New York Sports Clubs

They closed the steam room six weeks ago to «repair the temperature regulator».
Management can’t get a repair out in a month and half? Considering this gym has its own blog (
) it’s not surprising this is the level of competence of management.
Spend your money elsewhere for the workout and contract staph for free in their gutter outside.

I only do the classes and they are good, you get what you pay for and it’s fine if you don’t expect too much

I’ve frequented this gym for years and stopped due to work schedule and not wanting to work out period. I can say the one constant thing that had me come back is Angela Rambourg. I love her… every class I’ve taken with her was a true work out, but so much fun.
I only know the downstairs area of this gym. Nothing special about the locker room… it looks pretty standard to me. I can say maybe a little bit of updating will freshen the place up.
Anywho I would give Ms. Rambourg 5 stars and the gym itself 3. Go to an Angela class. You’ll love it!

This review is really a 1.5 star review, with .5 being granted because they once let my friends use the rest room when we were in the area even though they were not members.
So let’s begin with a quote from the NYSC web site:
«Do kids under 14 have full access?
Sorry, kids. If you’re under 14, you may not enter the cardio and strength training areas or the group exercise studio (unless you’re enrolled in a specific club program or service). Also, check with your club for age requirements pertaining to racquet sports and swimming pools. Anyhoo, the thing more likely to interest you is Sports Clubs for Kids.»
Let me start by noting that this branch of the gym is NOT one with a kid’s program (at least, not according to the official NYSC web site). So that fact made it very odd to me that I saw at least six different kids when I went to this branch. A few were getting ready to play racquetball, which is really no concern to me but having kids wandering around the weight floor was unnerving since this branch has its equipment pretty bunched up.
Then towards the end of my workout I was doing some independent martial arts in the empty studio, and a woman comes in with her two kids (neither could’ve been older than 5) and they start taking over the studio. I mean, I’m obviously punching and kicking and along comes this little girl with a tennis racket nonchalant just hopping in my way. After a few minutes I wound up leaving because i was too concerned about one of these kids running into me and their mother causing a scene.
Add to this that the branch has *minimal* cardio equipment (I couldn’t find any Stairmasters for instance) and a cramped men’s locker room really made for a negative experience.
Honestly I probably could’ve looked past the locker room being smaller and the lack of cardio equipment, but having little kids in the gym is a deal breaker for me.

Wow this gym is fabulous!!!
Talk about great staff, constant renovations and complete awareness. Lanzo helped me out and had complete product knowledge of the club. Not to mention that Jonathan guy is a stud!
Karlisha smells and eats fruits all day I love it, not to mention the fact how friendly and pretty she is!

Ok, I’m not bashing.
A) I did the premium $ 19 monthly, the sign up fee was almost $ 300 and then the $ 19 per month afterwards. I figure I won’t be going to any other locations so I don’t need the Passport membership.
The only difference is that I don’t get complimentary towels when I walk in and the multi location access.
B) The gym is always pretty clean and the staff is quite friendly. I never have a problem with them.
C) MY BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THE SAUNA
IT IS NEVER HOT ENOUGH & THE DOOR DOESN’T CLOSE PROPERLY!
Can we please please PLEEEEAAASSEEE get this fixed?!
It’s one of the reasons I picked this gym (i need a sauna in my life)
D) I can’t complain too much because of my «Premium» member status according to the «Dedicated Full Fledged Members» but, the steam room could also use a make over.
Otherwise, THANK YOU NYSC

This is the location where I signed up I was kind of annoyed because the teacher put pressure on me and said that I would not be able to use a free pass if I wanted to go for classes, he said that I need to pre-​sign up for classes which was never actually the case. that being said, he signed me up a week before the month was over so I had to pay the full monthly price for only a weeks worth of time.
The good thing here are the classes-​the Monday night cardio kickboxing with David is great, he is energetic and enthusiastic. He really pushes you and is a lot of fun! There is also a great Tuesday night class with Angela at 5:45 with weight and cardio drills that will keep the sweating and make you achey for days to come!!!

The worst. If you live in the area, suck it up and go to Eastern Athletic or Equinox. (Or if you somehow are wedded to NYSC, hike over to Cobble Hill, which is marginally better.)
The locker rooms in the basement are abysmal. I call this place the «⁵⁰⁄₅₀ Club,» because it’s ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ as to whether something is going to be functional. (This applies on the gym floor as well.) Half the showers, toilets, sinks, paper towel dispensers, etc. are broken. The lockers themselves are dirty and often broken. The carpet and tile are disgusting.
The staff is super unfriendly. There’s one guy at the front desk who’s nice, but most everyone else seems to enjoy interfering with your workout or shooting you salty looks. There are signs up saying «under new management» since January or so – if anything, it’s only gotten worse. They are now keeping all the towels at the front desk, and being super stingy about dispensing them — first world problems, I know, but when the towels are the size of large washcloths, you need a few to actually shower. I just don’t bother here anymore.
The gym itself… I mean, it’s not the worst I’ve seen, but it’s spread out across a basement (mostly machines and a power rack, dank and without light like the locker rooms), a second floor (cardio and more machines), and an L-​shaped third floor which is the primary weights area. The free weights area is way, way too small, and suffers from the common Brooklyn NYSC staff «we don’t bother picking anything up/​organizing/​cleaning» disease. There is also a disproportionately large amount of floor space given over to something called «UXF,» which appears to be a Crossfit knockoff NYSC is pushing to no success. Would be lovely if they did away with it and put, you know, actual weight equipment in.
My last resort for NYSCs, by far. Some are pretty good, most are passable, this one… not so much.

