Category: Our Therapists

Spear is expanding further into the Upper West Side: introducing our newest clinic on 92nd St!

Located at 2465 Broadway between 91st and 92nd Street, our newest location is now open and accepting appointments, providing a new opportunity to reach even more New Yorkers! Spear’s Upper West Side – 92nd St clinic was created out of a need to serve our community. This brand new location allows us to allocate more appointments and reach more patients in need of the best therapy around!

Spacious and modern, this new space has everything our clinicians need to continue providing the best physical and occupational therapy in town. With many shopping and restaurant options nearby, including Trader Joe’s, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and The Mermaid In, and just a short walk from Central Park, it’s a perfect addition to the neighborhood!

Alyssa Reyes, PT, DPT is the Clinical Director of Spear’s Upper West Side – W 92nd St clinic. Her passion for the profession stems from receiving an overwhelmingly positive experience in rehab for a rotator cuff injury in high school. She has experience in outpatient sports and orthopedics, outpatient neurology and geriatrics, pediatrics, inpatient acute care, and inpatient acute rehabilitation settings. Alyssa’s overall goal is to make a lasting impact on NYC’s community by helping patients to regain function and increase their self-confidence.

UWS – 92nd St is now accepting appointment requests! You can do so right here online or by calling us at 646-829-2299!

We’re excited to announce the opening of our newest clinic in Brooklyn — Williamsburg!

This brand new clinic marks Spear’s 23rd location, and its third in Brooklyn! The first clinic in Williamsburg, the space was created with your comfort in mind. It features ample space, new machines, spacious treatment areas, and locker room changing areas. Conveniently located by the L and G trains, Williamsburg is a community rich in history that has become one of the trendiest residential areas in the city, boasting incredible coffee shops, restaurants, a Whole Foods, Apple store, Equinox, Alo Yoga, Warby Parker, and more!

Nicole Surach, PT, DPT, SFMA, is the Clinical Director of Spear Brooklyn – Williamsburg. Previously the Clinical Director of Spear’s Brooklyn Heights –St. George Hotel clinic, she has helped to build a team of passionate clinicians and helped hundreds of New Yorkers to keep moving. Nicole is committed to her patient’s success. She strives to not only have her patients make full recoveries but also to prevent future injuries.

Brooklyn — Williamsburg is now accepting appointment requests! You can do so right here online or by calling us at 646-829-2295!

The lights of Times Square are no longer dimmed— Broadway is back! After a year-and-a-half long shutdown that saw the closing of New York City’s famed Theatre District, the Spear team celebrated the return of Broadway, arts, and culture to the city, serendipitously coinciding with the grand opening launch of our Times Square – Center for Performing Arts clinic, with a grand night of emotional stories, celebratory hugs, epic performances, exciting productions, and of course, much love.

Situated right in the heart of Broadway, our Times Square clinic was born from a desire to provide a special space specifically for dancers and performers, an innovative idea brought forth by the location’s Clinical Director, Ninia Agustin, PT, DPT, during her very beginnings at Spear.

Growing up performing and competing as a dancer, Ninia has held a long-time love for the art of movement, evolving into a passion for helping performing artists rehabilitate and treat their bodies. Ninia was clear on her vision: bridging the world of dance with the science of physical therapy, her two passions, to create a space that catered to the physical needs of performers. Today, that dream is alive and well.

Spear’s Times Square clinic is a location created with the performer in mind. Our clinic works hand-in-hand with other like-minded organizations such as Mt. Sinai’s Samuel J. Friedman Health Center, a medical care provider that is focused on the particular healthcare needs of the entertainment and performing arts community, and The Actors Fund, a national human services organization created to meet the needs of our entertainment community. Together, we’ve formed an amazing support group for artists.

When the pandemic closed the city, Broadway, and our Times Square clinic down in March of 2020, just weeks after our opening, it was an unexpected and difficult time for everyone. This clinic was thoughtfully planned to serve as the premier location for performing artists and creatives to receive the therapy treatment they need. The vision suddenly seemed shaky, and the team struggled to find their footing.

Last month, with Broadway re-opening, we were given an opportunity to celebrate our team and their dedication to the artists who were finally getting back on stage. To commemorate such a momentous return, we created a truly magical night to honor the return of the culture, love, excitement, and emotion that art awakens for us all. We gathered together to celebrate in style with live performances, most notably from Scott Sussman, Spear patient, former Broadway actor, and Speech-Language Pathologist specializing in Singing Voice Rehabilitation. He wowed us by performing “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story and “Help is On the Way” by David Friedman, a beautiful track about maintaining faith through hard times, much like what we experienced right here in the city.

The return of Broadway marks a massive win for the performing arts community as a whole.

Over the last few weeks, our incredible Spear team members, with the addition of some special guests, joined together in creating our mini-documentary above. Serving much emotion and heart, it is our love letter to the city, an homage to the arts, culture, and performing arts of the city we adore so much.

The evening was a celebration, as well as a moment to reflect on the journey we’ve walked together. CEO and Co-founder Dan Rootenberg shared his deep appreciation for the dedication the team has. “Everybody is passionate about the arts, and that’s what it’s about,” Dan shared. “If you love what you’re doing and are passionate about what you’re doing, you know it’s sure to work.”

Ninia also acknowledged the trials, tribulations, and triumphs the team faced together. Thanking her teammates by name, she graciously recognized the efforts of every single Spear member, from the Front Desk Care Coordinators to the Therapy Technicians and Physical Therapists, for turning a vision into reality. “Five years ago, I said I wanted to build a niche practice working with dancers,” Ninia shared. “This is my background, this is my passion, and I would love to do it—and here we are.” Today, the clinic sees all kinds of performers, from Broadway actors, to dancers, to musicians. The Times Square team, who are all performers, artists, musicians, and dancers themselves, are a group of truly passionate members dedicated to what they do. The closeness to the craft really allows them to connect more with our performing patients, creating a truly special bond.

