Bouldering Project - Gowanus

The One-Two Punch Guide: Summer Edition

@infatuation

"Like the idea of an indoor activity, but want something a little more active than shuffleboard? How about climbing a wall... would that do it for you? Plan a not-boring night starting at Brooklyn Boulders. On belay." - katherine lewin

The New York City Kids Guide

"Catering to serious climbers and novices alike, this massive, technicolored climbing space in Gowanus hosts casual climb sessions, lessons for kids, and serious team training. With several walls, it’s roomy enough to accommodate larger groups and families. It’s a great resource in the winter, when it’s far too cold to exercise outdoors. Also, they're open until midnight."

The Brooklyn Guide

On the Grid : Brooklyn Boulders

J H

Google

Sort of a joke to be honest. Came at noon on a Wednesday. A quarter of the gym was off limits for climbing due to a comp and the other half was taken over by route setting. Then there were about about 50 children running around playing games that included jumping from yoga block to yoga block on the mats. About 1/4 or less of the actual surface area of the gym available for climbing. And there were about 15 kids running around there as well. I would not describe this as a “climbing gym.” But more as a playground. I’m not against children in the gym but there should be a bit of control, not just a free for all. Great place is you have kids tho! But not for people trying to climb. I did not climb a single boulder. The only reason it’s getting 2 stars is because the guy at the front desk was super nice and understood when I asked for a refund.

Grace Parisi

Google

I was a little skeptical about the yoga program here since I don’t climb, but the classes are really great. And challenging. The teachers I’ve had so far have been excellent. Shout out to Andrew, Gioia, Ashley, Britt, and Erin. No doubt the rest of the instructors will be as good—I just haven’t worked my way through them all. The studio is bright and clean and the equipment is in great condition. The front desk folks are lovely. Overall, It’s a young-ish crowd but everyone seems to be welcoming and friendly. Plus, the membership fees are a great deal, especially if you go often.

Steven Rodriguez

Google

Took Angelina’s Hot Yoga class a few months back and I’m still going through withdrawals. I need to either move to New York or continue on my endless search to find another instructor that comes close to her. She is fun, knowledgeable, empowering, and her playlists always rock. Thank you for that experience I will never forget.

Travis Alex

Google

Boston Bouldering Project Member who was visiting Brooklyn this past weekend to check out what another location was like. First impression was a little bummed to find out that most of the photos on the page are out of date, as the facility has been updated, and it changed over to JUST bouldering, no long offering top rope or auto belay climbs. I'm happy to boulder regardless. Just want to climb. Personally, I found a lot of routes in this gym at my skill level a bit boring and 1 dimensional. There was one or two routes I thought were pretty fun to do, but overall, I ripped through more half of the climbs at my level I did in mostly flashes. Maybe just caught it in an easier set. Community and people I ran into there were very nice, staff was friendly, new changes to the space were very modern and clean. Gym area was super fresh. Overall, I'd say it's just ok. If you want a quick climb and workout, this will get you the fix, but I'm glad my membership isn't at this location, because I would be underwhelmed.

Kristy Cho

Google

Very bad layout. There is not a lot of space to stand or sit besides in front of some slab islands. If a lot of people are working on problems together, the wall behind them is unusable as it’s unsafe to climb with that many people below them. Blows my mind that they had the chance to have a good layout after a similarly sketchy area at bkb.. and they ended up making that kind of canyon-feeling throughout large swaths of the gym. The gym felt like a very large space with not that much to actually climb. Setting was pretty fun though. There is also nowhere to store anything so everyone had to leave their bags around the perimeter of the mats. Locker room has only three small benches to use while changing and very few lockers. These did not seem safe to use either. (I think there was a problem with them when I was leaving..) People were wearing their climbing shoes in the bathroom. Maybe with less people it will be a better climbing experience.

francesca sands

Google

absolutely love this space! Clean, open, and so welcoming. The hot yoga classes are a staple in my weekly routine. Erin is a phenomenal teacher!!

Jess Tam

Google

Easy check-in. Yoga class started on time. Clean space. Friendly and qualified yoga instructor! The front-desk staff are attentive and stood as my heroes when I was approached by a stranger outside. I walked back in and the men just calmly made a wall for me to hide behind, before shooing the stranger away. The lady with glasses gave me an ice pack. They went above and beyond to provide great customer service! Thank you!

Clayton Nelson

Google

Brooklyn Bouldering Project has been an essential recreational outlet (at least for me) since they opened this year. Not only does the gym provide a never ending rotation of captivating routes, BP provides various opportunities for fitness and fun with their yoga and fitness classes, with each instructor bringing something special to the gym. Did I mention they have a Run Club? (every Monday @ 7am) My favorite way to start the week. An awesome growing community and intimate atmosphere.

