SoulCycle for the Homeless? One Dude's Creative Use of Citi Bikes
are the latest fitness craze, (aside from Prancercising of course), but at around $34 per session a trip to SoulCycle or FlyWheel is not affordable for everyone. Leave it to Joshua Onassis, the self-proclaimed "Fat Jew," a hilarious fixture in the downtown New York City community, to bring spin class quite literally to the streets.
New York is the latest city to get Citi Bikes, a pay-as-you-go cycling program with pick-up and drop-off locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. These bikes are docked and locked in clusters, but Onassis realized the wheels still spin like stationary bikes when they're not in use. And thus, his idea was born: free outdoor spin class for the homeless. They may not be able to afford sneakers, but Onassis think they deserve a healthy workout routine like anyone else. He was spotted teaching a spin class to several people near Tompkins Square Park in the East Village on Thursday morning.
"Although it started as a joke, the reactions I've gotten from the homeless since I started doing this have been so bizarrely positive that i'm going to do it more regularly without a doubt," Onassis tells Yahoo! Shine exclusively. "There have been three classes so far. The plan is to bring on several other cycling enthusiasts [and my] less fat friends to help teach the classes. We feel as if this is something we can do to give back. There are so many Citi Bike locations that are highly underutilized, particularly on the Lower West Side, and we feel that they should be used to give back to New Yorkers who can use it most. Also, we'd totally open it up to everybody, not just homeless people. New Yorkers are going to have the sickest bods ever!"
So far the participants are loving it. "I have video testimonials of homeless men and women saying how wonderful they feel, and are thanking Mayor Bloomberg for allowing them to exercise and have some fun." He hasn't received any complaints, and feels New York owes it to to the people to use these bikes for free.
"The Citi Bike activation as a whole was never run by the citizens of New York, [and] the bikes were just kind of imposed in the neighborhoods, so I think it's within the rights of every New Yorker to utilize them when they're not generating revenue. Also: how good do I look in a mesh crop top?"
To see for yourself check out the video below.
