Title: Foreman, Community Center at Stuyvesant High School
Favorite Spot in BPC: Northwest corner of Rockefeller Park, on the BPC Esplanade
Paul Diaz-Larui was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. At four years of age, he and his family came to New York and settled on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. As a child, he attended St. Brigid, a Catholic elementary school where he attended Kindergarten through 8th grade. At the end of his last year at St. Brigid, he was selected to receive a full scholarship from the Boys Club of New York to attend Hoosac School, a private co-educational episcopal boarding school in upstate New York. During High School at Hoosac, he played varsity basketball and developed an all-around passion for sports.
After high school graduation, Paul attended Hartwick College where he received a B.A. in Business Management. While attending college, Paul was eager to acquire some experience in the field and was selected to intern with Salomon Smith Barney (now Morgan Stanley Wealth Management). After graduation, Paul moved back to New York and was hired to work at Tribeca Park, a health club facility as a head lifeguard and Assistant Manager for about four years. In 2003, Paul was hired as the Head Aquatics Director at the Community Center at Stuyvesant High School (CCSHS) for about a year and a half until he became the foreman in 2005, a position he still currently holds.
CCSHS now has over 900 members and offers different featured programs including Hatha Yoga, Core Fitness Flow, Cardio Swim Workout, BPC Running Club, Tai Chi, Kids and Adult Swim Lessons, and Badminton. It also features a Total Body Boxing Workout class instructed by Paul, himself a former amateur Golden Gloves fighter.
In his spare time, he loves to coach and mentor children at the Boys Club of New York, work out and watch movies. He is a big fan of suspenseful movies including “The Sixth Sense“and foreign-language Japanese and Korean films. Paul looks forward to taking his 7-year old daughter this weekend to watch the new Disney remake of “Beauty and the Beast.”
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