New York Sports Clubs

New York Sports Club is somewhat of a monopoly, they’re the only gym in new york that has so many locations in all 5 boroughs. The monthly fees are cheaper than equinox, chelsea piers… etc., but the tradeoff is that it’s crowded at times, especially the popular group instruction classes. Zumba on Friday, forget about it. The women go early to get reservation cards, then leave towels in the middle of the floor where they want their friends to stand, super obnoxious and I can’t imagine that happening in any other adult setting.

This gym was renovated a few years ago — which took it from a 3 story to a 2 story gym — I’m sure the rent is cheaper but everything feel crammed together. There used to be a large room for classes and now there is a much smaller one which gets quite full. Membership changes are more troubling. In the race to the bottom they cut their prices — which brought in a bunch more people into an already cramped space. Even if you go to workout at 3pm during the week almost every bench is occupied. Also now they require you to sign up for classes in advance and get a card to turn into the teacher — if you sign up and don’t show they charge you money. There used to be great teachers every day — but these teacher would complain about what an awful employer NYSC is — and so most of them have left over the years. Do take Billy Cowell’s class — he’s amazing. Not a bad deal if you want to spend $ 20 to have access to cardio equipment and are a lady — the men’s locker room is quite foul and smells disgusting. But I’ve moved somewhere nicer.

Better selection of cardio machines than other locations-​. Working steam room and open locker room with some full sized lockers! All below ground. Make a good use of space right near Columbus Circle

I love this gym. it’s clean and I can always get a machine if needed. It’s not as crowded as other branches I’ve been to and as such feels welcoming.
This gym does have a flight (or two) of stairs but I don’t mind as it puts the finish on any workout.
They also have a signout option if you want to go for a run outside inside. Super convenient.

If you’re like me and go to the gym to sit down and be on your phone the whole time, you shouldn’t come here. The gym is located in a basement and cellar so no reception whatsoever (for me, at least). This has, however, forced me to actually work out, which is good. It looks brand new, a huge upgrade from most of the other NYSC’s I’ve been to. Don’t come here after 8 PM, that’s when I go and I like working out in an empty gym. Thanks.

I really enjoyed this location as opposed to my regular location on the UES. The gym has more weight room space and it is seperated into two sections. The cardio space takes up the entire first floor and there is plenty of room to spread out and work out in peace.
The locker rooms are average and clean. No thrills or frills.

I had worked out at this branch of NYSC before, but that was about a year ago. Since then, the gym has undergone a major renovation. The check-​in desk used to be upstairs, but now when you go in, you walk down a set of stairs that leads to the gym offices and check-​in desk. Beyond that is an area with cardio machines. You then go downstairs a bit more to get to the locker rooms and weight rooms (and a few more cardio machines) and the studios. The old raquetball courts are gone — replaced with a regular studio. While this makes total business sense, I’m surprised as the raquetball courts used to get a ton of people visiting them.
The renovation also gave this branch the new «look» with faux wood patterns and dark tables with a slightly wider layout. The problem is, the gym still has a very bizarre set up and getting from room to room can be a bit confusing (I got turned around looking for an exit). Also, despite the renovation, there is something in the cardio area (not too far from the back most set of treadmills) that smells like something died. I smelled this same thing a year ago, and depsite the renovation, the smell is still there.
On the plus side, the equipment was all in good shape and free weights were where they belonged. The studio was well stocked with equipment and plenty of people seemed to be enjoying the class I saw in session. The locker room was organized, however there were no towels IN the locker room, you have to get them from a shelf right outside the locker room. The showers and locker room were being cleaned when I was there, so there’s definitely some upkeep happening (this was around lunch time on a Saturday).
A good branch and much improved after its renovation.

This gym feels a little cramped, and from someone who worked at NYSC before, I know there are much better locations. Trx area is a joke, and kinda awkward since equipment faces it. Nice cleaning people.

They recently renovated this gym — and it feels and looks MUCH better. It used to have a dark/​dingy/​outdated feel to it. Two floors, pretty open-​feeling despite the low ceilings and lack of windows (you’re a floor or two below street level). Locker rooms are clean, shower water pressure is suh-​weet! A good amount of cardio equipment, most of which seems new, and weight machines. I’ve been to many NYSC clubs in Manhattan and Brooklyn and this is a pretty average one. Clean, well kept, friendly staff, but not sprawling, and somewhat labyrinth-​like in its set up. But all in all not a bad place at all, especially if you’re not paying full price and can take advantage of a discounted rate.

