New York Health & Racquet Club

great location in the middle of Manhattan!

Great location. Close to work and convenient for commuting. Very tiny location. The bathrooms are outdated, not as trendy as some if the other locations. Not much room to workout unless you are using a machine. Trainer and myself crammed into a small space to workout. Only one studio! It would be great if they woukd expand to another floor if possible. Friendlg staff.
Friendly locker room staff.

I’ve been going to this gym for over a year now and I really like it. The staff is super friendly and the environment feels very relaxed. This particular location is not as modern as some of the others, but it’s in great condition nonetheless. The trainers are really nice and helpful. Also, I really enjoy the spin class at the location. :)

I really like this gym for the great classes. Especially Masala Bhangra on Saturdays at 3:45! The teacher is great and its super fun. Also the nice thing is this gym is pretty quiet on the weekends. Recently upgraded to the salt water pool which is nice. My only two issues are the gym closes WAY TOO EARLY and the TV channels are super weird and the selection is really limited. People are always working out till the last minute. 10pm M-​F is just too early, no reason why you can’t stay open till 11:00pm. That is a huge drawback especially if you have a crazy busy work schedule and can’t get to the gym until 9:15, it becomes a very rushed situation. I also never for the life of me understood why gyms close at 6pm on Sunday… that’s a day I feel like more people would work out late. Also PLEASE FIX YOUR TV’s!
Other than that you are A-​Ok in my book.

I’ve only been a member for two weeks, but I’m impressed with this location overall. I’ve found the staff super welcoming (AudiE was my membership person, and assured me that when the contract ends, it ends, and there won’t be any terrible billing screw ups or never-​ending charges. We’ll see!) I payed up front for a year in order to get a discount that brought membership fees to the same as for the way overcrowded NYSC.
I think this location is pretty nice. The busiest time is obviously after work, but the ladies’ lockers were never uncomfortably full and I didn’t even have a wait for the shower. It’s pretty empty at lunchtime, which I love. I have gotten lost and walked into the pool area in just a towel though.
The 45^th St location has weights, one group class room, about fifteen treadmills, a salt water pool, a eucalyptus steam room and a regular sauna. There’s also a swimsuit dryer thing, towel service, and the option to rent lockers.
Unilocal has me worried that my free personal training session that came with membership will lead to harassment, so I“ll update if that happens. See you all when I’m super buff!

The location is dirty. There’s always a wait for the free weights after work. I liked park ave, but was very disappointed in this locations.
MORE IMPORTANT: I SET UP AUTOMATIC BILLING AND THEY KEPT CHARGING ME AFTER I QUIT AND THEY REFUSED TO REFUND. I have opened a dispute with American Express.
Very scummy move, NYHRC!
Find another gym, these guys arent worth the hassle.

I have been a member here since 2009, and it is great! The staff is really friendly, they have a pool, and the equipment is always new. It is perfect for beginners, intermediate, and advanced weight lifters!

I joined this gym in 2000. Hard to believe I was only 19 when I joined. Anyway… it’s a decent place and it’s been renovated and updated over the years and it’s much more open now than it used to be.
There seems to be plenty of equipment when I’ve been there and most of it is in good repair. One thing I like about this place is that the people who are there are mostly there to work out, they’re not into S&M like at some other locations (by S&M, I mean «standing and modeling»…like at 23^rd St, I was on the treadmill and I saw this one guy on a machine in front of me. I ran two miles, about 15 minutes and he did five reps TOTAL on the machine. The rest of the time, he was checking his phone, talking to people, drinking water and looking around).
The only issue I have is with the showers. What the hell is growing in those things? The shower floor should be pebbly, not smooth like you’re standing on a giant mushroom. Somebody scrub those floors… ugh!
But it gets extra stars for Cesar, the locker room attendant. He’s a nice guy and has been there as long as I’ve been going. I hadn’t been in two years and he still remembered me. He’s a peach.

The gym is clean and they provide a variety of great classes. However, the trainers are overly persistent and their actions are borderline predatory! On my first day, I wasn’t even there for 10 minutes before being approached by a trainer. Even after I’d explained to him that I would reach out to him to train after I had reached my weight loss goal, he still continued to try to pressure me to work out with him when he saw me at the gym that following week. And not just one time! I’m not sure what the pay scale is for those guys, or what type of pressure they are under to sale, but they really need to try a new approach. From what I hear, they don’t act this way at other locations. I am so annoyed and turned off by this that at this point, I don’t plan to work with a trainer from there at all.

The club is fine. Pool was clean, locker room was so-​so, and gym usually wasn’t too crowded. Unfortunately, the sales team and cancellation policy completely ruin the place. First, they are always running the same ‘special deal’ but will tell you that it ends today and if you don’t sign up it will go up X dollars. Second, the sales guy lied to me about the hours of the pool. Finally, when I called to cancel I spoke with someone for a couple of minutes and she told me I was all set. My card was charged again so I called back. I was told that there are no cancellations over the phone — the only way to cancel is by certified mail. I called back less than 10 minutes later and was told that I could cancel on the website. I completed the online form but I have to pay for one more full month (after the 25 or so days left in the current month). Terrible experience. Stick to NYSC. If you have to have a pool, pony up for Equinox or one of the other legit gyms in the city — this isn’t one of them.

