Crunch

I signed up for the $ 20 membership in haste because it was cheaper than the Greenpoint NYSC (which I’ve been to and is completely insulated by brick walls… genius design for a gym, guys!), and was within walking distance to my apartment. After a couple months, I’ve decided that I actually hate this Crunch location.
The employees are totally great and I feel bad giving this review because our interactions have been friendly and professional. This review does not apply to them; it applies to the space and the machines.
The space:
I signed up for this gym because of the fitness classes. I was thrilled that there’d be early morning yoga classes (7am). A week after I joined, I noticed that they changed the schedule and NO classes were being scheduled before 9am. Okay… not a huge problem. I started taking a yoga class with Lynn that was amazing (best yoga teacher I’ve ever had, honestly), but we started to notice that as the gym became more popular, there’d be more noise right above the fitness class space. It turns out, they put the weighted ropes right above the room for fitness classes, and all you hear for an hour is loud banging. Totally zen, right? People have left the classes prematurely on multiple occasions because it sounds like there’s a shooting above us. They really need to consider this moving forward. Maybe allotting hours for the ropes so that people don’t use them during yoga?
Space has been clean, though. Can’t complain here.
The machines:
Machines here definitely don’t give accurate calories burned and there’s not much variety. The elliptical machine is the worst I’ve ever used. I’ve had memberships at NYSC, LA Fitness, and Planet Fitness, and the machines are far better. Also no TVs on any of them. I noticed after a couple weeks of my membership that a stair machine stopped working. I thought it was a little early for the machines to be broken already, as the gym had only been open for a month. I hope that wasn’t a foreshadowing event.
And my last point of contention is probably the biggest issue and reason why I’ve decided to waste my time writing this review. I walked over last weekend and was greeted by some confusion at the front desk. An employee asked me, «can I help you?» I thought it was rather odd considering I pay to work out here and showed them my card. Turns out, they closed the gym for the weekend to film a commercial and didn’t let ANYBODY know. I get so much SPAM from them in my email inbox and they couldn’t even alert us that they would be closed? That’s totally inappropriate and maddening.
I hope these issues improve or else I will be leaving sooner than later.

They closed the gym to paying members for the weekend so that they could make money renting the space as a film set. That’s really poor taste.

Clean, convenient, inexpensive and no nonsense.
I’ve been a member of Crunch for over 5 years and had to cancel upon moving to GP because there was no location. Back then I was paying upwards of $ 85/​monthly for a passport membership so I could visit any location. When I finally cancelled, I was moving out of the UWS which had a super old location and needed a lot of TLC. This Crunch is SO much more affordable and because it’s brand new is in impeccable condition.
They don’t hand out towels so I would recommend bringing your own especially because I’m not sure how clean those yoga mats are with no one having a towel with them.
Haven’t tried classes but also never had to wait for a machine or cardio equipment. Also, huge perk that they allow you to use the group fitness room when it isn’t in use for stretching!

I tried this gym out on a 3 day trial membership. As for the facilities: they are clean, there are tons of cardio machines, places to stretch, nice front desk people, etc. All good if that is what you look for in a gym.
The 2 stars is for 2 things:
The chintzy no towel policy (no towels for showering either?!?)…so I guess I will just sweat all over the floor and machines. Yuck.
I enjoy taking classes, in addition weights and cardio. I tried classes on 3 different days. They are all just blah. Instructors are nice and energetic but the workouts are just sub standard. I don’t enjoy taking classes where you are still doing jazzercise moves from the 80s (step-​touch, Jane Fonda’s signature clam shell leg exercise). And this class called Pound that requires the use of plastic drum sticks while you are air drumming (I really wish I was kidding). It was a freakin nightmare. 15 minutes into the class, I did not break a sweat, just lost my patience. If you are looking for more challenging/​less cheesy group classes, I would look into other gyms like BAC or Chalk. Oh and no indoor cycling.

I added an extra star to my last review. After reading this Unilocal review, one of the managers sent me an email. That was a step in the right direction. I’ve gotten emails, texts and phone calls that solicited me for personal training, but no one attempted to contact me about my dissatisfaction until someone read my review on Unilocal.
It was easy for me to cancel without any additional fees and without any real hassle. That’s very different from how people describe NYSC, so I added a star for stress-​free cancellation.
The gym is probably great for people who want weights and cardio equipment, but for someone who wants group fitness, the classes aren’t quite early enough and the room is too cramped. I guess it’s my fault for being an early enrolee and joining before the gym actually opened and I could check out the stuffiness of the group fitness room and the paucity of morning classes. It really wasn’t worth the money I saved.

Get in. Work hard. Get out. Live life. Great addition to the neighborhood for so little to complain about. Do it already. Do it. I’m in there. I’m lifting all your weights. Using all your machines. Stretching all over your floors. Why aren’t you in there. It’s open from 5am for crying out loud. You can tan your pasty white skin after you tighten that soft doughy body. What is wrong with you, why aren’t you grabbing up those weights from me? Is it because the barbells are too thick and slippery with inferior knurls and you can’t grip them good? Is it because all the plates are made of hard plastic and feel like My First Weight Set? Is it because the dumbbells only go up to 80 pounds? Stop your crying and get it together already, it’s like ten bucks!

Just joined crunch yesterday and I feel great about it! Extremely clean facility with all the machines and equipment you would need. They are open as early as 5am and close at 11pm on weekdays. Very convenient for people who work 9 to 5.
And it’s only 10 bucks a month!!! They also have classes like yoga and boxing just about everyday if you’re willing to pay a little more for your membership. I personally always hated how lots of gyms make you sign long contracts. With crunch there’s no contract and you only need to give 30 days notice before you leave.
I agree with what another reviewer wrote concerning the giant fan above the treadmills. They really need to move it or keep it on low.
To sum it up, crunch is a great gym that I would highly recommend to anyone in the greenpoint area!

No towel service and no bags for your gym clothes. Fine if you’re in walking distance but no good to /​from work. Looks and feels like a cheaper version of a normal crunch. Locker rooms feel like a high school. Fine if you are local and only on the single location membership but you’re better off at another location if you’re on the city wide membership.

Good equipment and great price. Disinterested, bored and unenthusiastic front desk staff… Not a classy joint but hey it’s cheap

Great Gym especially for the price. Can’t beat $ 10.00 a month. They have tons of Cardio equipment, and weight machines. The bottom floor with the heavier weights isn’t open as of yet. They just opened on Friday July 17^th. The only minus is that they have this obscenely huge fan right above the treadmill, and ellipticals. It was a horrible idea. I’m trying to work up a sweat, not freeze and get pneumonia. They should really lower this fan, or get rid of it completely. They also need a better abdominal crunch machine. But overall it’s a very good gym for the price. I’m now cancelling my YMCA membership.