With large red scissors in hand, Ninia stood with the rest of the team, standing tall in support, as they cut the ribbon to mark the “grand opening” of the clinic. The joy and elation in the room was electric. As Dan said: “the lights are back on Broadway, and it’s very special.” We cannot wait to continue living our vision, and keep New Yorkers moving.

At Spear, we are always looking for ways to share our knowledge and expertise—that’s why we created our career workshop, From Classroom to Clinician: The Final Lesson!

Our Classroom to Clinician workshop is an amazing opportunity for physical therapy and occupational therapy students to learn about how to transition into their full-fledged careers. Last Saturday’s event was the first we held in-person since the pandemic. Hosted at our gorgeous, newly built Grand Central clinic, the workshop was a perfect opportunity for students to meet with our talented team members for mentorship and networking opportunities. A virtual live-streaming option was also available for those who weren’t nearby or able to attend in-person, ensuring all students were able to participate no matter the circumstance!

The workshop featured various helpful components to assist participants in this transitional period of their careers. One helpful component of the event was our resume building workshop, where each student received a one-on-one resume coaching session with one of our hiring managers. Gaining insight from clinicians already in the field provided an unparalleled opportunity for attendees to learn the best practices for landing that first job after graduation.

Our leaders also held an interview session, providing best tips on how to nail the interview portions of job searching. Working directly with the leadership team, and opening the floor for questions and inquiries, provided the participants with real-life advice and information easily applicable in their near-future application processes.

Thank you to all of our participants for attending! We’re elated to have the opportunity to provide students with the resources, connections, and information they need to be fully prepared for their shift from student to clinical career.

Missed the event? Keep a lookout—our spring session date will be public soon! You can sign up to be notified when the event goes live by visiting our Eventbrite page, and by following us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

Summer is heating up: the world has got its eyes on the 2020 Olympic games starting this month. Our very own CEO and Co-founder, Dan Rootenberg, jetted off to Japan to continue his work with the Israel national baseball team as their official physical therapist!

Team Israel is up against some of the biggest players in the world, with a need to be physically ready to perform at optimal levels for the international sporting event. Holding a true passion for baseball, Dan is excited to be able to help rehab and guide the all-star players. “It’s just about putting these professional athletes in the best position to be successful,” he says of the importance of his role.

Dan has been involved with the team since 2012, during the World Baseball Classic qualifiers. He also offered his attention and rehabilitation skills at the 2017 World Baseball Classic in Seoul, South Korea, helping the players by providing strength and conditioning and physical therapy guidance. “I played in the Israel baseball league, a pro league in Israel in 2007. My first son, Jack, was just born. I went out there and the relationships that I established there, that’s where a lot of this really came from. It started there during that league,”  Dan recalls of his time. “The manager of the team, Eric Holtz, was a good friend of mine. Nate Fish [Third Base Coach] was another guy—we all played together. Shlomo [Lipetz], who’s a pitcher here, was a teammate of mine; Peter Kurz, who’s the general manager— his son was a teammate of mine. There’s a lot of personal connections here, and it’s amazing to see how much the sport of baseball has grown.”

Growing up playing baseball, Dan has maintained an elevated level of excitement, passion, and fervor for the sport. The love of the game has translated into more than just playing—he has also participated on the board of two little leagues and donates his time coaching and guiding inner-city children, coaching more than 200 kids in the past decade alone! He has collaborated with Pitch In For Baseball (PIFB), pledging a sizeable donation to the organization to purchase baseball and softball gear for underprivileged youth players.

SPEAR is always passionate about giving back to our community. Our teammates have amazing empathy, one of our core values, and are often looking for ways to contribute their knowledge where it is needed most. Our team is heavily involved with the youth community, particularly working with local little league baseball teams to offer free screenings to the youth players to ensure a smooth (and fun!) season. Partnering with local youth athletes is just one way we like to give back to the community. We even had our own teammates participate in the exhibition games: Tom Barcia, PT, DPT, ATC, and Clinical Director of our Midtown- W 44^th St clinic, joined Dan during the team’s exhibition games to get them properly warmed up and ready for some practice games.

SPEAR has been involved in the treatment of Team Israel players in the past as well. “We’ve treated a number of players in our SPEAR facilities; different physical therapists on the team have worked with a lot of these guys,” Dan recalls. “It’s nice to have that continuity because then they come here, I can talk to the therapist that treated them and then have a continuous program for them…it’s helpful to be able to take whatever they’ve been doing in the clinics, pair it with what they have to do on the field and then help them here…really it’s just about putting these professional athletes in the best position to be successful.”

Team Israel is up against some big contenders this summer: the United States, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, and South Korea. Currently ranked 24^th in the world and 7^th in Europe, the team is the competition’s endearing underdogs. The full roster consists of 12 pitchers, 3 catchers, 6 infielders, and 3 outfielders. The world’s got their eye on second baseman Ian Kinsler, former MLB all-star, who played for 14 seasons for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox, and San Diego Padres. The Summer Olympics are bound to be a hot one! Team Israel’s first match kicks off next Thursday, July 29^th, against South Korea.

“Nobody expected us to be in the Olympics,” Dan says. “The fact that we’re there is pretty incredible in and of itself, and we’ve got a lot of a lot of high hopes about coming back with a medal.”

We are so proud and honored to have Dan there representing the field of physical therapy and its vital importance in the competition and the overall health and safety of the athletes.

Here’s a teaser of some awesome content we got on the pipeline, sure to be a home run: