49th and Broadway (revisit)

Well...THIS is what my new home gym looks like currently.  This is the former site of the 52nd and Broadway location which is mere blocks from my new office.

I visited instead 49th and Broadway which, surprisingly, has been refurbished since my last visit.  It looks very good, crisp, and clean.  The new style is very much what it needed as this is a VERY BUSY LOCATION.  I'm sure closing the gym 3 blocks up didn't help relieve any of the traffic.

The crowd here is a mix of hotel guests, some young and a few frumpy women (a few winners), and then 70% gay guys.  There was definitely some eye candy but I was too annoyed with the crowded nature to care.  I'm glad I didn't need a treadmill cause I would have been waiting way too long for my liking.

I took a new photo of the refurb:

Whoops.  Well...this isn't too far off...

New home gym

I am changing jobs and searched out what my new home gym would be since I will be leaving the 23rd and Park location (waaah!).  The closest gym is 52nd and Broadway!  I went back and read my review and remembered my visit vividly.

Fun fact: supposedly this location is now closed.  So...that's awesome.

FAIL.

I will re-assess my situation shortly.

Irving Place

I have been kind of dreading going to this location for a while because every single time I walk by it looks so crowded it gives me anxiety.  I finally swallowed my pride (and a Xanax!  oh....damn I wish that were true...) and attacked it head-on.

This gym is great for the overworked Union Square business professional.  It is indeed busy and I went during an off-time.  First floor is the entrance-way (hardly a lobby), all of the cardio equipment, the main studio, and a small stretching area.  Downstairs is the men's locker room and the cycling studio.  Upstairs is everything else (free weights, machines, etc).  I have absolutely no clue where the women's locker room is.  They may not even have one for all I know, or it was clearly labeled and I just simply missed it.

The problem with this gym, besides looking like it was painted in the mid-90's, is everything seems just a touch outdated and overused.  I did not have to wait for a machine upstairs but it still had that "erratic" feeling to it.  Maybe because it's a smaller space overall?  But the ceilings were so high!

The locker room was cramped (old-school dark wood lockers) and maze-like.  Showers were fine, sauna, steam room.  Just a little small and a general sense of "busy."  And there were a few more gays than expected...and the girls all seemed like they were in shape and moderately attractive on the average.  There was quite the eclectic mix though, including a blind guy and a guy in a wheelchair.

Those were firsts for me.

My grade: C+

14th & 5th - Union Square

Welcome to the gym that started this whole shindig.  'Twas here I decided to explore new locations after working out with my meat-head friend who walked around and socialized.  This was the shining beacon on a cold winter's day, the early blossom on a spring morning, the cool breeze over a picturesque lake on a humid summer's eve.  'Twas here.

So this place is pretty gay.  I had been here before and each and every time it's just as gay.  A nice mix of people though - fit gays, older people (who probably have unbelievably nice rent controlled apartments in the Union Square area), and a few fit/attractive girls.  There seemed to be plenty of cute girls in the trampoline-aerobics class going on when I visited.

It's all one floor.  I love this aspect.  Even though two full walls (north and south) are full of windows in-between is pretty dim.  I don't really need to explain where everything is because this location is the easiest to navigate out of any that I have been to.  You walk up, it's all right in front of you, and the lockers are on the far wall.  There is a cycling and a studio, plenty of cardio, a small stretching area, two cable-fly systems, all the machines you would expect, etc.

The locker room was better this time around than the last time, maybe cause it wasn't rush hour.  You KNOW this place is gay for two reasons (I mean...besides being eye-banged by a number of people in the gym): 1) they have a sign on the steam room door saying "don't be inappropriate" and 2) the shower curtains are short.  VERY short.  They have plastic liners that go to the floor but the curtains stop around your knee/thigh area.  I can only assume this is so you can easily see just how many bodies are in each stall.

My grade: B

BSC/South Station

I. AM. KING.

I finally went to the Boston Sports Club at South Station!  I have been passing by for years and never had a chance go to in.  Well I finally was able to set aside time and go.  I'm pretty sure I looked like a foreigner walking in as if I had never set foot on American soil and had clearly never been to a gym before.  No shame!  I was giddy.

