West Area Athletic & Educ Center 307 South Geddes Street, Syracuse, NY 13204

"I am appalled and heartbroken at how guests of this gym are treated. My boyfriend and I were invited, by the founder, Ray Rinaldi, to work out a bit and watch sparring. My boyfriend was a former student who looked up to Coach Ray. When Coach Ray told us the gym had free workout nights on Tuesdays and Thursdays, my boyfriend thought it would be a great opportunity for me to see a true boxing match up close. I had been asking him to teach me boxing for self defense. I am a postal carrier who delivers in all neighborhoods and has dealt with some not so nice people. When we arrived, we were greeted by Coach Ray. He was excited to see us, telling us how great tonight was going to be. We were excited too. My boyfriend showed me the gym's creeds and accomplished athletes who lived by them. We were excited and I asked to feel out the punching bag. As my boyfriend was showing me a few pointers and explaining how rough it is in the ring, a guy showed up next to us. Welcomed us aggressively saying that we needed to leave. He gave us the option to come back tomorrow, but our plans would not let us. My boyfriend was taken aback and told him that was not a warm welcome and asked his name and who his boss was so he could let the higher ups know that this situation could have been handled very differently. The guy would not give us his name, but we later found out it is Chris Burns. Instead the guy went into rage mode, screaming so much it gave me a headache and punching himself trying to get my boyfriend to lay his hands on him which is entrapment. He even pushed my boyfriend which caused my boyfriend’s glasses to go flying across the gym and were ruined. We were not able to retrieve the $200 pair of sunglasses my boyfriend relies on. Chris did not seem to care how impressionable the onlookers were. He was not in the ring, he had no right to interact the way he did. We were in our own little corner, doing our own thing, not bothering anyone. We just wanted to see if we wanted to join as a couple. We were pushed out the door. I told them we were invited by Coach Ray and their expressions changed, but would not back down from their aggressive behavior. We were not able to civilly talk to Chris or the staff. The young boxers were taught a horrible way to handle an altercation outside of the boxing ring. While walking to our car, we saw Coach Ray and my boyfriend voiced his concern. Chris came in yelling and Coach Ray told us to leave. Ray Rinaldi turned his back on my boyfriend. He would not hear my boyfriend's worry or concern. As a Hall of Famer and a supposed man of honor, his lack of neutrality to the situation showed his true character. The treatment we received was appalling. We called the police to see if they would help rectify this situation and retrieve my boyfriend’s glasses, but the staff took those 20 minutes before the police showed up to formulate a story that caused the officer to not help us further. My boyfriend and I were so excited to join this gym, not just for our physical health but to give back to the community. My boyfriend and I had talked about donating our time and skills. He works with computers and I with nonprofit fundraising. This organization's treatment of the common man is atrocious. We are not the only ones who have experienced mistreatment and probably won’t be the last. The new management is toxic and a bully. We would recommend everyone to stay away from this gym at all costs, for your well being and safety."

"Great place terrific trainers...."

"Great place if you are a fan of boxing or you would like to work out or would like just compete or work as spring official all in all it is a great place 4 everything boxing."