This has become my main gym. While it’s not as well laid out as the Union Square location, I find everything I need here and a few perks to boot.
Pros:
Long-​ass lockers to hang your winter coat in
Crazy water pressure in the shower (bordering on painful)
Not too crowded after 5
Really awesome shred instructor (won’t say who for selfish reasons)
Cons:
Weight-​lifting section on bottom floor is a little cramped
Abcore machine and newer weight-​lifting machines are mixed with cardio on top floor (annoying when you’ve finished your cardio and done some of the weights on that floor and go to the locker room to shower only to realize you’ve forgotten to do something on the bottom floor in the main weight-​lifting section)
Smallish padded stretching area
Towels are OUTSIDE the locker room. So if you just took off all your clothes and forgot to grab a clean towel before going to shower you’re screwed (I have done this several times). Your best bet is to ask someone who isn’t naked yet to go get you a clean towel. Or you can put all your sweaty disgusting gym clothes back on and go get one yourself.
The cons are small gripes, really. Overall, this location is a good one.

They have roaches on the lower levels – but I haven’t seen any upstairs!
This is just a horrible company to do business with. Once you are a member, locked into a contact, they don’t care about you at all. Also, it is difficult to cancel your membership. I think they intentionally make it difficult, take a long time, short hours on the phone number you have to call, so they can keep receiving your payments for as long as possible.

Went once on a free pass– will not go again. Horrible. You have to walk up and down stairs continuously to get to everything. It’s dirty, congested, and 3 of 4 floors have no windows at all. Missing some very standard gym equipment
Do yourself a favor– go somewhere else..

Ever since Vebo shut down, I’ve been trying to find a replacement gym. I purchased some type of living social type of deal for a 30 day trial. Let’s just say one star for the location only. Super convenient — I’m really bad, if the gym is too far from me, it’s really hard for me to get the will power to just leave the house, shame.
Anyway, this place is pretty damn gross. The lockers stink, literally. No wonder I noticed a lot of people just hang their jackets and bags near the gym equipment while working out. I have no idea how people shower in this place. I don’t even like to walk into the bathroom. Speaking of bathroom — who shuts it down to mop the floors at 5pm? It’s usually busy around then since people are out of work. Back to the dirtiness — the equipment is grungy and old too. I’m like 100lbs and I feel like I’m going to break the treadmill. They offer classes but I wouldn’t want to be rolling all over the floor or something on mats.
Also, it’s hot as balls in here. This might be a good way to lose weight though.
The only upside I can see is they were renovating. but still, not enough incentive for me to come back.

Filthy.
It’s basically working out in a dirty storage room downstairs. Im on a free two-​week trial pass, so i should like everything, right? Im sticking with just classes so I don’t have to touch any of the equipment. I haven’t seen the locker room out of fear. The spin class has little to no ventilation. The staff doesn’t clean between classes, which is really alarming. I think I’m using this experience to pump up my immune system bc I’ll have been exposed to a million creepy germs within this two-​week period.
I gave two stars bc the classes have been decent, but I honestly can’t join a gym this dirty.

I am a member here, and I am quite satisfied, in exercising the right time, and it’s not too far from my home.
Sensible prices as well, difficult to write but will have to train so tad you there.

As far as NYSCs go, this one isn’t half bad.
I’ve been a faithful member of the NYSC network since 2008, and have regularly gone to the NYSCs in midtown east, flatiron, and the financial district. I won’t go into too much detail about the company itself (MySportsClubs) – suffice to say that there are some nickel-​and-​diming tactics they engage in which are devious, barely legal, and highly unethical. If you want to learn more about the company and its questionable practices, simply google them and read some of the customer complaints. Some of their insulting little tricks (hidden fees) have sufficiently peeved me enough that I will probably end my membership for good as soon as I rejoin the workforce next year.
This club has 4 floors, with a cardio unit on the top floor complete with ellipticals, a good amount of treadmills, steppers, and bikes. There is also a big mat area for stretchin an situps, as well as a rowing machine (if you can find it). There is a bathroom and water fountain, and the entire area is pretty brightly lit and well ventilated.
The ground floor is the entry floor, with some administrative areas and no fitness machines. Downstairs, on the first level, are more treadmills, a spinning room, yoga/​floor exercise room, daycare center, and a pretty complete set of «rush hour» lifting machines. There is another floor mat space for situps and stetching.
The lowest floor, two down from the entrance, consists of a large free-​weight area, locker rooms with showers and steamrooms, and squashcourts.
In all, this is a very complete NYSC with just about everything you could ask for. During rush hours, there are usually plenty of machines available, and there is almost always a class going on.
I don’t interact with the staff often, since I don’t participate in their personal training program or take any of the classes. However, everyone I have spoken with has been friendly and helpful.
Sure, some TV screens could use fixing, the locker room isn’t luxurious, and the weights are getting rather rusty… but for half the price of what I’d pay at Equinox I really can’t complain.

