insurance
ready. His insurance expired
prior to the fire and he forgot to
renew it in time.
In the meantime, Nabih is
still training his students, including
two who will represent
Team USA in a Muay Thai international
competition.
“I’ll keep the faith,” he said.
“I’m a fighter so I’m gonna fight
back.”
Vol. 8, No. 5 44 total pages
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