I worked out here on a trial basis earlier this Summer, after a few sessions at the gym and some overly pushy attempts by their staff to sign me up for a trainer, I soon realized it was not for me and I decided not to seek a membership. Since that time I have received over 10 ‘sales’ calls. Each time I explain I am not interested (not least because I now live in California) and each time I ask to please have my name and number removed from their sales list. This morning (Saturday !) I received yet another call, and again, I asked the saleswoman to please remove my name from the list, she said she didn’t know how and hung up on me. This company’s sales tactics are borderline harassment, they are aggressive beyond all normal standards — avoid them like the plague!

It’s nice, but they are way too pushy about the personal trainer sessions, which makes me extremely uncomfortable.
I specifically don’t like this location because you have to walk downstairs for the showers, while the locker rooms are upstairs (for women).

I actually enjoyed the gym. Its a clean gym. The management is absolutely idiotic and corporate is worse. WATCH OUT WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIPS. THEY NEVER EXPIRE. They have a bs method of tellin you your membership is over. They say your «commitment» is over but theyll keep billing you monthly until you find out that you have to send a certified letter to the corporate office over a month before you wish to cancel. I sent mine 6 days after because management at cooper square never enlightened me AFTER I ASKED THEM OVER AND OVER WHAT TO DO and now theyv charged me a month over my contract. VERY DIRTY BUSINESS AND I WOULD NEVER JOIN AGAIN IF I MOVE BACK TO NYC.

The equipment at this gym was fine and one of the trainers I had was exceptional (Rob), but the administration and remainder of training were very frustrating. When you first sign up you are told you will receive a few introductory training sessions. After 6 months and a ton of e-​mails and phone calls I was finally able to get my session. The other frustrating experience I had with the administration was trying to quit… you have to send a certified letter 30 days in advance in order to stop your membership!

Everything’s great.
Say NO when they offer you the free training session. Unless you actually want a trainer.

I just started at NYHRC (was a member of 24 Hr previously) and so far have been very impressed. I’m a swimmer so I primarily joined for the pool, but the facilities are very nice, esp. at this location. The pool is nice and large for Manhattan and that jacuzzi is gorgeous. I always have to stop in there when I’m done with my laps. My only major complaint is that I get calls on my landline from people trying to sell me personal training sessions all the time, even after I told them no in person. STOP CALLING ME! haha Otherwise, however, this gym is first-​rate.

This is a review of Astor Place, 13^th Street and 23^rd Street.
Positives — Pool, sauna, steam room (except for Astor Place), whirlpool, yacht in the summer, fresh and clean towels, showers with shampoo/​conditioner/​liquid soap, nice equipment with TV’s and iPOD plug ins, great Spinning, Dance, and Yoga classes, and friendly staff.
Negatives — Really old people that waltz around the locker room completely naked. The «beach club» is gross — save yourself the trip. Not enough early morning classes.

This review is for the 45^th Street location. I have been going here for about 6 months, and I really like it. I find that it’s a comfortable place to workout, not super chic and pretentious like some NYC gyms come off. It has been recently remodeled, so the interior and most of the equipment is modern.
There are three floors — a basement with the pool, steam room, showers, etc.; the second (and main) floor with the locker rooms and a few machines; and the third floor with the weight room, cardio machines, and a large room for classes.
The staff is friendly enough and has never tried to push anything on me. Once when I was leaving, they asked if I’d like a free personal training session. I said no, and that was that. There are always signs around about various special offers, but there has never been any pressure to take advantage of them.
It’s a small space and they don’t have a ton of equipment, but it’s never crowded so that’s never been a problem. I usually go in the morning before work, and sometimes on the weekends, and on average I would say 90% of the equipment is available.
One final thing — they offer a locker and laundry service that I really like. It means I don’t have to lug gym clothes, shoes, etc. back and forth, which is a huge convenience. It costs extra, but it’s worth it in my opinion.

So i visit this place pretty often, because it is the only NYHRC near my work. The only reason i go to the NYHRC is because my employer pays for it. Once your a member the personal training sales pitch never stops. I made the mistake of getting a free training hour, but that came with daily phone calls to my cellphone and work phone. I told the trainer «NO» several times, but his thick head just wouldnt get it.
The actual gym is small, dingy and cramped, even though they recently renovated it. The free weights are always out of order, and no one really attends to the machines and cleans up after guests. It is alwyas so cramped that I sometimes just end of leaving because i cant grab a machine fast enough. The reason i gave it three stars, i would have given it two, is for the class instructors there. I have only taken one class on friday for kickboxin (i think its girly to take classes, trying to be an alpha male here) but the instructor was really good and cared alot about his «students».
Lastly, i know that NYHRC cant control this, but there are not nearly enough hot girls working out there. Not that im that sleaze-​ball guy that trys to pick up girls at the gym, but i dont mind some eye-​candy.