Business of the Month: St. Mark’s Yoga, 12 St. Mark’s Place
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Microeconomic theory will tell you that a business determines prices based on what the market will bear in an effort to maximize profits. Profits are presumed to be financial. But what if they are not? What if a business values giving broad access to its services over making a few extra bucks? That has been the case with our September Business of the Month, St. Mark’s Yoga, located at 12 St. Mark’s Place (btw. 3rd and 2nd Aves.), which is devoted to making yoga part of your daily routine and to making you a happier you. This commitment has made it one of the most popular yoga studios in the neighborhood.
Nick Velkov came to yoga looking for a workout. He found that; but he also found a calling. The first few months of steady practice rewarded him with physical strength; but the first few years, with a general sense of well-being. He developed this practice in Miami, right after college. But New York had always beckoned, and he soon made the move. There, he began frequenting Yoga to the People (12 St. Mark’s Place), as well as other studios, as well as doing teacher training programs. He soon felt confident that he would be a good instructor, and started to seek out opportunities to lead a class. In the meantime, he volunteered to help out at Yoga to the People, doing grunt work. While taking out the trash one day, he made a fateful encounter (though he didn’t know it at the time) with a fellow who was sweeping the sidewalk. The sidewalk sweeper became a regular sighting. But it was not until Nick helped him haul a Christmas tree that they struck a conversation and that Nick learned that his fellow grunt was Charles Fitzgerald, the owner of the building. When they got to Charles’ office, Nick noticed a ping pong table. A match ensued and regular ping pong dates would follow. During matches, Nick would share his frustration about not getting a chance to teach at Yoga to the People. Charles, inveterate entrepreneur that he is, had a ready solution for Nick’s problem. Open your own place.
Nick had never owned a business before, and had no idea how to open one. But Charles, who had done this dozens of times over, guided him through the process and, before long, Nick had himself a place in Astoria, Yoga Agora. Starting a studio from scratch can be a challenge. But Nick had several things going for him. First, he made his move during the post-recession years, when interest free loans and commercial space were widely available. Second, he had a roster of fellow aspiring instructors who trusted him and who were willing to work for free until the studio developed a clientele. And third, he had passion for flyering, along with an evolving philosophy for ways to maximize its effectiveness. And there was actually a fourth.
Nick believed that a daily yoga practice should be inexpensive enough to be widely available. And he thought that a studio’s low production costs, even accounting for fair teacher pay, made low pricing possible, if you packed the room. So Nick charged $5 a class. And soon, he started packing the room. Yoga Agora alone would have fulfilled his ambitions had he not learned, during the early pandemic months, that Yoga to the People had closed. He put in a call to Charles that very day.
The possibility of running a yoga center in the East Village, on St. Mark’s Place, and in the historic landmarked former German American Shooting Society building, was hard for Nick to resist. It would not only bring Nick’s own personal NYC Yoga journey back full circle, it would also make him part of a by-now decades old tradition. Henrick Kohan, a local yoga teacher, had approached Charles back in 1990 about opening a studio at 12 St. Mark’s Place. This was well before the yoga resurgence; but Charles still gave him the green light. Henrick’s studio, New York Yoga Center, ran until 2003, when Gesundheit Yoga took its place. That was followed by Yoga to the People. And Nick wanted to be next:
This building has such amazing history and energy, but the street also has its own. I really feel like the street is a time capsule. I still feel the energy and spirit. It’s just such an amazing institution. To make this the street where you work felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity that you do not pass. Whatever it takes, whatever sacrifice you need to make, whatever loans you have to take out, just do it because the experience is so much more valuable than those sacrifices.
And Nick wasn’t the only one champing at the bit. When one of his teachers, Matt Lombardo, heard that a studio at 12 St. Mark’s might be a possibility, he urged Nick to get the space, even if he had to put his own classes on deferred pay for the next five years. With that encouragement in hand, Nick made his case to Charles and was soon welcomed back and offered COVID-era rent concessions. And then the realities of operating a studio during a pandemic asserted themselves.
No one was counting on the subsequent waves of novel coronavirus strain lurking around the corner. Nick sure wasn’t when he leased three rooms with an eye towards the future. Charles continued to work with Nick; but he was also transparent about his costs and about necessary rent increases. Luckily, Nick’s longstanding teachers like Kelley, Juan, Amanda, and Matt, among others, stuck by him, and the studio came out on the other side. The reward for all present and future yogis is a set of beautiful, naturally lit studios within a stunning building on St. Mark’s Place, at the intersection, as Nick’s puts it, between wellness and punk.
St. Mark’s Yoga runs Vinyasa classes throughout the day, occasionally multiple ones at the same time slot. Each has its own flavor, depending on the teacher. In addition, Nick has complemented the core classes with a range of alternatives, based on feedback. A comment by Charles about the limitations of old timers like himself led to a now popular tai chi class. A new matte Pilates class has been a hit. The studio also offers bimonthly inversion and breathwork workshops. And all these are available for $12.
And every full and new moon, the studio holds a cacao gathering, a meditative practice with buzz-inducing ceremonial grade cacao.
For making widely available the opportunity to commit to wellness and growth as a daily habit, rather than an occasional luxury, we’re thrilled to name St. Mark’s Yoga our September, 2026 Business of the Month.
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Here is a map of all our Businesses of the in Month: