Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the Auburndale Powerhouse franchise, along with Envy Us Gym at 126-19 20th Ave. in College Point, were "turned into drug supermarkets by many of the defendants, who openly and illegally sold performance drugs wanted by bodybuilders, as well as a cornucopia of highly addictive and potentially dangerous prescription painkillers and street drugs."
Twenty-four people, including a store manager, a former police officer and a highly-ranked female lightweight boxer, were charged on various counts of criminal sales of controlled substances.
Also indicted was Alessandro Vozzolo, a 53-year-old Bayside barber at Paces Barber Shop at 40-02 Bell Blvd. Donato Cataldo, who identified himself as the shop owner, said Vozzolo worked under him for 15 years. "It definitely surprised me," he said.
Outside Powerhouse Gym Friday afternoon, young men arrived with membership cards in hand only to find dimmed lights and shuttered doors.
Many expressed shock and dismay, but few would identify themselves by name.
"This is news to me. I lost a lot of weight at this gym," said one young man sporting a tank top. Like others, he was frustrated and concerned that his $375 membership fee may now be wasted. "That's money down the drain," he complained.
Another man who walked by the gym was less surprised about the sting. Identifying himself only as a worker at a drug clinic, he said he had long had suspicions about the facility because of the "unnatural" body and muscle size of some members.
A small crowd peered through the iron gates and read city notices informing the public that the gym had been shut down. When one young man began speaking to reporters about his membership, another man briskly walked by, an index finger pressed to his lips, urging people not to talk.
Max Vetrano and Vincent Avallone, two Bayside teenagers, nonetheless said they were stunned by the charges.
"I wouldn't think that this type of thing was going on here," said Avallone. "I mean this is a pretty nice neighborhood."
Vetrano added: "I could tell that some people who came in used (enhancement drugs), but I didn't know they were actually taking them right here."
Ken Weiss, another gym member, said he and his wife were more concerned about their own health.
"I don't see why they have to close this place down," he said, noting that Powerhouse is the only reasonably priced gym in the area. "They're jeopardizing the health of a lot of other people who need to exercise by doing this."
A spokeswoman for the Queens DA said the reopening of the gym was a matter for the judge to decide. Money potentially lost in membership fees was not the DA's responsibility, she said.
"There were a wider range of people going there" than just the alleged lawbreakers, Weiss said. "We just want to be able to go to the gym and work out."
Outside Envy Us Gym in College Point, a far different scene prevailed. The far smaller gym was shuttered, but many from largely industrial surrounding area said they rarely saw anyone entering the gym.
"It's not surprising really," said one man, who said he drives by the gym daily. "You never see people going in there, you would have no idea if they were doing anything like that in there."
