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El Barrio Gym on East 115^th street, which is located on the 3^rd floor of a 3 story building on top of a corner store, is the gym Malik Rodriguez, the Marine and boxer profiled in an earlier post, usually trains at. However, the gym is in a fight of its own to keep its doors open after a West African man by the name of Souleimane Konate, purchased the two floors above the deli from the landlord for almost $14,000. The marine still trains there but the question is for how long will he be able to before owner of the gym Jose Sanchez is forced to move out.

Rodriguez has found other ways to train as well, being resourceful and using what’s around him. On this rainy and windy day, he chose to train in a place he has trained before, on a dimly lit terrace in the Polo Grounds, a New York City housing project located across the street from the legendary street basketball court, Rucker Park. The location was originally Polo Grounds baseball stadium before it’s demolition in 1964. The fighter doesn’t train alone however, his uncle, a former boxer himself, Edwin “Bad Boy” Rodriguez, trains him.

This day, there are no weights, no heavy bags, no speed bag, and his sparring partner was unable to make it. However, he had hand wraps, gloves, and pads to do pad work, which is where someone else holds up their hands strapped in these boxing pads in different angles to work on jabs, defensive maneuvers, body shots, right and left hooks, and many other techniques, more than enough to work on your craft. Rodriguez also shadow boxed, which is typically with no gloves or equipment and is done alone. This is a way to maintain rhythm, work on footwork, jabs, stamina, and figure out what needs to be fixed with your technique among other things.

His uncle held the pads low and told him to use both his left and right hand to uppercut quickly, but he stopped Rodriguez when he noticed he was not stepping into the punches, a common mistake among inexperienced fighters. Because the terrace is open, with the top half covered with gates, the wind was blowing loudly enough to make it difficult to hear some of the instructions he gave his nephew. He was simply tiring himself out as opposed to stepping into each uppercut. Another mistake Rodriguez made on a few occasions was dropping his left hand after throwing a right hook, a mistake in boxing. Edwin instructed him to keep the left hand close to his chin to avoid taking an unnecessary shot.

Rodriguez is still a raw fighter; he tired himself out trying to throw hard punches as opposed to throwing them the right way which his uncle attempted to correct. Power comes from your legs and he began to improve by doing things like “sitting down” on his hooks, which produce more power than trying to swing your arm hard. Despite some weaknesses, his uncle believes in him, “He has what it takes, if he didn’t have what it takes I would tell him, I would say look you don’t got it, don’t waste your time you’re going to get hurt.”

El Barrio Gym on East 115^th street, which is located on the 3^rd floor of a 3 story building on top of a corner store, is the gym Malik Rodriguez, the Marine and boxer profiled in an earlier post, usually trains at. However, the gym is in a fight of its own to keep its doors open after a West African man by the name of Souleimane Konate, purchased the two floors above the deli from the landlord for almost $14,000. The marine still trains there but the question is for how long will he be able to before owner of the gym Jose Sanchez is forced to move out.

Rodriguez has found other ways to train as well, being resourceful and using what’s around him. On this rainy and windy day, he chose to train in a place he has trained before, on a dimly lit terrace in the Polo Grounds, a New York City housing project located across the street from the legendary street basketball court, Rucker Park. The location was originally Polo Grounds baseball stadium before it’s demolition in 1964. The fighter doesn’t train alone however, his uncle, a former boxer himself, Edwin “Bad Boy” Rodriguez, trains him.

This day, there are no weights, no heavy bags, no speed bag, and his sparring partner was unable to make it. However, he had hand wraps, gloves, and pads to do pad work, which is where someone else holds up their hands strapped in these boxing pads in different angles to work on jabs, defensive maneuvers, body shots, right and left hooks, and many other techniques, more than enough to work on your craft. Rodriguez also shadow boxed, which is typically with no gloves or equipment and is done alone. This is a way to maintain rhythm, work on footwork, jabs, stamina, and figure out what needs to be fixed with your technique among other things.

His uncle held the pads low and told him to use both his left and right hand to uppercut quickly, but he stopped Rodriguez when he noticed he was not stepping into the punches, a common mistake among inexperienced fighters. Because the terrace is open, with the top half covered with gates, the wind was blowing loudly enough to make it difficult to hear some of the instructions he gave his nephew. He was simply tiring himself out as opposed to stepping into each uppercut. Another mistake Rodriguez made on a few occasions was dropping his left hand after throwing a right hook, a mistake in boxing. Edwin instructed him to keep the left hand close to his chin to avoid taking an unnecessary shot.

Rodriguez is still a raw fighter; he tired himself out trying to throw hard punches as opposed to throwing them the right way which his uncle attempted to correct. Power comes from your legs and he began to improve by doing things like “sitting down” on his hooks, which produce more power than trying to swing your arm hard. Despite some weaknesses, his uncle believes in him, “He has what it takes, if he didn’t have what it takes I would tell him, I would say look you don’t got it, don’t waste your time you’re going to get hurt.”

https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/themanpettanproject/

Malik Rodriguez, an ambitious 23 year old Marine with big expectations for himself when he steps into the ring, but these aren’t the bright lights in an area, more like the street lights in a neighborhood. “I got started by literally just walking in and asking to fight,” referring to his first appearance at BX Fight Club, a new underground set of boxing matches, where the location is not disclosed publicly, attending one of these events are not based on what you know, but who you know. Sometimes it may be held in a park, maybe in a parking lot, locations vary, but the police have the discovered the unsanctioned event before and shut it down. ‘You have to know somebody to get the address” Rodriguez said, “My friend invited me and he only knew about it through his friend.”

