Sky members have a new home in Sportset

After more than 20 years in Rockville Centre, Sky Athletic Club closed its doors on Dec. 31, following a real estate dispute, according to owner Ed Scannapieco.

But members and staff of the former gym will not be left out in the cold this winter. Dennison Silvio, owner of nearby Sportset Health and Fitness Club will be honoring all Sky memberships through this year, after the two made an agreement.

Described by Scannapieco as a “migration” from gym to gym, so far more than 1,000 former Sky members have made the jump to Sportset, which also took on roughly 35 former Sky staff.

“Denisson and Sportset have welcomed Sky Athletic members with open arms,” said Scannapieco. “He’s put a lot of energy [and] effort…to make sure members feel at home.”

In addition to bringing on former Sky instructors and trainers, Dennison has also added 20 extra classes to Sportset’s schedule, leased an additional parking lot on Maple Avenue and introduced a valet service to help with the extra traffic coming into his gym.

“We’ve really been working hard on all angles to make this work,” Dennison said.

Although unplanned, Sportset just opened up a new 60-bike spin studio, which also helped accommodate the new members. “[It’s] a great coincidence,” Scannapieco said about the new studio.

Sportset was the first place Scannapieco thought would make a good fit for his gym’s members after deciding to close Sky in early December. Within 48 hours of making the decision to close, he contacted Silvio to begin the collaboration. Scannapieco believed that, out of all the gyms in Rockville Centre, Sportset was the most similar to Sky in terms of services provided.

The two worked quickly to get the migration going. Within 20 days, they had finalized the plans to bring the members and staff over. By the time Sky closed, many members were already making the switch, but there are still some latecomers. “[The new members] are still coming in every day,” Silvio remarked.

“The migration is not complete,” said Scannapieco. He is trying to reach as many of his former members as he can to let them know their membership will be honored at Sportset.

After more than two decades, the closing of Sky is the end of an era for Scannepieco. “We had a very successful run for a very long time,” he said. He is sad to see it go, but there are always more opportunities ahead.

“[There were] a couple of tears but they’re going away.”