New York Health & Racquet Club

I had some hesitations to join based on reviews I had seen of the difficulties cancelling and should have paid attention. I was a member for a year and then called to cancel in January and was told I needed to submit a request in writing, which I sent it in. In April, I was contacted by e-​mail with a threat for collection and was told that my membership is still active and accruing charges. I explained I had cancelled, but they refused to drop the charges or even apologize. I have requested several times a bill in writing as I did not want to pay for an undocumented charge or submit my direct deposit information by email (as was requested). I have still not received the invoice after several requests. On top of this, they are refusing to cancel my membership even to date while I contest the bill, and are continuing to charge monthly membership fees despite the fact that I have no use of the gym.

Honestly, this gym is NOT worth the money. Do NOT waste your time. Instead, enroll in a cheaper gym i. e Blink. I visited this gym ONCE and I left feeling underwhelmed. The atmosphere is stuffy and boring! When I go to a gym I want an uplifting and energetic energy; a motivating energy. I couldn’t help but LAUGH when I was on the elliptical and glanced at the TVs on the wall. CNBC and GOLF? Granted, this gym attracts a certain client/​demographic but good LORD. So unappealing.
NOT TO MENTION, they have little to NO sympathy if you are going through a financial hardship. If your partner is laid off and you can no longer afford to pay the membership, they will send you a generic email telling you that they cannot break the contract. I UNDERSTAND that it’s a «contract» but HOW can you force someone who is BROKE because of an unexpected turn of events to pay $ 72+ per month?
Forget this gym.

I switched to the NYHRC from another gym about five months ago and have been exceptionally impressed. The staff is amazingly friendly and helpful, and it’s really refreshing to go to a gym that is not uncomfortably packed with people after work; there are always open machines and it’s a fantastic environment all around.
I would also give a special shout-​out to Anton, who is one of the trainers there. I work 80+ hours per week and keeping a fitness regimen had been borderline impossible for me for several years. In addition to being super accommodating of my schedule, he has developed a tailor-​made plan for me that suits me for when I am on the road for business or overloaded in any given week. He’s been insanely supportive and I can’t recommend him highly enough to others who might be looking for a coach at this club.

Melt Class made me feel very well all over, was much in need of it. Instructor was Great and very helpful. Knows what she is doing.. .…front desk employee was friendly and made me feel welcomed. Place was organized and clean.. .. Perfect way to spend your day off !

I’ve been a member of NYHRC for about 4 years, and had never gone to this location until just recently. I went once and never again. The gym area is fine and had plenty of machines (all old). The maintenance of the facility is another story. After my workout, I showered and went into the steam room, which smelled like a dirty fish tank. I left immediately, and heard someone else complaining about the smell. The maintenance guy took out a hose, poured bleach all over the floor and then sprayed it out. Upon re-​entering, it smelled like a dirty fish tank that had been sprayed with bleach. It was disgusting. On top of that, it had duct tape holding fixtures together in the locker rooms, and duct tape preventing the shower heads from leaking. I’d never go to this location again.

This NYHRC is pretty consistent with the other locations. I noticed that the machines were a bit dated, but the facility itself is kept well. The group exercise room for Zumba was a really nice size, and they had tons of space for stretching. The weight room on a Friday evening was pretty empty, so it’s nice to walk around and observe.
Con: Only one squat rack? Boo.

I need to update this because there is an ongoing roach problem that hasn’t been addressed in the pool and men’s locker room area. I go here to swim, so I rarely visit the outdated treadmills or usually broken rowing machine upstairs. I love the salt water pool, but there are major concerns here:
1. there is no door from the locker rooms to the pool (just an open area that curves so you can’t see into the locker room from the pool). This means that every time someone uses cologne, perfume or body spray, I can actually taste it when I breathe while swimming. It actually happens often, at least once a swim, that someone bathes in Old Spice or Vanilla something or other. DISGUSTING.
2. There are several dead roaches in the gutter near the rocked wall in the pool area. Just sitting there. This tells me this area does not get cleaned. And it supports the roach issue I noticed:
3. In the men’s shower area, just off the pool, there was a roach on a shower wall for over a week. Do these ever get cleaned?
This is not my favorite location, but it’s not the worst either. Much better than York Street’s location.

I’ve been a guest at the 56^th Street location and I have to say that while the pool is considerably smaller, I love this location. It’s smaller and quieter, catering to a more corporate and older crowd. Both are wonderful alternatives to Equinox but this one is very mellow.
Both locations have THE friendliest staff, from the desk to the teachers to the lifeguard to the locker room attendants. It’s clean and there are not as many showers at the East Side location but I loved it.
Both have among the strongest jets of any gym in America I’ve visited and I’ve been an IHRSA member for half my life so I’ve been to a lot of clubs and gyms on the East and West coasts.
The cardio room is pleasant, though I didn’t use any of the equipment and I did go at the tail end of the lunch rush.
A really nice club and if you life on the East Side and aren’t going to join the 63^rd Equinox, this is your best bet.

I joined NYHRC several months ago and I have nothing but good things to say about it. They have great locations, friendly staff and clean facilities. It is a 6 month commitment, when you sign up, however, they do have a membership suspension policy, which I like. I had lapsed in attendance for a few weeks and I received a phone call from a rep asking me 1) if I was okay and 2) if I needed to suspend the membership. I appreciated that they didn’t just let it go, as many other gyms would. They truly care about their clients’ fitness.
I have back problems that required surgery a year ago. NYHRC set me up with a trainer, Sasha (Alex), who is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to injury recovery and strengthening the necessary muscles to avoid further injury. Sasha is also very serious about his clients and their goals. He sends out motivational emails on a regular basis with information on proper nutrition, strength training and maintaining overall fitness. He also appreciates feedback from his clients, if something hurts you the day after a session, he wants to hear about it so he can provide proper stretching techniques to alleviated the issue and prevent it from happening in another session.
I’ve taken a number of the classes offered and the instructors are also very knowledgeable, energetic and friendly. They offer a wide variety of classes and each class I have taken has more than met my expectations.
I’d recommend NYHRC to anyone. Definitely the best gym for its price range. Friendly, knowledgeable staff and an overall mission to meet their clients’ fitness needs.

