This city’s oldest boxing gym is still punching up its profile.
Gleason’s Gym — where Robert De Niro shaped up for “Raging Bull” and Hillary Swank trained for “Million Dollar Baby” — has danced like a butterfly and stung like a bee through three boroughs over nine decades and it’s not tapping out yet.
“It’s one community,” owner Bruce Silverglade told The Post, looking back on a unique legacy that has taken the gym from its original location in the Bronx to Manhattan to its current home in DUMBO, where it was honored by the city with an honorary street renaming.
Celebrities and star athletes have been as much a fixture of the gym as the speed bag, with Muhammad Ali, Jake LaMotta, Roberto Duran, Heather Hardy and Ronica Jeffre having spent time there — while celebrities like Miles Davis, Usher and Hugh Jackman have also put the gloves on.
“We never call Page Six. It doesn’t matter who you are: we don’t care,” he added.
De Niro and Swank both won Academy Awards for their performances after training at Gleason’s, albeit nearly two decades apart, Silverglade said.
“The difference between boxing and acting is really very little,” Silverglade remarked, noting both De Niro and Swank trained “harder than most of the actors that come here.”
“They got into the psyche of boxing and how we live,” he added – from attending boxing shows to birthday parties with Gleason’s staff.
Silverglade says Gleason’s has caught the eye of not only celebrities, but also plenty of location scouts over the years – resulting in over a dozen movies and commercials being shot at the gym.
It’s the old-school, timeless look and feel of the gym that captivates audiences (“if they want a fancy look, they can go to Chelsea Piers”), he said of the DUMBO location, where Gleason’s moved in 1987.
But despite the revolving door of celebrity clientele and silver screen folk, Silverglade maintains that all trainees are treated the same at Gleason’s – and all come together for a single mission.
“We train everybody the same way – because of that, there’s a common goal,” Silverglade told The Post. “When you look out the window from my office, you can’t tell who’s who. Everybody is sweating.”
The gym’s owner, who has helmed the establishment since its days on Manhattan’s 30th Street in the 1980s, can list off clientele from businessmen to housewives to at-risk youth.
Through the gym’s three-decade-old Give A Kid A Dream program, kids referred by parole officers and teachers are given a free membership to Gleason’s – plus tutoring, educational trips and athletic equipment.
“We just help out however we can,” Silverglade said. “Giving back to the community, you get more from them … Anybody that likes the sport of boxing and can use this gym is welcome.”
Gleason’s has since begun to offer free membership for veterans, as well as special programs for individuals with autism, Parkinson’s and those who use wheelchairs. The most recent addition is a group dedicated to trans boxers, which started less than three years ago.
“It’s the last melting pot in the city … everybody gets along,” Silverglade said of the gym’s inclusivity. “If this were a project that the whole world would take on, we’d have less problems.”
While the owner was first approached by Council Member Farah Lewis for a landmark designation of the site, Silverglade respectfully declined the offer as he “couldn’t move a picture without getting permission from someone” if given the honor, he told The Post.
Instead, Silverglade was offered a street co-naming – which he gleefully accepted. After a series of interviews, the street was approved for co-naming alongside 100 other streets and public places in June.
A ceremony was held on Aug. 21 – Silverglade’s 87th birthday – to officially brand the corner of Water and Adams streets as Gleason’s Gym Way. Attendees included professional and amateur boxers, as well as fans, staff, trainers and elected officials.
The storied history of Gleason’s Gym will also be captured in an upcoming documentary helmed by director and casting producer Mary Jo Slater.
Slater, 78, who went to kindergarten with Silverglade, told The Post she felt entranced with the space the moment she stepped inside.
“It’s all about camaraderie, the whole place was just magical,” she said.
Though Silverglade said he has been in talks about a potential documentary about Gleason’s Gym for years, nothing has come to fruition – yet.
“The challenge was made – I’m in,” Slater said. “We’re going to showcase the greatness of what … Gleasons has done for the community and for DUMBO.
“[Silverglade] is changing people’s lives by being open and inclusive,” she added. “It’s a magical place.”
