The Trinity Gym, a new wellness center with a focus on comprehensive health, community and charity, is celebrating its grand opening in Long Island City. Photo courtesy of the Trinity Gym.
Sept. 25, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
The Trinity Gym, a Long Island City fitness center focused on holistic exercise goals, community and charity, will celebrate its grand opening this Saturday, Sept. 28.
The Trinity Gym, located at 44-02 11th St., will host its grand opening celebration from 1-6 p.m. on Saturday, offering the LIC community a chance to experience the new facility.
Irish immigrants Seamus Keane and John Collins opened the 1,500-square-foot gym in January, but decided to wait until September to host the grand opening celebration. During the spring, the gym was still under development, and many LIC residents were away for the summer.
“We wanted to celebrate it at a time when most of our community would be around,” Keane said.
Keane and Collins, who are both from County Mayo in Ireland, formed the Trinity Gym in February 2021 after hosting virtual and in-person classes during the pandemic. The pair held regular outdoor fitness classes for three years before opening their Long Island City location this January, building their fitness community from a small class of eight participants to a core group of 50 members and five trainers by the time they opened an indoor location.
Trinity Gym at one of their outdoor sessions in LIC. Now they are looking forward to new opportunities in their fixed location. Photo courtesy of the Trinity Gym.
Both Keane and Collins left comfortable jobs that they were unhappy in to form the Trinity and have never looked back since.
They believe that traditional gyms do not provide enough care or attention to their members and aim to personalize classes for individual members rather than providing uniform classes for large groups.
“We build your program based on your individual abilities and goals, and this is not a one-size-fits-all approach,” Keane said.
The gym aims to create a program that will improve members’ health, give them more energy and make them more productive in everyday life.
Keane and Collins also emphasize getting the basics right for an individual’s fitness journey and ensuring that people get the information they need to achieve their goals.
“Gym environments can be scary, and we get that. There is an overload of information out there, but we are often starved for knowledge. At the Trinity, we keep things simple and our philosophy focuses on getting the basics right: exercising regularly, eating good food and recovering well.”
Keane said he is relieved to finally be celebrating the Trinity’s grand opening eight months after opening in Long Island City and more than three years after founding the fitness group in Hunter’s Point South Park.
He praised the local community, adding that Long Island City has reminded him and Collins of their roots in Ireland.
“The people here are very neighborhood friendly and the associations like the LIC Partnership and Hunters Point Park Conservancy are very supportive.”
Keane invited members of the local community to visit the gym for Saturday’s grand opening, stating that the event will feature champagne and treats.
Keane and Collins have built a commitment to the local community and local charities since forming the Trinity, raising over $200,000 for the Aisling Irish Community Center in Yonkers by bringing more than 2,000 people together for a 6k run in 2022. They have also raised money for homeless charities in New York City and educational initiatives in Africa.
Featured Events