The gym is in a great location in midtown, close to my work. Never too crowded and always clean. Having access to a pool/​sauna/​steam room is great. Members/​staff are always friendly. Had a personal training session Sasha, he was able to provide the type of workout I asked for. Very knowledgable and takes his craft seriously. Absolutely recommend.

This gym greatly fits my needs. I wanted a gym that wasn’t crowded and has a nice pool. On first impression, I did notice that the layout is weird but manageable. I’ve never had to wait to use any equipment. The pool can get busy but I wouldn’t say crowded since people take turns without issues.
Because I do Japanese fencing and have some particular related goals to achieve within a few months, I’ve decided to sign up for personal training sessions. Sasha has really impressed me. His workout plan fundamentally changed the way I approach these goals, is very friendly and is just right for what I want to accomplish.
Overall this is a great gym and is definitely worth it. If you’re like me and have specific goals but need some guidance, PT sessions are worth considering.

25 bucks for a guest, nice place for swimming

When the hell were there renovations? And those renovations signs were up a «long time» per the girl at the front desk? Please a long time is at least a month in advance and a did not see those signs. I am so pissed off. These renovations better be effing awesome.

I can’t say enough nice things about this gym.
After trying every other gym in the spectrum from 24-​Hour Fitness to The Sports Center at Chelsea Piers to NYSC to YMCA McBurney and Bowery to The Sports Club/​LA to Crunch, this was the perfect fit. It’s not too trendy and not too crowded and for me it was just right.
To be honest, I got my membership through my office so I never had to negotiate prices but what I pay through my company seems fair compared to other gyms. Personal training sessions are priced as blocks and no one has ever pressured me to buy more than I wanted or to stay when I got a gym in my apartment building.
The locker rooms aren’t new or super white and edgy. They’re functional and are always clean and the lockers are big enough to fit a purse, a work out bag and a weekender.
The classes can sometimes be crowded but everyone is really positive and theres always room for one or two more. The instructors will even learn your name and call you out when you need some extra encouragement — beats an expensive Soul Cycle class any day. And they have classes I haven’t found anywhere else, like Kangoo and Hula hooping.
But of everything, the trainers are the shining stars. I’ve tried trainers and boot camps before but my trainer here was incredible. Maria Campos not only built a fitness plan for me that took me from flabby desk jockey to bikini confident in months but she went above and beyond by helping me with healthy food advice AND she even took the time to run my very first race with me.
All of the trainers are excellent and NYHRC has special training sessions for them where they build their skills and learn new techniques like Boxing and Plyometrics and Kickboxing. What’s great is that the trainers also make you and each other laugh and a belly laugh after a personal record bench press is the best recovery.
This place is basic but a hidden gem.

AWFUL! The staff are moronic, and the whole NYHRC system is ridiculous. They scam you at every turn. The steam rooms and ‘eucalyptus room’ are all terrible, the layout of the gym is ridiculous, and you have to pay for guests even though you have guest passes, you have to pay to rent the squash courts every time. Just the whole set up is not user-​friendly, nor are the staff.

I only visited the pool area. I said «visited» because I could not swim. The pool has 2 lanes and they only allow 2 people per lane, so only 4 people at a time are allowed in this pool which does not make any sense, as there is definitely space for more people. After waiting for 20 minutes I decided to leave. The water was very cloudy and looked dirty. The small whirlpool near the main pool was closed for cleaning. I am not coming back to this place ever again.

i’ve been a member of nyhrc since 2007 and i changed jobs so i’m stuck with this location. my old location was the whitehall one.
this location is very basic and it sucks. they only have one of my favorite machines while the other locations have a lot of them. a lot of their machines are out of date. the floors are also really small and there’s not much room to do anything.
i only come here because it’s right across the street from where i work. it is what it is and is good enough when i need to put in my daily 60 min.
nyhrc in general is a very nice gym. if you’re looking to join, i’d work out at the cooper sq and 23^rd street or park ave location. those locations are much nicer and more worth your money.

4.5 stars
I love this gym for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s never too crowded when I’m there. The biggest crowds are on week nights but even then it’s not too bad. Secondly, I love the facilities. The pool is great for laps, they have a couple of squash courts on the top floor, a decent spinning room, a lot of different cardio machines and a fully stocked weight room.
I have not taken any classes here but I know people who do and they love them.
My experience with the instructors here has been good as well. They were good at explaining and breaking down each of the exercises. The ones I’ve trained with were also super friendly and motivated me well to work harder on my fitness.
My only complaint is in the layout. There are a couple of spiral stairs and I find them annoying — especially the tiny spiral stairs that connect the men’s locker room to the men’s shower area and the swimming pool. It’s not wide enough for two people to pass each other on them. I assume the women’s locker room has the same annoying spiral stairs as well.
I have posted a bunch of photos which should give you some idea of the facilities but of course the best thing to do is to go check it out yourself.

Just wanted to add that after a heart rate monitor, I can now appreciate what amazing instructors Phoenix and Chris are. They are serious about what they do, are patient with questions and play great music. Really appreciate both of them.
Now if the club would only maintain the bikes…