A recreation center in Canarsie abruptly closed its doors earlier this month, leaving some members wondering why.

The gates to Brooklyn Lifestyle Athletic Club (BKLA) are locked.

Members, like Thomas Nervais, tell News 12 they were not notified of the closure, and there is no information on the company's website.

"I was making calls nobody would answer the numbers," said Nervais. "I called my workout buddies, they themselves reached out, and we just had no answer."

Some members told News 12 they were charged for their January membership, despite the facility being closed for more than two weeks.

News 12 has learned Fitmar Management ran the facility, but the NYC Parks Department awarded a 20-year contract to a new company called Rock Solid.

During the transition of management, NYC Parks told News 12 Fitmar chose to close instead of providing temporary service.

Fitmar Management said it did notify members of the closure through email, sending News 12 copies of emails were sent on Jan. 3 and Jan. 6.

A Fitmar representative also told us they stopped billing, but a few members were charged on Jan. 1.

As for the after-school programs, Fitmar says they were relocated to the Hebrew Educational Society in Canarsie.

It also said it is working to relocate swimming programs.

As for new management of BKLA, Rock Solids website says it hopes to reopen the health club portionby Feb. 1 and is waiting for New York City approval to bring back swimming and after-school programs.

Fitmar management sent News 12 a statement:

We are aware of the concerns raised by members regarding the recent closure of Brooklyn Lifestyle Athletic Club (BKLA) at the Paerdegat location. The closure stems from the expiration of our license with NYC Parks on December 10, 2024. Unfortunately, we did not communicate earlier as we were assured by NYC Parks that the new operators would be up and running by January 1 making this a seamless transition. All memberships were paused due to temporary closure effective January 1, 2025. The new operator has expressed interest in keeping memberships intact and we are in agreement. However, a small number of ACH charges for memberships processed on or before December 31, 2024, were inadvertently completed. We want to assure our members that we are actively contacting all those affected individuals as verified via data withdrawals and issuing refunds (approx 10). It is important to our mission that we continue as many services as possible and disruption is limited. It is important to note we immediately moved our after School children to HES, and Swim and Basketball programming will live on at various locations within the nearby Brooklyn area starting this weekend. There have been some amazing partners helping to make sure disruption to programming remains limited. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience caused during this transition and remain committed to resolving any outstanding concerns. Members with questions regarding their accounts can reach out to our dedicated support team at 718-209-1010 or at info@bklanyc.com. BKLA has been a cornerstone of the community for 6 years, and we are saddened by this outcome. We remain committed to exploring ways to continue our mission of providing wellness, education, and enrichment opportunities in low to moderate income communities. - Brooklyn Lifestyle Athletic Club