Conveniently located on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, the Dodge YMCA serves more than 23,300 New Yorkers each year with its state-of-the-art fitness facilities, pool, youth programs and a community committed to helping you achieve your goals.


Caroline Sanchez   
Executive Director   
csanchez@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2410  
 

Agustina Cajas 
Member Experience Director   
acajas@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2420  
 

Tyeesha Pearson   
Member Experience Coordinator    
tpearson@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2406   

Anisya Reese   
Youth & Family Director   
anreese@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2414   
 

Tetyana Napara   
Aquatics Director   
tnapara@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2421   
 

Diane Jean-Jacques   
Business Manager   
djeanjacques@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2412   
 

Oliver Lopez   
Healthy Lifestyles Director   
olopez@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2416   
 

Kilvio Vargas   
Property Director   
kvargas@ymcanyc.org   
212-912-2422 


Allen Robinson   
Chair   

Barbara Lowe  
Francois Attal   
Michelle Brindley   
Virginia Coltheart   
Stephen Dietz   
John McCarthy   
Ted Newman   
Nicole O’Dell Odim   
Peter Hamilton   
Allen Robinson   
Amy Roland 
Denis Kelleher

History

The YMCA in Brooklyn, New York, founded in 1853, initially met in a series of churches throughout the County of Kings. In 1885 the Brooklyn YMCA dedicated its first purpose-built building, at 502 Fulton Street. The new building included the first YMCA facility swimming pool. The branch boasted other athletic “firsts”: In 1896 its basketball team participated in the first professional game against the Trenton, New Jersey, YMCA, and the branch also hosted the first national YMCA swimming championships.

In 1915, the Brooklyn Association dedicated its new Central building, known as "the largest YMCA in the world." Located on the block bordered by Hanson Place, Fort Greene Place, and South Elliott Place, the building project was funded by generous gifts from donors such as Mrs. William Van Rensselaer Smith, members of the Pratt family, and John D. Rockefeller. In addition to building the new Central branch, the Brooklyn Association purchased a new site for the Twenty-sixth Ward branch and began fundraising for an expanded Prospect Park branch at the same time.

In the years following World War I, the Brooklyn Association expanded its focus beyond its roots, conducting Americanization programs targeted at immigrants, most of whom were not evangelical Protestants. In 1924, the association changed its name to the Brooklyn and Queens YMCA to reflect the branch's expansion into the neighboring borough. In 1957 the Brooklyn and Queens YMCA merged with the New York YMCA to become the YMCA of Greater New York.

After weathering some tough financial storms during the Depression, the Central branch ended the 20th century operating from a storefront in Brooklyn Heights. In 2005, however, the branch was reborn in a new building on Atlantic Avenue, funded in part by a significant grant from the Dodge Family Foundation, and the branch name officially changed its name to the Dodge branch of the YMCA of Greater New York.