Officials Begin Evaluation Process at the YM-YWHA

Officials have begun evaluating all aspects of the YM-YWHA’s operation, including membership fees, and the number of employees working at the facility.

Beginning Sept. 1, the Metro YMCA of the Oranges will be responsible for the day-to-day operations and programs offered at the facility on Pike Drive. The facility will then be known as the Wayne YMCA. The takeover was last month after the Y’s board of directors approved the new partnership. The Y will still own the building and land.

Richard Gorab, president and CEO of the Metro YMCA, said that while there are “no specific plans at this point” the Metro Y would look at “facility and operational improvements” and at hiring “the majority of staff at the Y.”

Gorab could not given the exact number of staff members that are being considered for hiring but that it is in “members’ best interests to maintain as many staff as possible for continuity purposes.”

Staff interviews will be conducted in the coming weeks. Professional staff members will be interviewed first, then the support staff.

Gorab said that maintaining the current slate of Jewish-based community programs is in the community’s “best interests.”

Joyce Goldberg Fein is no longer the Y’s executive director. David Carcieri is the new executive director. Fein will continue as the facility’s marketing director. Carcieri could not be reached for comment. 

Gorab said that membership rates will not be increasing. The Y offers several membership options on a monthly and annual basis for individuals, families, students and senior citizens.

“While no decision has been made yet, I can say that the rates will not be increasing,” Gorab said. ”We will simply try and streamline how many there are.”

The Metropolitan YMCA, the largest association of YMCAs in the state, owns and operates five other YMCAs in New Jersey. Originally founded in Paterson in 1914, the  moved to Wayne in 1976.