Chinatown YMCA

I want to like the Chinatown YMCA. Really, I do. I was a member when it first opened, quit and reconsider joining every now & then, After each visit I’m just too put off by the members. There are a lot of Chinese members, mostly using the swimming pool. They have different culturally accepted behaviors that just put me off. Like stretching, naked in the the dry sauna. Or yelling at kids in the swimming pool during open swim. Sorry, it kind of ruins the experience. Great facilities, though.

I signed for the membership at YMCA basically because they have a child-​watch in their facility. But, there is only two spots available from 6 – 18 months. I was told that I have to call 24 hours in advance in order to reserve a spot for my toddler. Every time I call the spots are already taken. I started calling a week in advance in order to reserve a spot. Honestly, I think is unfair to every mother who signs up to go through this. I used to be member at YMCA in Staten Island, and there was no limitation. I pay $ 150 per month, not worth it.

i just check in today and the person at the front desk named Andy give me the look and stop me from grabbing the towel. When I ask for two towel, that kid just pass me one. I mean what’s fking wrong with him, I pay for the membership what’s so expensive about an extra towel.

I had no idea there was a chinatown ymca here — it is hidden (especially now with the construction going on in the front and back of the building) — but this gem sits right next to whole foods.
Apparently, it is not so much of a secret because the gym was in good use on the saturday afternoon we arrived. Lots of kids and a few adults playing basketball in the spacious, bright gym.
Adjacent to the gym was a small dance studio where little kids were running around.
I also got a chance to check out the bathroom, which was clean.
Not sure of the rates to become a member, but I would assume it’s like most ymca’s

Cheapest pool membership you can get, pool is clean and is not that crowded during recreational swimming

I have been a member here for at least 5 years now. This is the cheapest gym in Manhattan that has a pool. If you don’t mind spending an extra $ 20/​month and are deciding between different branches of the Y within lower Manhattan, go to McBurney. There is nothing especially positive about this place; just problems:
1. The fuse blows when people use their own blowdryer, which causes the lights go out, usually for a couple of minutes at a time.
2. The attendant for the ladies’ locker room stares at you while you change.
3. A new power rack was recently (and finally) installed. However, there is no mirror placed directly in front of it to allow yourself to check your own form. This can be extremely dangerous to beginners who are working out alone and do not yet have a trained level of kinesthetic awareness.
4. I asked someone at the front desk about the mirror issue in #3. He didn’t know what a power rack was and told me to ask the person next to him. She didn’t know (1) what a power rack was either nor (2) that one had been recently installed. How do people at the front desk not know what the gym offers?
5. Facilities are shared with the kids summer camp and university settlement. There are schedules posted to inform you of when these two programs are using spaces (multipurpose room, etc), but they are not accurate, nor are they consolidated for your convenience. The only sure way to know when certain spaces are available is if you call and ask the front desk to check the system in advance. The requirement to go through all this inconvenience on a daily basis is just a plain nuisance.
6. This place only has hex plates. There are no round/​olympic plates. You will not enjoy deadlifting here.
7. Though I haven’t seen anything too disgusting here, I’m not convinced that enough is being done about hygiene in the ladies’ locker room. People sit on chairs naked and hang their worn wet clothes next to clean towels in the shower area. I’ve never seen the lockers themselves being cleaned either. Combined with carelessness, those are some ways you can get sick, contract HPV, etc.
8. I pay a student rate (69/​mo). In order for them to not charge you at the regular rate (87/​mo), you need to provide a copy of your unofficial transcript showing that you’re currently enrolled. When I renewed my membership, I was told that I’d be charged at the full rate until I handed in the transcript and that once they received it, they would reimburse me the difference between the student and full rate. When I handed in my transcript a few months after that conversation, a different man at the front desk told me that I would no longer get the reimbursement of the elapsed months because I was late in handing it in. He did not listen to me, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. Another man (not sure if he was the supervisor) came and immediately adjusted my account to reflect the reimbursement. My time was wasted on a problem that shouldn’t have occurred in the first place.

This place is not worth $ 90 a month. This place is why I am looking for a better option.
Don’t bother if you like to swim laps at a moderate pace and want to use your membership primarily to swim. This Y prioritizes camps and classes, not to mention Masters swim teams comprised of non-​members. The summer is awful. Lots of bodily fluids from kids. Lots of people swimming down the middle of a crowded lane. Swim etiquette not enforced by lifeguards.
Women’s locker room is mildly disgusting. Not because people are not cleaning it, but because of the behavior of a great majority of its clientele. The older regulars take over the sauna where they use pedi eggs, body oils and other locker room practices generally frowned upon because of, you know, hygiene. I have stopped asking people to please not spit on the floor. There are signs that say «please do not spit on the floor». And yet there is spit on the floor.
Tonight I got out after 15 minutes because the water was so cloudy. Came to find out that there was puke in the water not 30 minutes earlier.
Come for the yoga I guess.

Some of their staff are pretty rude, but most are friendly. Their place are pretty clean, but sometimes their internet are pretty slow… lol AND I really like how the lockers room are clean and there’s privacy as well

Trying to sign up for membership took like 40 minutes. It’s like passing through immigration. One employee on the reception desk was teaching chineese to a member. The person in line in front of me was trying to sign up for membership. The employee and him did small talk for like 30 min. Questions being asked were like what is german food. Totally avoid this gym.

