You are hereForums / Social / General Climbing Chat / CCC 59th street move?
CCC 59th street move?
There's been lots of talk lately of CCC moving out to Bushwick, Brooklyn. For me, that would mean the end of my indoor climbing. Going to Brooklyn is certainly not the worst case scenario, but it would put a damper on things. There's talk of charging way more for membership (which makes sense) but the space isn't going to be so much better than what they have now (a bit longer and 2 feet wider, taller by 5 feet). There's a lot of CCC members that live out in Brooklyn as well as some of their staff so maybe it's inevitable, but I really hope they stay and figure something out. The whole feel and vibe of 59th street is just so classic. Old school in a way that no other place has. Of course, having 2 spots would be amazing, but...money money money. Any thoughts? Anyone have the 411 about what's really going to happen? Is it worth it to pay more for a longer trip for an only slightly better space?
I'm in the same boat. While I appreciate the club's need to find a space free from the constant threat of City-mandated closure hanging over them, Bushwick might as well be in Canada in terms of accessibility for me. From my place in far-upper Manhattan, I estimate it would take me about 1 - 1.5 hours one way to get to to Bushwick, more if the MTA pulls its usual random outages. That's just too far, especially if I'll have to pay more for the privilege.
Still, the thought of CCC setting up in the nexus of artfully unwashed hipster-land makes me chuckle. I imagine in its first few weeks it will be overrun with kids in faux hawks and women's jeans scrambling to get past the first moves on the white-taped routes, and complaining that the color scheme is, like, so 1994. It will probably die down, though, once they realize climbing requires more nutritional intake than Tab and cigarettes, and more strength than what's gained by blogging and falling off fixie bikes at stoplights on the way to their friends' gallery openings.
However, it's yet unclear whether the hipsters would be worse than the hordes of giggling and screaming Columbia freshman girls that 59th St. attracts these days.
Agreed. Also living in far-upper Manhattan, going to Brooklyn is totally out of the question. Getting downtown is a journey enough. It seems as though the options for the board are getting smaller and smaller if the building does close for renovations. Which sucks, of course, but the Brooklyn alternative just doesn't make sense. If they need to charge a bunch more due to high rent but only supply a slight improvement in gym quality, who is their target market then? How do you ask your members (who are members because they work in the city so climbing there is a plus) to pay more, go farther, and climb in essentially the same space? It seems that the message is this: we make money off climbing and want to keep doing that regardless of how convenient our current location is--you're either with us or we'll find someone else. Like you said SubPrime, watching 90 pound men climb will wear out pretty fast. I think it's a slippery slope right now of being attentive to current members and making more money using the same formula. Perhaps Brooklyn or lower Manhattan residents will be enough. Sadly I'm just one person that won't be along for the ride that no one will notice isn't there. Only time will tell.