Been a member for over 2 years. Good luck terminating that membership. I came to end my membership and they never entered my request in the computer. Once again, I spoke to a manager and again, they «entered it» and I got charged AGAIN— for the next TWO months. They are unorganized and completely dysfunctional. Personal training $$ is ONGOING until you tell them you want to cancel it even if you sign up for «only three months.» I never write reviews, but I’m disgusted by their customer service. They also run out of towels often, and really run after you to sign up for their training.

the staff here, especially Alberto the GM and Lanzo Wallace, were horrible. Lanzo told me he deleted my emails twice and that his personal commissions were being effected by the club’s current promotion. I find this totally uncalled for as a client. no one could speak to their promotion they rolled out and said they had no information, knowledge, or access to their systems for an entire week. that it was not properly communicated from corporate down to the club level. again, as a client, it is and should not be my problem for poor planning and communication on your end. your clients should not have to wait a week and just hear, I don’t know and not my problem.
then when I went to cancel, no one at the club could inform me of the cancelation fee or offered to look into it for me or work with me to lessen the fee, even though I was only a member for 2 weeks. I felt pressured and bullied into signing the annual contract when all I wanted was a 30 day trial. I know, I am an adult, so I own the fact I signed a contract, but thought they would stand behind their customer service spiel they rambled on about. not Lanzo Wallace or Alberto (who would not give me his last name, even though I asked out right) could tell me that my membership had in fact been moved to a month to month contract (without me knowing) and there was no early cancelation fee! I had to find this out by waiting on hold for 45 minutes with Member Services, and they were able to tell me this in 2 minutes. why doesn’t corporate talk to the club level?!
after I had canceled my membership, I received an email from member services telling me I would have to talk to a manager at the club level, that they couldn’t help. what?! there is a huge disconnect in communication with this company and would advise to stay away! once you sign the contract they want nothing to do with you. it’s nothing but pointing fingers and no one owns anything and takes pride in their work. it’s just like hot potato and pass the buck. stay away!

Be very leery when you give your banking/​credit card info. When my membership switched from a personal membership (paid by me) to an employer paid, corporate membership, NYSC continued to charge me for my previous, now cancelled membership.
Truly no less than three calls per month by me to a horribly rude rep over seven months in an attempt to get my money back. NYSC told be they were aware of the problem despite continuous unaccountability and no return phone calls until seven months later, when I reported NYSC to the Better Business Bureau. Magically, my account was reimbursed within 24 hours!
Since then, two years later, NYSC staff continues to call me to ask if I’d like to re-​start my membership, completely unaware of my history. Repeated attempts to get off of their call list, including an in-​person request have done nothing.
Understood that corporate sits in a different office than individual clubs, but the local club (Remsen Street, Brooklyn) is just as remiss in their record keeping, due to their continued calls to me.
NO communication between the different departments. Horribly run business.

Before joining this gym, I was a member of my local Blink gym (excellent choice by the way) but decided to «upgrade» to a NYSC because I hate my skin and wanted to use the sauna. In fact, I chose this location because they claim to have a sauna in addition to a steam room.
Except the sauna is never hot enough to work up a sweat and every time I go in some lady using it as a personal dressing room (gross) proceeds to give me a mean look for wanting to get my sweat on. Rude much?
The carpeted locker room is not so bad, though they recently instituted a 2 towel max rule. The shower area is gross, though. I actually use the (visibly dirty) steam room, out of desperation to fix my winter worn skin, but come out of it afraid I may have acquired mrsa. The showers have no hot water. All this is coming from someone who is the opposite of a clean freak.
The machines are horribly outdated and, on the meandering five floors of confusion, I cannot find a simple rowing machine. The treadmills feel like something from the eighties; I can’t change the speed quickly enough to do sprints on them efficiently (the whole point of a treadmill, in my opinion) and as I’m batting at the manual controls like a moron the whole machine starts shaking as if I’m overworking it. I go to a gym to work out, not to overwork the equipment.
Not even a month into joining, my online account showed that I was overdue for the amount of sixty something dollars (which I wasn’t) and then, a day later, showed that I owed over three hundred dollars (which I didn’t). Nobody at my local gym could help me. After calling their corporate office for about a week, and then waiting on hold for over an hour, I finally got in touch with a real live customer service representative… who discovered that this was a bug and then fixed it.
The worst part is: I have nobody to blame but myself. I joined this gym on an existential crisis-​fueled whim without checking it out first, so the joke is on me. I have a feeling canceling is going to be a difficult process, if it’s even possible.