This place is nice and clean, and the people here are so friendly, and this is the only gym place that have swimming pool in lower Manhattan, you will enjoy it

Its great the live strong program is good. We get weight training and pool activities.

This is a nice cozy place for a gym/​pool. It is really convenient to get to, and the staff is friendly, especially since many children and elderly people come here during the day. I had an end-​of-​summer discount for a few months, and would come back.
There is also a cozy library a couple blocks away, so my summer was basically complete.

I registered for swimming class, the staff told me wrong starting date (a week after) and apparently I missed 2 of my swimming classes. I went to the pool, waited for the class and they told me there was no more class. The girl name Tina didn’t know anything took me around from pool to front desk without giving me an answer. I was so mad and asked for supervisor. At first, they told me there is no one solve my problem, I have to contact someone else. It was wasting of my time and money. Now that I have to go through all email and complaints without guarantee of refunds. NEVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN!
By the way, they never pick up their phone!

I love this place. It’s a really great deal compared to other gyms in the area. It’s very clean, has a great assortment of exercise machines, and also offers free classes. like Tai Chi! The staff are really friendly and helpful and it’s never too crowded. I try and go at least four times a week. BTW, they also have a swimming pool, sauna, and showers!

This place is super nice. My swimteam practices here on certain nights. The one night I decided to venture down to this location, I had to walk through a horrible rain storm with no coat or umbrella. It was a bit hard to locate in the dark and through the rain — but I persisted.
When I walked in, soaked, the guy at the front desk took pity on me and gave me a towel straight away.
The facilities here are spacious and clean. I loved the towel service. The pool could be a tiny bit warmer, but I’ll let that go for now.
I also play soccer here and the gyms are new and brightly lit.
Overall, a really good gym that seems to have a lot of amenities. If I lived closer, I’d consider joining.

Very friendly staff, clean place and great location… right next to the whole foods.

I came here for a few months and had a mixed experience. Overall, I think this is a great option to other gyms in NYC.
I love that:
— The staff is really friendly. They made me feel welcome and didn’t pressure me to sign up for things I didn’t need like other gyms.
— This place has a pool! It’s so hard to find a reasonably priced gym that has a pool.
— This is a no pressure environment where I felt accepted.
— I really enjoyed the family friendly atmosphere here. My favorite experience is when on the weekend parents brought their infants in and took them for swimming classes. SO ADORABLE!
The downside:
— Price: Despite this being an YMCA I still shelled out ~$ 98/​month to use the facilities. I had the city pass which let me go to other gyms too.
— Pool can be super crowded — I used to come here to swim on the weekends. Bad idea since it felt like 50 people had the same idea. They cordon off a big section of the pool for the infant swimming class which leaves about 2 lanes for normal lap swimming. I decided to quit coming here once I had to split the lane with 5 people. It was insane.
So that’s why I have mixed feelings about this location. It’s worth checking out for yourself to see if you like it. Especially if you live in the neighborhood or not too far. At least stop by to see the cute babies swimming with their parents. It still warms my heart today.

Better than a gym. A community! Great facility. Updated equipment, well maintained, clean, open all day until late nights. Great staff, and the best trainers!
Get here get healthy change your life. Fun friends fitness. Fantastic.

I started coming here because my dad’s doctor convinced him that swimming every day would make his back better so I kind of tagged along his membership. The facilities are really new and rightfully so, since I still remember when I was amazed when Whole Foods opened in the same building. They have a swimming pool, locker room with steam rooms, free weights as well as other weight machines, and plenty of cardio equipment with the majority of them being treadmills. I prefer the non-​swimming pool area of the gym, quite honestly, just because it’s a cool area even when the weather outside is 90 degrees.
The pool, however, is usually only partially opened due to classes, other organizations renting lanes, etc. This annoys me because sometimes I get there and there are only two lanes open for me, and they fill up quick since only five are allowed per lane. I’ve seen people getting kicked out of the open rec area because of a class and then forced to stand and wait because the only lanes available are full. When I saw this I just walked out, and I was only swimming for 5 mins.
It would really help if your schedule is a nonconventional one, just because you can come when everyone else doesn’t, but then again, crowds and lines are something you just have to deal with, especially at a gym.
The pool is really the only qualm I have about this place. The showers, bathrooms and locker room are really clean and members get a towel every time you walk in.

On a warm Sunday afternoon I came here with a few of my Canto friends/​teachers for an hour long work out. I ended up only working out for twenty minutes which was all I needed to release my anger and frustration of this past week. We all registered for the one day guest pass which is free. The gym facilities were decent with lockers and showers. However, there were no benches to sit for changing. There were also no hair dryers for women which is okay for me as I always air dry my hair. The equipment is decent although there are some that I have not seen at Crunch Fitness gyms. I don’t believe (although I could be wrong) that there were any classes for aerobics, spinning, or any genre of sport held at this location.
I rate it four stars due to lack of staff as it was my first time to use the facilities at any YMCA, which I was hoping a staff can give me a mini tour of the locations for women’s changing rooms, lockers, showers, etc.
N.B. Patrons entering the main gym rooms of the double white doors must push down the door handle and pull it open. Otherwise, you’ll be struggling to get the double white doors to open, which of course no one informed me. Also, the classrooms do not allow cameras and no photography or videography during presentations are permitted. A hefty bankrupt rental fee is required for space reservation.