Gleason's Gym will be honored for creating a collaborative streetscape in Brooklyn

The most famous boxing gym in the world just got a little more famous.

Gleason's Gym, the Brooklyn-based gym where Jake LaMotta, Roberto Duran and many other champions trained for their championship fights, will have the street in front of the building renamed in his honor. The corner of Water Street and Adams Street in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn will be renamed Gleason's Gym Way after the New York City Council passed a bill last month authorizing 100 streets and public spaces throughout the city to be marked with commemorative street signs.

Bruce Silverglade, who bought 50 percent of the gym in 1984 and became the sole owner of the gym in 1991, says the gym will host a party at the gym for the rebranding event, which will be held at the gym on August 21. from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. former boxing champions, government officials and people from the entertainment sector, as well as the general public will be invited to this event, and they will be treated to food and drinks.

“It's just a great honor, I'm happy, I don't know what else to say about it. It's something that caught me by surprise and just happy. It's something I look forward to seeing when I come to the gym every day,” said Silverglade, who opens the gym himself every morning at 5 am.

“It is an honor for all the fighters who have been here. We've had 137 world champions, hundreds of novices, a few kids who won Olympic gold medals, we've made a lot of movies. It's a collective effort from everyone who's been up here.”

Bruce Silverglade at Gleason's Gym

The gym, first opened in 1937 by boxer-turned-manager Bobby Gleason, has moved three times in its 84-year history. Gleason's opened in The Hub section of the Bronx until it lost its lease, moving to Eighth Avenue and West 30th in Manhattan in 1974. After losing the lease there, the Gleasons moved in 1985 to 77 Front Street in what became known as DUMBO. Gleason also moved in 2016 to a location at 130 Water Street as a favor to the landlord, who felt he could do better business there as the area was booming.

Silverglade says the process of getting the street named together took about a year and a half, and it started after City Councilman Lincoln Restler suggested to him that he name the building a landmark. Silverglade declined, because doing so would limit the changes he could make to the business, so Restler instead offered to propose a joint venture.

“I said now that will be good. What shall we call it, Silverglade's Way? He said unfortunately you can't name a person unless it's been three years since he died, I said OK I'll pass that one on. So it will be Gleason's Gym Way,” said Silverglade.

Sonya Lamonakis is among the many famous boxers who have called Gleason home over the years. Lamonakis says he started training at Gleason's in 2005 and won his four New York Golden Gloves titles and his IBO heavyweight title while training at Gleason's. He says the recognition of the gym by the city is an honor that all boxers get.

“I feel like the people who trained at Gleason will have a warm feeling in their hearts to know that somewhere where they shed their blood, sweat and tears will be written down in history forever, because that's how I feel,” said Lamonakis. .

Among the trainers present at Gleason's Gym are former WBO junior featherweight and junior lightweight champion Joan Guzman and former WBO featherweight champion Heather Hardy.

The gym also remains a popular venue for boxing matches for young students, and hosts public media workouts for nearly every major boxing event that takes place in New York City.

Gleason's Gym Way is the latest addition to the list of boxers and facilities that have been honored with street names over the years. The Joe Louis Plaza street sign stands at the corner of Seventh Ave. and West 33rd Street in Manhattan, outside of Madison Square Garden. The section of Lexington Avenue between 114th Street and 115th Street was collectively named Hector “Macho” Camacho Way in front of the East Harlem apartment complex where he grew up.

Cus D'Amato, the legendary boxing trainer and manager who guided the careers of Mike Tyson and Floyd Patterson, also has a street named after him on East 14th Street, where the legendary Gramercy Gym once stood.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].