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The New Jersey gym that’s waged war with Gov. Phil Murphy over his lockdown order plans to reopen again Friday — after getting shut down by the state health department.
“We’re planning a big reopening again tomorrow,” said Jim Mermigis, the lawyer representing Atilis Gym, which was shuttered by the state Thursday morning.
The owners of the Bellmawr gym, Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti, have been locked in a nasty back-and-forth with Murphy, who’s ordered all non-essential businesses closed as the state battles the coronavirus.
“The health department is used for public safety,” Smith told The Post outside the gym. “It is sad to see it weaponized against small business owners to enforce the will of the governor because these organizations are meant to protect people against credible threats.”
The gym initially opened its doors on Monday and again Tuesday and Wednesday — despite Smith and Trumbetti being slapped with summonses for violating Murphy’s executive order.
On Thursday, a notice from the state Department of Health was plastered on the gym’s door ordering it shut.
“Atilis Gym has continued to operate in non-compliance with Executive Order No. 107, thus posing a threat to the public health by failing to adhere to the measures taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” the order reads in part.
Smith said every time they open, they are given a summons with penalties of up to $1,000 in fines and six months in jail.
“That doesn’t stop us,” he said. “We keep staying open.”
Mermigis said the health department’s order was largely symbolic.
“They haven’t padlocked the doors,” he said. “Technically what happened today is just an extension of the executive order.”
A Bellmawr police officer serves the co-owners of the Atilis Fitness Club, Ian Smith (left) and Frank Trumbetti, with summonses.RICHARD HARBUSThe gym didn’t reopen Thursday because of sewage issues, the owners said.
Mermigis is planning to file an injunction seeking to have Murphy’s order declared unconstitutional.
He promised “civil rights lawsuits will also follow.”
The owners said patrons will be scanned with a biometric thermal scanner Friday when the gym reopens at 20 percent capacity. The gym is also cleaning the air with a disinfecting UV light and is requiring patrons to wear masks at all times, except while doing cardio workouts.
“We took our gym and made it compliant with social distancing with sanitary and disinfecting measures,” said Trumbetti. “We’ve taken precautions. There isn’t a single big-box store that actually has a secure facility that does what we do right now to prevent the spread of the virus.”