Annie N.

Yelp

Came here tonight for the climb night with arcteryx and it was a lot of fun! I definitely challenged myself especially since it was my first time climbing, I saw a lot of friends. This place was really well organized and there was free food drinks and free shoe rental. It was definitely packed but everyone was really friendly and supportive of each other guiding one another and even strangers with words of encouragements. I can see why this place is so popular, can't wait to come back!

Victor H.

Yelp

Vital climbing gym is huge and has lots of variety of climbs including a cave/arch, and its got a roof to hang out with outdoors climb, and a spa in the roof. GP81 has a very simple layout and nothing fancy, but it is known for hard climbs and meaningful settings, and it is the place to come to become stronger Movement series gym (LIC + Harlem + Gowanus) has ropes and variety of boulders to offer After checking out Brooklyn Bouldering Project i feel it doesnt have much to offer vs previously mentioned gyms. It doesnt have a set of features that stand out or that would make me want to come here when the other ones already have. At the moment it is just a climbing gym in a saturated space of gyms So I am going to give it an OK rating. Hope that with time it is able to evolve and be known for something that makes people want to come here for

Alex M.

Yelp

Quinn from Brooklyn Bouldering Project is absolutely incompetent and not professional at all. Absolutely ZERO communication skills or just doesn't care. Tried to get me back as a member for $72 a month to which I agreed before I realized I will be out of country until May of 2024. I reached out multiple times to terminate my membership as I wont be in the states until May, only to get NO response to my requests for termination. I wrote multiple text message as well as 2 emails. They STILL ignored me and just charged me $144 for January, even though I never agreed to that price point, and consistently tried to terminate my membership. Thanks guys, now I have to dispute the charge while on vacation. Horrible customer service all around. Zero communication skills.

Hallie L.

Yelp

I am so excited that BBP is open! I've had wonderful experiences between the kind people at the front desk and the great yoga teachers. The route setting is awesome. Love the circuit system. Really looking forward to climbing more now that this gym is open- the route setting here really sets this gym apart from others.

Mason L.

Yelp

Gym was super fun, way better layout than BKB when I visited 4 years ago. Everything was clean and well maintained. Only thing is some of the grading is inconsistent and felt a bit on the softer side

E O.

Yelp

My son did their summer camp and had an exceptional time practicing exploring climbs and understanding his body. The gym is moderately small but the camp was perfect for a 1-2 week kid experience.

Kate C.

Yelp

I called ahead to ask about taking my little one to the gym. Everything sounded good, pretty reasonable, a separate kids room- we were so excited. Got there, paid, and headed to the kids room (the front desk said there was currently a class but we could share the room). The teachers in the room disagreed and said we couldn't be in there, and the room was reserved for classes and birthday parties for the whole day. My little one is too small to take advantage of pretty much anything else. And so we left after twenty minutes of trying to get value from being there. It really was a huge disappointment.

Austin W.

Yelp

During my recent visit to New York, I had a chance to visit a few bouldering gyms in Brooklyn. I visited Brooklyn Bouldering Project after checking out The Cliffs at Gowanus and wish I had visited the gyms in reverse order: Brooklyn Bouldering Project is quite sad when juxtaposed against The Cliffs. The density of problems on the bouldering walls in the gym are pretty inconsistent. For example, there are full walls that contain three or so V0- warm-up problems. Meanwhile, on the 35 and 45 degree walls, there are so many overlapping problems, there is often a long wait to jump on a problem. The setting itself felt pretty on-par with the grading seen in many California climbing gyms. Though I had only visited BBP once during my trip, I could tell many of the problems had been around for a long time. On many of the problems graded V5 and lower, the holds were extremely greasy. One thing that caught me off-guard at the end of my session was that this location does not have showers or towel service. In this day and age, this is pretty much a standard in gyms. This gym is worth stopping by once, but there are much nicer bouldering gyms not too far away.

Patrick B.

Yelp

Terrible customer service. No accountability. It took 14 days of messaging, calling, just to cancel my account and get a refund. Then they hit me with "it's been a really busy month..." that doesn't explain the online rep responding to my request only with a "buy 10 passes that don't expire..." and completely ignoring my cancellation and refund. Gym is decent and good for those that don't like crowds, but not worth having to deal with the lazy staff.

@onthegrid

The One-Two Punch Guide: Summer Edition

@infatuation

The New York City Kids Guide

The Brooklyn Guide