He was not paid for any of his matches at the Bronx fights but admitted that some fighters were compensated for winning tournaments whether it be in prizes or cash. However, these underground matches in the Bronx league were not the first time he laced up some leather gloves. Rodriguez got his first real start at “Friday Night Throwdown,” another underground league, slightly better known and more established than the BX fight club. “ I was drunk and got into a lot of fights, then one day I got invited to FNT, found out I can drink and fight and get paid, I loved it,” he recalls while laughing,” then eventually I got serious with it.”

He remembers his first fight with the leagues prized possession, an undefeated fighter in both amateur and underground, his name was Rockstar Charlie. ‘Charlie was beating everybody, then I came in, I was a little drunk, but I came the closest to beating him, so they were telling me I had to come back.” After being invited back, he was told to bring some people, “So I brought guys from my neighborhood, and that was when a magazine company came to the event, they found out Charlie was a model, and that’s how it eventually became Models VS Fighters.”

He has usually trained almost every day at El Barrio Gym on East 115^th street. Although he considers FNT fun and more of a party, he trains seriously with aspirations of becoming a profession boxer, ‘I’m actually going to try and go to the next Golden Gloves, then try and go pro.”

Malik Rodriguez, an ambitious 23 year old Marine with big expectations for himself when he steps into the ring, but these aren’t the bright lights in an area, more like the street lights in a neighborhood. “I got started by literally just walking in and asking to fight,” referring to his first appearance at BX Fight Club, a new underground set of boxing matches, where the location is not disclosed publicly, attending one of these events are not based on what you know, but who you know. Sometimes it may be held in a park, maybe in a parking lot, locations vary, but the police have the discovered the unsanctioned event before and shut it down. ‘You have to know somebody to get the address” Rodriguez said, “My friend invited me and he only knew about it through his friend.”

He was not paid for any of his matches at the Bronx fights but admitted that some fighters were compensated for winning tournaments whether it be in prizes or cash. However, these underground matches in the Bronx league were not the first time he laced up some leather gloves. Rodriguez got his first real start at “Friday Night Throwdown,” another underground league, slightly better known and more established than the BX fight club. “ I was drunk and got into a lot of fights, then one day I got invited to FNT, found out I can drink and fight and get paid, I loved it,” he recalls while laughing,” then eventually I got serious with it.”

He remembers his first fight with the leagues prized possession, an undefeated fighter in both amateur and underground, his name was Rockstar Charlie. ‘Charlie was beating everybody, then I came in, I was a little drunk, but I came the closest to beating him, so they were telling me I had to come back.” After being invited back, he was told to bring some people, “So I brought guys from my neighborhood, and that was when a magazine company came to the event, they found out Charlie was a model, and that’s how it eventually became Models VS Fighters.”

He has usually trained almost every day at El Barrio Gym on East 115^th street. Although he considers FNT fun and more of a party, he trains seriously with aspirations of becoming a profession boxer, ‘I’m actually going to try and go to the next Golden Gloves, then try and go pro.”

Once you step off the 7 train, be sure to exit not from the staircases in the middle of the station but from the station’s entrance and you’ll find yourself on Roosevelt Avenue. No, you haven’t been magically transported to the streets of Hong Kong or Seoul. Like its food, energy, and noise, downtown Flushing’s shopping scene also seems to be straight out of an east Asian metropolis. Businesses are stacked on top of each other and the garish signage extends into the street.

Another bonus? Purchases at Korean cosmetics stores always come with coupons and free samples. Photo Credit: Liz Kim

According to the Visit Korea Committee survey, the items tourists most want to purchase when traveling to South Korea are beauty products. Roosevelt Avenue delivers the South Korean shopping experience without needing a passport. “[Downtown Flushing] is the only place where you can find all these [Korean] beauty brands clustered together,” said Susan An, an employee at Skin Food. “And because Korean culture seems to be so popular today, we’re getting a lot more traffic from people outside of Flushing looking to try out things they’ve never tried before.”

Sisley/Shiseido: The oldest of the bunch, Sisley is on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue. Unlike the other Korean cosmetics stores there, they sell products from both South Korean and other Asian brands. However, their high-end brand name inventory also means steep prices. For example, products from SK-II, a Japanese skin care brand, can easily run you a couple hundred dollars. And although SK-II is now sold in mainstream department stores like Macy’s, Sisley carries a wider variety and often offers different package deals.

Skin Food – Makeup counter or farmer’s market? Photo Credit: Liz Kim

Skin Food: Just a few stores down from Sisley is Skin Food and as its name suggests, Skin Food aims to create products with the nutritional values of food. Their products consist only of natural ingredients. “[The employees] wear aprons because we want the consumer to feel like they are in a farmer’s market,” An said. With names like Tomato Jelly Lip Tint and Agave Cactus Cream, you feel as though you’re ordering lunch rather than looking for lipstick or lotion. Their prices range from $10 to $60.

Club Clio: Across the street from Skin Food is Club Clio and they might appeal more to the night club enthusiasts. The staff dress head to toe in flashy black clothing and killer heels and a constant stream of dance music flows out onto the street. Club Clio’s prices are slightly lower than Skin Food’s and range from about $2 to $40.

“I love that I can see these products in person rather than taking a risk on Amazon or eBay,” said Jennifer McLaughlin. She lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn and had trouble finding the cosmetics shops she came to love while teaching in South Korea. Now she comes to Flushing to stock up on all her favorite brands. “It’s just makeup at the end of the day, but I think that the experience of hearing music that’s in a foreign language and the unique signs sort of create this cultural experience that’s hard to find elsewhere.”

The stores listed above are just a few of the cosmetics stores you’ll find on Roosevelt Avenue. It may be hard to choose so pick whichever cardboard cutout of a K-Pop star (all the stores display them out front) screams to you the most and walk in. And with the holidays coming up before you know it, not only can you pick up something for yourself, but a trip to downtown Flushing will also give you plenty of ideas of gifts for friends and family.