2025
NEW GYM LOCATION ALERT!!! We have officially opened a large new gym and classroom location in the Bronx NY.
THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) — A new gym in the Bronx is offering kids more than just a place to work out—it is giving them a fighting chance at a brighter future.
Inside the Bronx Legends Cops & Kids Gym on opening day, 12-year-old Ivan Rivera bounced on his toes, throwing fast jabs as his father, an NYPD officer, looked on. For Ivan, boxing is more than exercise—it’s a way to chase big dreams.
“I was jump roping and shadowboxing just warming up before I get into my boxing training,” Rivera said. He hopes to one day become both a professional boxer and a Major League Baseball player.
“I just like to be in boxing to train and know how to protect myself when I get older and maybe one day make it to the pros, and the community is very good and I like it a lot because I get to learn new people,” he added.
The Bronx Legends Cops & Kids Gym, which officially opened its doors Saturday, is the first free boxing and fitness facility for young people ages 12 to 21 in the borough. Beyond athletics, organizers say the gym offers mentorship, discipline, and a safe haven for teens at risk of being pulled into violence.
That mission is personal for participants like 17-year-old Luilly Gomez.
“Right now I’m learning to be patient, become, in such a sport that’s so aggressive,” he explained. Gomez, who dreams of becoming both a professional boxer and a detective, has seen firsthand the dangers young people in his community face.
“I personally witnessed people being stabbed, shot, other things, drug dealers,” Gomez said. “Seeing all these people make bad decisions makes me want to be a better version of myself.”
Helping guide kids like Gomez and Rivera are mentors, including NYPD Detective Hector Lopez, captain of the department’s boxing team. “The Bronx needs this right now,” Lopez said. “I’m a mentor, I’m here to train kids.”
Lopez says the program teaches kids how to prove themselves through hard work instead of violence. “They face nothing but trouble, and that’s what we want to get them out of… in here we’re going to show them how to prove themselves in a different way,” he said.
Behind the program is NYPD Sergeant Pat Russo, the longtime director of the Cops & Kids initiative. “It’s going to be a positive alternative to the streets for these kids in the Bronx, and the whole idea behind Bronx Legends is not to create world champions but to create neighborhood legends,” Russo said.
Russo noted that kids who train at the gym could one day join the wall honoring past participants who went on to become professional athletes, police officers, or firefighters. The project is made possible, in part, thanks to the support of landlord Mario Procida, CEO of Construction Corp, who provided the gym space rent-free and utility-free.
“The space is terrific and they put it to great use, and we’re proud to be a part of it,” Procida said.
For Ivan Rivera, the gym is already where he sees his future taking shape. With his fists back up and his focus locked on the bag, he summed up his excitement simply: “I’m very excited, this is just the beginning.”
The Bronx Legends Cops & Kids Gym is free and runs on donations. Kids interested in registering can learn more by clicking here.
2024
Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington returns to NYPD Cops and Kids Boxing Program before his fight at Madison Square Garden, crediting them for his success.
2023
Eddie Hearn visits Brooklyn Gym
March Fundraising Event was SOLD OUT!
In attendance was NYC Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell
2022
New NYC Cops & Kids Fitness Center opens at the Berry Homes in Dongan Hills, Staten Island.
News Story:
A RISING BOXER
The public is invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Aug. 3, at 2 p.m. to celebrate the expansion of the boxing gym to include a general fitness center, located at 1754 Richmond Rd. And it will be a day to recognize the success of the existing youth boxing program, which also has locations in the Park Hill Apartments and in Brooklyn, and look to its future growth, Russo said.
The eight-year-old Dongan Hills boxing program attracts about 200 participants, he said, with 40 to 50 showing up daily. The goals of the program are simple, he said: “We need to distract these kids from abhorrent behavior. We need to mentor these kids and put them on the right track.’’
With help of the New York City Housing Authority, which provided the rent-free space at the encouragement of Assemblyman Michael Cusick, and several non-profit and corporate donors, renovations on the existing boxing facility began about six months ago.
The free boxing program sprouted after community policing initiatives revealed a need for a program to distract young people from drugs and gangs. It keeps humming, thanks to three NYPD volunteer coaches and additional volunteers, Russo said. The program has done so much more than form a boxing team, he said, noting that many of the participants have gone on to become police officers.
“It’s recruitment,’’ he said. “It’s crime prevention. And it’s building a relationship between local at-risk youth and police officers.” The free NYC Cops & Kids program also has an educational initiative component to it, Russo said. “Any kid that gets a 90 average on a report card gets a $50 bill from a cop,’’ he said. Additionally, the high schooler in the program with the highest average at the end of each school year is awarded a $1,000 check from the NYPD Boxing Team, he explained.
The planning of the ribbon-cutting ceremony was a lot of work, Russo admitted. But it was necessary to highlight the good the program has done and will continue to do, he said. “We need to advertise the good kids in the neighborhood who are doing the right thing,’’ he said.
The program, including the construction of the new gym, is funded by the NYPD Boxing Team and sponsors, including: Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC); Dana Ford; the New York Giants; National Grid; the city Department of Corrections; the FDNY, and The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers foundation, among others.
“Boxing is a carrot on a stick to attract these kids and keep them off the street. Not every kid wants to box, but they all want to be physically fit and work out, and they all want to be part of a positive program.”
https://www.silive.com/news/2022/07/nyc-cops-kids-boxing-expands-staten-island-facility-to-offer-free-fitness-gym-to-youth.html
