Bruce Silverglade (far left) and boxing champs pose for a photo after the unveiling of ‘Gleason’s Gym Way’ in Dumbo.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Gleason’s Gym, renowned as the world’s most famous boxing gym, was honored with a street co-naming ceremony at the corner of Adams and Water Streets in Dumbo on Aug. 22.
Boxing champions, including Vito Antuofermo, Michael Spinks, Junior Jones and Sonya Lamonakis, along with elected officials and numerous family and friends, joined Bruce Silverglade, owner of Gleason’s Gym, for the unveiling of “Gleason’s Gym Way.”
The street co-naming represents a pinnacle for the storied gym, which has trained boxing legends such as Jake LaMotta, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. It has also produced 136 boxing champions and hosted Hollywood stars like Robert De Niro and Hilary Swank during their preparations for “Raging Bull” and “Million Dollar Baby.”
Gleason’s Gym, the oldest boxing gym in the United States, first opened in 1937 in the Bronx, later relocated twice, and is now situated at 130 Water St. in Brooklyn. Bruce Silverglade, who has owned the gym for 42 years and celebrated his birthday on the day of the ceremony, expressed his excitement about the honor. He told Brooklyn Paper he was “thrilled” to have a street named after the gym.
“This is really very, very thrilling,” Silverglade, inducted into the New York State Hall of Fame in 2015, said. “It’s not for me; it’s for Gleason’s Gym, and it’s really for all the fighters and all the clients that have come through here that have made it as great as it is today.”
Silverglade added that he is continually amazed by the gym’s global recognition.
“I’ve had actual arguments with some of the Italian nationals that come in here,” he said. “They tell me that Gleason’s is more popular in Italy than it is here in New York City. It’s popular everywhere, and people know it.”
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