Ocean City Gym Owner Leads Movement To Open Businesses Monday

OCEAN CITY, NJ — The owner of four local gyms, including Atilis Gym in Ocean City, says he will reopen his businesses Monday in defiance of Governor Phil Murphy's coronavirus orders. Chris Lambert feels it's time to stage a mass opening of "non-essential" businesses following months of closures.

Lambert owns Atilis Gym in Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Wildwood and Egg Harbor Township. He is one of the admins in the "New Jersey Business Coalition Opening 6/1/2020" Facebook group, which has organized shuttered businesses to reopen Monday.

"We have a big and still growing group of business owners who have come together and after exhausting several avenues including a meeting with the governors office we feel it’s time to stage a mess (sic) opening of all New Jersey businesses," Lambert wrote on his Facebook profile.

Tommy Trivilas, another gym owner and group founder, has listed several considerations for safety measures when reopening, such as giving gym goers spray bottles with sanitizer, putting UV sterilizing lamps in the ductwork and keeping occupancy at 20 percent of the maximum capacity.

My main concern is my customers," Trilivas said. "Why wouldn't I have a clean environment to come into?"

Many states have allowed gyms to reopen since the coronavirus outbreak began, according to The New York Times. But many states with the highest numbers of coronavirus cases haven't reopened gyms yet. Gyms remain closed in New York, California and Massachusetts. Fitness centers will reopen soon in some areas of Illinois, while Chicago will reopen on its own timeline.

Members of the New Jersey coalition tried different approaches to opening legally, according to Trivilas. That includes a conversation with Murphy's chief of staff, George Helmy.

"The plan was to exhaust all leads," Trivilas said in a video, "which was to be able to open up the correct way, which would be presenting a protocol, developing a safety plan and protocol, have everyone get on place and on board to do that protocol."

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But Trivalas says they have exhausted all options and don't know how much longer the closure will last.

Cape May County's prosecutor said last week that local law enforcement would continue enforcing Murphy's executive orders.

"The Executive Orders are laws that we, as law enforcement officers are sworn to uphold and enforce," Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland said in a statement. "I understand that people have differing opinions regarding these restrictions and Orders and as Americans we have Constitutional rights to express our opinions; but law enforcement officers must enforcement them- even if they personally do not agree with them."

Murphy said May 20 it's difficult for the state to determine when gyms might reopen.

"Inside, no ventilation, close contact is a hard nut to crack," Murphy said. "We're just not there yet. We're not there yet on gyms, we're not there yet on indoor dining. This is not just a point of principle. This is a reality that we are just not there yet as a public health matter."

Murphy said Friday the problem is the gyms are indoors, where "you don't have ventilation," there's "sweat," people are within close proximity and sedentary.

"It's a petri dish," he said.

The owners of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr — at the center of New Jersey's discussion to reopen businesses — filed a federal lawsuit against state officials over Murphy's stay-at-home orders. Read more: South Jersey Gym Owners That Defied Murphy's Order File Lawsuit

The nation is now evenly split on whether businesses such as gyms, hair salons and shopping malls should resume operations in the next month, according to a POLITICO-Harvard poll released May 21. Forty-six percent believe their state's governors should allow "non-essential" businesses to open in the next month, while 51 percent said they believe those businesses should be closed until the COVID-19 spread is contained.

The poll reflected a shift in opinion after earlier polls found Americans overwhelmingly supported stay-at-home orders, POLITICO says.

That would be consistent with the findings of a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll conducted released May 5. The survey, released a few weeks earlier than the POLITICO-Harvard Poll, showed 22 percent supporting gyms reopening. That includes 40 percent of respondents leaning Republican and 10 percent who lean toward the Democratic Party.

State officials reported 703 new coronavirus cases and 54 deaths Tuesday. Murphy said the low number of new positive cases and deaths may be due to a delay in reporting over the holiday weekend. New Jersey has reported 155,764 cases and 11,191 deaths as of Tuesday.

Cape May County has reported 233 active cases, 314 people cleared off quarantine and 47 deaths as of Tuesday. That includes 110 active cases, 38 people cleared off quarantine and 37 deaths in longterm-care facilities.

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

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