I love the staff! I have been a member of about five gyms in my lifetime. So I sort of consider myself an expert on the subject, but in all seriousness. The staff made the difference for me. From the first day that I walked up until now, I can feel how genuine and friendly they are towards their members.
The proximity to my job and mass transit is amazing! The locker rooms are always fresh and clean, which I love. Plenty of white towels! The classes are not crowded and the offerings are a wide variety. I love the times as well, so I don’t have to break my neck after a long workday to make it into the studio. The machines function, nothing out of order on the floors. There isn’t a crowd of people, so I can actually get a workout whenever I walk in. The monthly rate is affordable for the moment and I truly am grateful for the ease of the personal training packages. I can afford the month-​to-​month rather than having to pay for the entire package up front, which is absurd and inconsiderate.
I only have two issues. I hate that the locker rooms are not on the ground floor. I am still waiting to regain access to my online account. I think it may be a problem that is not isolated to the one particular location, which I hope can be resolved since I haven’t been able to continue with my personal training. Other than that, two thumbs up!

After having my locker broken into and reporting it to the gym, the police and the NYSC headquarters, they refused to compensate me in any way — Not even giving me a month «free» to compensate for my losses.
Funny thing– they called the other day offering a «Free One Day Pass,» to lure me back in. As we say in Brooklyn, Fuhgetaboutit!!!

I have been a passport member of the club since about 2002 and have visited many locations specifically in Brooklyn and Manhattan, where I live and work respectively. I actually tend to follow my favorite class instructors so wherever they are, that’s pretty much where I’ll be. So I have seen the best and the worst of NYSC. I must say that for the pricey cost of membership, the Remsen Street club does not meet the standard of best (I am not quite certain it even meets middle-​ground). But I continue to frequent this particular location because of my love for Fanzy’s African Dance class. I am one of his old-​timers and the Saturday morning class never disappoints. It is truly a total body workout, plus the live drums are unparalleled. Since many of his classes are taught uptown, this is one of the more convenient class locations for me.
But with that said, I just believe the gym is a bit older and may perhaps benefit from an interior renovation. The cleanliness is also a hit or miss here. I am not certain if it’s a quality issue with the cleaning staff or what… and although I have not officially made a complaint to management, that may be a step in the right direction. I do enjoy this location for its convenience but for a better experience and to feel like you’re getting your money’s worth, you may want to travel a quarter of a mile to the Boerum Place location.

Recently went back on a Sunday to work out (I usually go to Manhattan locations during the week) and was surprised that the BROKEN LOCKERS and nasty, unclean locker room situation that’s been ongoing for literally YEARS still hadn’t been addressed. Dozens of lockers are literally busted off the hinges and I actually had a hard time finding one that seemed even remotely secure. The rest of that space is fine. Not a huge fan of the multi-​floor layout, but it’s not the worst thing about this gym, that would DEFINITELY be the locker room. If I lived closer, I’d just avoid it entirely.
I feel like NYSC doesn’t pay nearly enough attention to this location as it should. Totally unacceptable.

I’ve been a member at this gym since 2005.
It’s always dusty.
Something is always broken.
And for the past 3 months, a blue jump rope that is probably the most important part of my workout routine has disappeared.
i’ve asked management about it 3 times, and been told new ones were ordered 3 times. I’ve left notes and asked trainers.
Still nothing. Going on month 4, and have resolved to just jumping with an invisible rope.
Wouldn’t ever recommend anyone get a membership here if they’re looking for reliability.
But it’s the closest and cheapest, so I’ll keep going, I guess.

The club itself is mediocre, the reason for the one star review is the staff.
I came in on a busy weekend and because they did not have enough cleaning staff, they has women cleaning the men’s locker room. I personally was not uncomfortable but there were a number of other men in the locker room who were so uncomfortable they just skipped their workout and went home.
My membership was expiring (I did a one year contract) and I found a new gym but still had about 2 – 3 months left on my membership. I tried to contact the manager to find out when it was expiring and if I needed to do anything on my part or just let it expire. I tried to speak with her about two times but she was not available. I even left my number with the front desk for her to call me and she never got back to me. Finally, I walked in while she was at the desk and discussed whether I should cancel my membership or let it expire. Because of the cancellation fee (150 I think) I just decided to let it expire. She never told me that my membership automatically goes to month to month and then I see a bill on my credit card after the membership expired.
To me, this is very unprofessional to avoid contact with your clients inquiring about cancelling a membership and then not explain the proper way to do so.

Let’s start out with the bad things:
1) Locker rooms in the basement and the weight are on floor 2.5 (or 3, depending on how you count)
2) No towels at all on the 2^nd floor
3) Locker room smelled horrible (on a Sunday! I hope I never witness what it smells like on a busy weekday)
4) Water fountains were broken
5) Free weight area is tiny
Oh, did you think I was going to start naming good things? Well, I’m not.

As many of the members will agree, this gym needs to be cleaned a bit more. The used towels pile up, the sani-​cloths containers are usually empty, the bathroom… lets just say you need bath shoes.
I go to the gym, do my routine, shower, and get out… that is all.
Location: ⁴⁄₅
Gym size: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ¹⁄₅
Hygiene: ²⁄₅
Equipment: ⁴⁄₅