Bueme and an alliance of other gym owners and operators in the region held a rally Thursday outside Catalyst Fitness’ Meyer Road center in Amherst to get the attention of Albany officials and educate them on how their businesses can be safely reopened by following common Covid-19 protocols, including using air filters, requiring their members to wear masks and requiring the cleaning of equipment after each use.

“We wanted to come together with our comprehensive plan that was sent into the governor’s office,” Bueme said.

The lobbying effort is getting little traction in Albany.

“Now is not the time,” Cuomo said Thursday when asked during a conference call with reporters when the state would lift shutdown restrictions on gyms.

“We know from the other states: They opened them, and they had to close them. That’s a fact,” said Cuomo, calling gyms “highly problematic” as the state attempts to control the spread of Covid-19.

Despite hiring a lobbyist to share its plan to reopen gyms and fitness clubs across the state, Bueme said the fitness alliance has yet to hear directly from the governor.

“What we are doing is far beyond what any other place of business has been asked to do. We’ve cleaned all of our ceilings. We’ve cleaned out our air filtration. We have new filters,” Bueme added.

Bueme said the alliance hired a medical doctor with expertise in infectious diseases and infection control to review the alliance’s plan.

“The only thing he said he would recommend is that we don’t do those blue, paper masks,” Bueme said.

Bueme added that the doctor said those masks would become less effective as users breathed, spit and sweated into them while performing cardiovascular training activities.

“You have to take it, throw it out and put on a new one,” she said of the surgical masks.

Bueme said gym members would be required to carry more than one mask or use a cloth mask.

Bueme said her business plans to practice social distancing, and even has the ability to do contact tracing.

Bueme said it was frustrating to hear Cuomo say that reopening fitness clubs was problematic.

“Well, it’s easy to say that, but why are they? Because everything can be problematic,” Bueme said. She also described gyms and fitness clubs as essential businesses that help address depression, anxiety, weight gain and heart disease.