![](https://www.westsiderag.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Chris-Fenandez-in-his-element-scaled.jpg)
Bobby Panza
There's a lot of energy at the tiny X93 Fitness space at 673 Amsterdam Avenue, near the corner of West 93rd Street. Owner Chris Fernandez has created a welcoming environment for anyone to speak their mind while working on their physical health, whether that be through leg lifts, squats or customized workouts.
In its 12 years of operation, the gym has developed a community of patrons who love to socialize outside the gym, and often get to know intimate details about each other while working out inside.
“Everyone is so friendly, you hear about someone's STDs and their dates,” says Dr. Miggy Greenberg, a psychiatrist and X93 regular who describes herself as a “little old lady” next to Fernandez, who has the bodybuilder's physique, and X93's fitness manager, Anthony Ortega. “They're just so amazing, so confident, so unapologetic, and I love that about them,” Greenberg says.
X93 has been a lifelong dream for Fernandez, 46, who grew up on Broadway between West 127th and 128th Streets and later moved with his grandmother into NYCHA's Jackson Houses in the Bronx, which he calls “the projects.”
“I was light-skinned,” Fernandez said of her time at school, PS 125 in Harlem, “so I grew up fighting with black kids who were told I was white, even though I was Hispanic,” adding, “I fought with white kids who were told I was Spanish. I grew up with racism.”
After school, Fernandez worked as a security guard for Diana Ross and rapper/actor DMX, became an account manager for a security consulting firm, and then worked in prisoner transport for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
And he himself became a prisoner.
One night in 2000, Fernandez was stopped at a traffic light in the Bronx when he witnessed a vicious attack on his younger cousin. “There were 10 guys coming at one guy, trying to kill him,” Fernandez said. So he got out of his car to try and stop the fight. But Fernandez said he got caught in the middle of it all, and one of the men he was trying to stop later died in the hospital. Though Fernandez believes he saved his cousin's life, he was found guilty of second-degree murder. He faces a sentence ranging from 20 years to life in prison.
Fernandez served eight years in various New York prisons, during which he said he renewed his faith in God and became an instructor in Aggression Replacement Training, a program that teaches young people anger management and moral thinking.
Fernandez was released in 2008 after a federal judge reviewed his case. He became a trainer at the New York Sports Club and later became a top master trainer before opening his own gym.
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X93 has no membership fees, and clients pay per session and can book custom workout sessions to train one-on-one (or two-on-one) with Fernandez.
“I've never been anywhere like I've built it at X93,” Fernandez said. “What I've built here is not about race. Black, Chinese, Indian, Muslim, it doesn't matter. Whether you're Jewish, whatever your religion, whatever your ethnicity, everyone is one here.”
Dale Mandelman, 77, an Upper West Side resident and nurse at Beth Israel Medical Center, credits Fernandez with fostering a culture in which people, even those in their 90s, feel comfortable training alongside younger bodybuilders.
“His personality puts people at ease,” Mandelman says. “He has a lot of energy, and we adapt to that.” Mandelman also helps coordinate outdoor events where X93 clients can gather for drinks and food; once, they celebrated Fernandez's birthday at e's Bar between West 84th and 85th Streets in Amsterdam. (Fernandez is now sober, but enjoys the company of the crowd.)
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Another customer, 76-year-old Klynn Gabbard, said she didn't know Fernandez's background when the gym first opened, but as the two got to know each other, Fernandez jokingly suggested that Gabbard (who is the author of a book about jazz great Charles Mingus) write her own biography.
Gabbard said she is an atheist and is “skeptical of people who claim to be deeply religious, but Chris does a good job of that,” adding, “I have a lot of respect for him for that.”
Another longtime customer, Abigail Rubin, started training after knee surgery and has been coming to X93 for a long time now. “It's not just about the personal training, it's about the relationships,” she says. [Fernandez’s] “Now I have my whole family with me, and when you spend that much time with someone, it means more than just training,” she says. “Not only that, but he's an amazing personal trainer.”
Fernandez currently lives in Wayne, New Jersey with his wife and three children. “I feel like my faith in God has led me to this chapter in my life. I've become in tune with myself and the world we live in,” he said. And, echoing the vibe he tries to foster at the gym, he said, “I'm grateful for all that life has given me. I embrace it with a positive attitude. I learn from it and move in the right direction. I believe success comes from drive and ambition. Don't let anyone stop you, no matter what.”
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