NEW YORK—It’s not every day you see dozens of people vigorously dancing in unison in Madison Square Park. Enticing visitors to watch and participate to varying degrees, the mostly female crowd worked up a sweat while engaging in a free Zumba workout class on Monday. Set to international music, Zumba requires exercisers to mimic the fast-paced, free-form dancing of an instructor.
The Zumba event kicked off a weeklong campaign called Make NYC Your Gym to raise awareness about the plethora of free and low cost fitness opportunities across every borough.
“Physical activity and exercise improves your health and quality of life. It’s so much more easy and fun to do when you have other people,” said Linda Gibbs, deputy mayor of Health and Human Services at the press conference between the Zumba warm up and the actual class.
Gibbs shared that she recently organized a neighborhood volleyball game at Brooklyn Bridge Park that 40 people attended. “It was a blast: it was just really fun to have that time with our neighbors,” said Gibbs.
During the press conference, an announcement was made that all recreation centers in New York are free for the week.
Also, the city just released a redesign of the BeFitNYC website, a project three years in the making.
The Zumba event kicked off a weeklong campaign called Make NYC Your Gym to raise awareness about the plethora of free and low cost fitness opportunities across every borough.
“Physical activity and exercise improves your health and quality of life. It’s so much more easy and fun to do when you have other people,” said Linda Gibbs, deputy mayor of Health and Human Services at the press conference between the Zumba warm up and the actual class.
Gibbs shared that she recently organized a neighborhood volleyball game at Brooklyn Bridge Park that 40 people attended. “It was a blast: it was just really fun to have that time with our neighbors,” said Gibbs.
During the press conference, an announcement was made that all recreation centers in New York are free for the week.
Also, the city just released a redesign of the BeFitNYC website, a project three years in the making.
