Neighbor Martina Nevermann Will Open Pilates On Cortelyou This Monday, October 13

When Martina Nevermann opened Pilates on Rugby seven years ago, it was a small, but passionate, operation, one born of our neighbor’s love for both the community and exercise sans the stress of organized sport. At first, there were a couple mat classes a week, held in Martina’s home. Word began to spread and the business grew, with more classes being offered – and, as everyone from teenagers to neighborhood moms (and the occasional dad) and retirees increasingly began going there, Martina realized that she was quickly outgrowing her home base on Rugby.

She knew she wanted to stay in the neighborhood, where the former costume designer has lived with her husband and two sons for 12 years, and when Martina discovered the space at 1019A Cortelyou Road (which, in its previous lives, was a pizza place and a vacuum repair store, and is tucked between Hartwell Vegetarian and Brooklyn ARTery) was open, she knew that’s where she wanted to be. Now, come this Monday, October 13,  Pilates on Rugby will become Pilates on Cortelyou – and to celebrate, Martina is offering two free classes per person during the opening week, from October 13 through the end of October.

“Where we had been was nice and cozy, but it was limiting,” Martina explained. “The new space is beautifully high, and we have two separate rooms now, which means we can offer more.”

With the two rooms, she’ll be able to offer both group and private sessions at once, as well as more classes in general. One of the new additions will be classes using the reformer – a piece of pilates equipment that works on developing good alignment, core strength, and flexibility.

For a full schedule of this fall’s classes, as well as to sign up for them, you can go here.

For the non-reformer classes, prices are $22 for drop-ins, $120 for six classes, and $180 for 10 classes. For the reformer classes, prices are $35 for drop-ins, $170 for five classes, and $330 for 10 classes. For information about pricing for private classes, go to the Pilates on Cortelyou website.

Classes will continue to be small, Martina said, with about three to eight people in each one (other than, of course, any private session). Anyone is welcome – people of all ages and abilities attend right now, with Martina’s youngest client being 13 and her oldest 94.

“Everyone’s coming from the community, which is really nice and gives it a very personal feeling,” said Martina, who originally was introduced to pilates by her sister-in-law, Ellie Herman – and the neighbor, who had been looking for a physical activity she enjoyed, immediately embraced it.

“I grew up in Germany, and you’re always active there – you ride your bike everywhere,” said Martina, who spent her childhood in Lübeck, a town in northern Germany, and moved to Los Angeles with her husband 18 years ago. “It’s a different exercise lifestyle over there – you’re always active without having to go to a gym. I never liked going to a gym or organized sports, so when I was introduced by my sister-in-law, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is it. I love this, it’s totally for me.'”

“You really learn about your body,” Martina continued. “It’s a brain exercise too – you’re combining breathing and isolating muscle groups. There’s a lot to think about. It’s a complex exercise, especially in the beginning. But once people get to know it, it’s not so intimidating.”

With the new space, the neighbor said she’s constantly thinking of new ways to utilize it – including potentially having couples’ classes and expanding offerings for teenagers.

“There are definitely more women than men in the classes – most men get dragged in by their wives and are very skeptical, but they end up liking it,” Martina laughed. “We’ve had more men coming, and I’ve been thinking of starting a couple’s class.”

As her business grows, Martina said one thing is for sure – she always wants to be in our neck of the woods.

“We moved to New York 12 years ago, and we wanted to be here because it’s an amazingly beautiful neighborhood,” she said. “Back then, of course, it was quite different – there was one restaurant, the co-op was a tiny hole-in-the-wall place. There’s a country feeling but you’re so close to the city. It was stunning.”

Plus, Martina said she immediately fell in love with the area’s sense of community, something she has especially noticed while owning her own business.

“There’s all these different communities around, but somehow they interconnect,” she said. “There are all these different cultures and groups that overlap. It’s very communal – it’s what’s so beautiful about this neighborhood.”

Pilates on Cortelyou is located at 1019A Cortelyou Road. It can be reached by calling (917) 703-6500, or you can visit its website here.