Astoria yoga studio calls on city to develop
‘holistic’ reopening, allow indoor fi tness
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
While gyms in New York City were
allowed to reopen earlier this month,
other fitness businesses were left in
limbo.
Nick Velkov, yoga instructor and
owner of Yoga Agora, doesn’t understand
the logic of keeping small fitness
businesses like his from reopening. The
small business owner mainly believes
the city needs to establish a more holistic
approach to address public health as
it continues phased reopening.
“I’m really concerned about the
long-term health effects that we’re going
to experience from all the isolation,
and about the long-term effects that
children are going to encounter from
being away from their friends and not
being in school,” Velkov told QNS. “I
think if we’re really looking ahead of
the curve, in terms of public health,
our city leaders are failing us with draconian
isolation.”
For the most part, fitness studios
have been operating virtually and outdoors
once Phase 4 went into effect.
Since Velkov can’t offer classes in
his studio, located at 33-02 Broadway
in Astoria, he and his team use the 31st
Avenue Open Street for some of their
classes.
They also have yoga classes at Astoria
Park, and offer instructions via
Zoom.
“We get a good crew,” he said. “People
are definitely into it. For a lot of
people, yoga is their health care.”
But Velkov still has bills to pay,
and the revenue they’re taking in from
classes isn’t what it used to be — for
their 31st Avenue classes, for instance,
they can only ask for donations being
that the classes are held on a public
street.
He was able to secure a PPP loan
which helped them meet all their expenses
until June, but were back to
square one once it was all gone. Velkov
and his team of about 10 instructors
have also taken significant pay cuts,
which he said at least keeps everyone
on their payroll.
“We’re a very socialist operation;
we share resources. To be honest, I
think the only reason we’re surviving
right now is because we operate under
a socialist framework,” Velkov said.
“I think if we had a very capitalistic
framework we’d be closed by now.”
Velkov is hoping to have more loan
options from the Small Business Administration
and more COVID-19 aid
from the federal government.
Recently, one of the banks he’s
worked with for years offered him a
loan of about $30,000, but the interest
Photo courtesy of Nick Velkov
rate was as high as 12 percent.
“It was way too steep for me to feel
comfortable taking,” he said. “It looks
like banks have small businesses in a
vice grip. The small business basically
has to choose between shutting down
the business completely or keep the
business open and maintaining a debt
to banks for perhaps decades.”
However, it’s the bureaucracy that’s
been the most frustrating for Velkov.
He said he received mixed communication
from different elected officials and
city agencies, only to be told that fitness
classes were not allowed to return
with gyms.
“We now have a whole bunch of people
who are completely unprepared to
handle a dangerous virus, but if those
same people had done more to build
their immunity — to reduce their stress
levels, to learn how to responsibly engage
TIMESLEDGER | 4 QNS.COM | OCT. 9-15, 2020
socially with their neighbors —
you could have handled this without
200,000 deaths,” Velkov said. “But no,
too many people did not prepare. Our
government leaders did not prepare.”
The state guidance on reopening
gyms gave localities the ability to opt
out of reopening indoor fitness classes.
The city sees indoor fitness classes as a
high-risk activity.
A spokesperson for Mayor Bill de
Blasio told QNS there is no specific
timeline for their return as of yet, but
the administration is keeping a close
eye on the health situation in the city.
The city’s main focus has been to reopen
schools to in-person learning this
month, which has come with delays
and concerns for the safety of students
and school staff.
But Velkov can’t help but think of
the alcohol stores that remained open
throughout the height of the pandemic.
“We have a city where alcohol is
classified as it all comes designated as
an essential service, even though we
know, scientifically, alcohol will mess
up our immune system and make us
more susceptible to illness,” Velkov
said. “But exercise, meditation centers,
breath work centers — those are considered
unsafe, even though we know
that meditation, moderate exercise,
proper breathing, boosts immunity. So
it seems to me like a more capitalistminded
approach to health rather than
a more wellness-minded approach to
health.”
The de Blasio administration believes
it’s taking the right approach for
a careful reopening so as to prevent a
resurgence of the virus. A spokesperson
for the mayor said keeping liquor
stores open was part of their harm reduction
approach.
This week, the city reported several
clusters of positive COVID-19 infection
rates in Queens and Brooklyn ZIP
codes, after weeks of NYC’s infection
rates at 1 percent.
Velkov assures his studio has appropriate
ventilation, thanks in part
to wide windows — but he says the
benefits of yoga and group instructions
outweigh the worries.
“The movement of yoga is preventative
health care. You get the blood flow
moving. It stimulates your immune
system. It gets oxygen to your brain
into your tissues and your organs,”
Velkov said. “When people are breathing
through their nose, as they’re instructed
to do in yoga, they can take
full and slow breaths, and it’s a great
immunity boost. And then the meditation
aspect of yoga, the mindfulness
and the connecting your brain to your
body, is a great stress reduction technique.”
Like other businesses that aren’t allowed
to reopen just yet, Velkov wants
a timeline for when indoor fitness studios
will be able to open their doors.
“Yoga in general is basically health
insurance for a lot of people, so they’ll
practice anywhere,” he said. “But one
of the very important parts of it is the
social aspect — it’s a chance for neighbors
to meet and talk to each other.
And I think there’s no more important
time for community building than now,
in the middle of a pandemic.”
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