It’s a vertical labyrinth full of tightly packed machines and contraptions. However, don’t take it’s NY real estate as an impairment — this place has it all. A dual squash court, a full locker room with showers, a pretty expansive weights area, a moderately sized cardio, and a pair of studios. Walking from the lockers to the cardio is an exercise in itself, but it’s all in the workout after all, right?
The weights area is two floors down from the cardio, so prepare for extra heartbeats. In the middle of that are the studios. The locker room, which is on the bottom floor, has showers (kept in good condition) and thin lockers. Sufficient, yet not too impressive. The same goes for the cardio area; small, but enough to fit a hefty amount of people. Be prepared for inhaling the breath of a fellow clubber, because machines are placed inches away from each other. The roiders dominate the weights area — it’s dimly lit, but you don’t need to bring flashlights methinks.
Somebody should clean this place up; dust covers up every cranny. It’s an inner city NYSC, though, so I wasn’t too offended.

This is the NYSC that I go to, because it’s all of a 5 minute walk from my condo. While it’s not a dream gym, it definitely doesn’t suck.
So it’s about 4 levels tall, the entrance level being reception and a couple of open offices. The top level consists of mainly cardio machines, a decent variety and number I would say, and I never really have trouble getting the machine that I want. In the corner, off to one side, is a mat area with weights, exercise balls, body bars, and a bunch of other stuff that I don’t really use; They’ve improved the mat area equipment for 2011 so I’m happy about that. Most of the personal TVs work decently, but there’s only about 20 channels.
The 2^nd level has two main studios, one of which turns into a mini daycare for mothers who want to work out and leave their little ones with staff for an hour or so. Pretty good service. My favorite class is the total body conditioning class; I’ve also tried the Abs class and the Boot Camp class, both of which are excellent. The Cardio Kickbox and the Kickboxing class are ehhh. Then there is the Spin studio, which I’ve never set foot in. There are a handful of additional weight machines and cardio machines. There is a mat area as well, but I don’t really see people utilizing this.
The bottom level has a bunch of weights and weight machines that I don’t really use; You might have to go to a guy’s guy to review the equipment. It does seem kind of like a dungeon down there, but whatever; It’s Manhattan, not Beverly Hills. There are 2 squash courts with the same 6 guys using it. The locker rooms are decent and always well maintained.
My only real gripe about this place is about a quarter of the clientele: People who don’t wipe down the equipment after they’ve sweat all over it, people who grunt and groan and UHHHH their way their work out, and old people who stretch down in front of your face, while wearing booty shorts. This is probably at every gym, so I’m not knocking NYSC.
On a plus side, I do owe NYSC to my little guns.

I’ve had excellent experiences here three or four times a week for the past two months.
I’m particular when it comes to gyms: I don’t like when it’s one big open space where everybody can see everybody else, I hate that… And I hate when there are lots of mirrors, I don’t want to be cruised, I don’t want to be self-​conscious, I don’t want to be distracted — I’m there to work on myself, when I leave _that’s (hopefully)_ when I’m prepared for presentation… I hate when the music is too loud, I don’t want to be told to Go Go Go, I want to choose my own pace, and generally I like to be able to think my own thoughts or at least hear them… I don’t like really aggressive trainers or employees, I want to be left alone, if I need something I’ll ask for it.
This particular location is really clean, it’s thought-​out very well, there are more than enough machines for everybody, there are lots of little areas for various specific purposes, the music is soft and mellow, and the employees are always right there for you if and when you need them but never ever invasive or imposing, and most importantly (as a result of all the aforementioned reasons) I am very comfortable here.

I’ve been a loyal member of Ronin Athletics (a mixed martial arts and general fitness gym in midtown) for two reasons: a) the strength & conditioning class I attend three times a week never fails to kick my ass (in a good way… I haven’t been in this good of shape since I was competing in 3 – 4 sports a year during high school), and b) I get to kick and punch people on a fairly regular basis in my life now.
However, my girlfriend’s been wanting to get herself signed up for a gym for a while and she’d been talking about NYSC. And what better way to get yourself to take the plunge than to have someone else force you? That’s where I came in. ;) I picked up two of the two week guest passes for $ 20 each, and we were good to go.
This particular facility is actually pretty nice and I was impressed. I’ve gone twice during the late morning hours, and I’ve never had a problem finding a machine to use… though half of these machines scare me and remind me of why I prefer push-​kick drills and sparring matches in my kickboxing class. I’ve found a few that I enjoy though (especially the bicycles). My girlfriend seemed to enjoy the elliptical thing and I saw her kick its ass for about half an hour as I occupied myself on the matt with core body exercises and weight presses. I perused the weight rooms the first day I went, and actually used it for a while the second day I went. I like the diversity of machines, but they could definitely find use for a couple more machines that target upper body and core strength. There’s a monopoly of machines that only target your legs.
My only complaint is that they don’t have a lot of open matt space for you to stretch and/​or do matt exercises with the weights they provide. I doubt that I’ll be switching to NYSC from my current gym, but hey, I’ll enjoy the two week pass while I’ve got it. The facility is very clean, the staff are friendly enough, and the class schedule looks pretty interesting and diverse enough for anybody to find what they want. But I’ll be honest, I’d miss my weekly sessions of kicking people/​being kicked + punching people/​being punched if I switched. Then I’d have to go back to rush hour fighting, and that’s just not as entertaining.