And screw you, I'm a nerd.  Get over it.

This location has a few noticeable differences than the NYSC that I am used to going to.  The most glaring is how large it is comparatively.  It is definitely slightly confusing (what with the sub-floors and small hallways connecting workout areas) but for the most part is two levels.  The first is the lobby (I think the receptionist, well, hated me.  I asked her to hold my luggage AND for directions to my hotel...she was very friendly though) and most of the cardio.  Strangely not all the cardio machines had individual TV screens.  It was about 70/30.

Also part of the first floor, in the back through a few hallways, was everything else.  Lots of room to breathe and all the standard equipment (and then some).  Lots of sunlight and stretching areas scattered about.  The clientele was stereotypical Boston; you look like you are a frat guy and you are either 1) indeed a frat guy 2) a big fat mo.  There were only a few girls but all could have been fitness models; ponytail, sports bra, light weights, nice complexion.

Downstairs were the two studios (cycling and standard), random yoga/stretching area, very large pool, and the locker rooms; this is where Boston Sports Club failed me.  The locker room...oy.  What a mess.  Towels everywhere!  I mean...everywhere.  A towel volcano....a towcano!  It was as if a towel explosion happened.  Oddly the towels were quite a bit larger than their NYSC cousins which meant they took up even MORE room. Toweltastrophe!

Showers were fine (large stalls, curtains, sauna/steam room) but there was no body wash to be found.  This was...what's the word...annoying?  no that's not it.

Frustrating!

 

no....that won't do.

 

"fucking stupid."

 

My Grade: B   

If you write it...

...they will add it!


Remember a while back, in my review of 145th Street I said:

The free weight areas are typically very busy with guys on the 'roids (excuse me- "pre-game vitamins" is more appropriate) and can get a little cramped if it's during peak hours, even with the large amount of space available.  For heaven's sake, NYSC, get this place another cable-fly system!

I re-visited last night. Since I reviewed it they HAVE added a cable-fly! Clearly I am speaking for the people.

(...and hush, you! In my twisted world I am taking credit for this. That's right.)

Upper West Side

Today marked the last of the Upper West Side locations.  I must say they are not the most well put-together group of NYSC locations.  Let's reflect:

62nd and Broadway - C
73rd and Central Park West - C-
76th and Broadway - C
80th and Broadway - E
94th and Broadway - C+

This would NOT have been an acceptable report card to bring back to my mother from school.  The UES at least has a B+ so far (although rumor has it the last remaining UES location I have to go to sucks, but even if it gets a failing grade that's better than this group).  I'm surprised by this; the UWS is a fun neighborhood and would have thought that the gyms would have reflected that.  Unfortunately I don't think I'll be visiting these again (with the exception of 94th St which was under construction) unless it was out of sheer convenience.

76th and Broadway

I walked by the entrance 3 or 4 times circling the block.  I looked up the address online thinking somehow it was off by a block.  I re-checked the official website thinking the location had closed and I didn't realize it...finally I found it.  The photo reflects ALL of the signage up for this location and the amount of "advertising space" reflects proportionally the amount of space inside.

This must be the smallest NYSC in the city.  Must.  Simply one floor, one studio, and barely any workout equipment.  The studio doubles as a cycling studio (the spin bikes pushed to the side) and the only machines offered were the X-press line and two more.  No cable fly.  No dumbells higher than 70lbs or so.  No calf machine...just the X-press line and a Smith press, practically.

There were a number of different cardio machines, most of which faced into the studio.  A tiny stretching area for 3 people off to the side and some medicine balls were available.  Granted the space was bright and clean but it just felt like a "building gym;" you know, the gyms they put in a small hotel or a nice apartment building.  Not a NYSC.

The locker room was OK - fine temperature, clean for the most part.  Small, of course (one urinal, one stall), and no sauna or steam room.  There were two shower stalls and they were glass...which means they were completely see-through.  Even though there was no one in the locker room at all when I was there, I just don't like the whole "community" feel of a see-through shower.  It's not Chelsea for heaven's sake!

My grade: C