New York Sports Club Is Closing

“I just heard that New York Sports Club on Reade is closing at the end of April,” emails a reader. “I called them just now and they confirmed it.” I went by and verified it—and they tried to sell me a membership. “The disgusting part is this $19.95/month promo they are offering. My husband and I just switched our memberships to that program—which meant paying a new enrollment fee. They explained that it would pay off in five months and then we’d start saving about $60/month. Which of course is all all bullshit since they won’t be around by then.”

Thanks so much to the tipster who sent this in. She has a compelling case to make to NYSC corporate, no? It really is terrible that they have all that new signage touting a “deal.”

Also: Does anyone know what’s coming to that space? My guess is that NYSC wouldn’t close till it had to. (Last May, we heard that the gym signed a five-year lease; guess it had an out, if so. Wait, just found this New York Post article saying that the company is trying to sell itself and finding it hard.) And that space is huge. If it doesn’t get divided, I’d wager big money that it becomes a pre-school or similar facility.

 

24 Comments

  1. Well, I can’t say I’m saddened, seeing as they took out a nice deli, among other “smaller” stores. But since big spaces can only be filled by big corporate interests, and it’s too ugly to be an Apple Store, I’m guessing a TD bank.

  2. The nail salon joke is getting olddddd.

  3. i heard they were moving to the old bell bates space from one of the trainers

    • also the whole group is courting buyers-maybe why they are cutting costs (no towels) and puffing membership with cheap deals

  4. Folks need to make sure that they do not get billed beyond the closing date. Also, if they duped you into a membership without telling you about the pending closing, refuse to pay. Trust me, they will not be coming after you.

  5. I was there on Saturday and they were pushing the $19.99 membership with a $250 signup fee, non transferable to another gym. No mention that you’d lose that in a month. Thank god I didn’t go for it. They even had the nerve to call and follow-up on Sunday. Absolutely disgusting.

  6. I just emailed Blink Fitness to tell them NYSC is closing and high prices of some of the remaining Tribeca gyms and to urge them to open in the NYSC space, the Duane Reade space at Church and Chambers Streets, or the Modell’s space on Chambers if Modell’s moves into the DR space, so we’ll see :)

    If Blink opens down here you’ll pay less per month than TRIBECA GYM as the monthly fee at their location on Lafayette Street is less.

    If you want to urge them to open what I’d imagine they’d call “Blink Tribeca” email them at sites at blinkfitness dot com (they encourage landlords and brokers to write them with site proposals.)

    • Isn’t Blink opening on Nassau St.?

      • Blink Nassau is already open at 111 Nassau Street but that’s all the way down in the Financial District, unless you want to walk all the way there from TriBeCa and back to work out (good exercise itself but it’d probably get tiresome after awhile in terms of convenience.) It is perfect for TriBeCans who work in the FiDi.

        TriBeCa Gym is only $69 a month. Month to month with $99 initiation fee ($49 if you join in the first visit) or yearly no initiaton fee.

        The only other TriBeCa gyms besides TG after NYSC closes are Crunch, Equinox, and Superstar Gym at $93.99/mo, a whopping $170/mo, and a whopping who knows what respectively plus Planet Fitness which is the cheapest but you get what you pay for which isn’t much.

  7. I hear that they are actually closing in two weeks. That is not much of a warning. Where do folks recommend in the area?

  8. NYSC’s crooked dealings with me and my family make this good news at our place. Overbilling was bad enough, but faking my signature on a contract did them in.
    God riddance!

    • Wha? That’s forgery – sue them.

    • ‘Want a gym convenient for all in TriBeCa? Get Blink Fitness into the NYSC space. Just because NYSC didn’t work in that space doesn’t mean Blink wouldn’t. I curse Modell’s expanding not relocating into the Duane Reade space at Broadway and Chambers because it means Blink can’t move into either space (DR or Mo’s.)

      TriBeCa needs a new affordable, conveniently located gym within the Vesey/West/Canal/Broadway box (like NYSC Reade Street) folks. Equinox, Crunch, and Superstar Gym aren’t it. Planet Fitness is garbage. TriBeCa Gym will suffer from the overcrowding due to the cheap price relative to the first three I listed. Blink on Nassau and the NYSC on Broadway are too far. I mean it’s nice if you work in the FiDi but it’s a PITA to get to otherwise. Also remember alot of parents, older people, long hours workers go to gyms so those two places are extremely inconvenient to those people.

      How ’bout a gym in the space Fairway was reported to open in or the Bell Bates space?

  9. It isn’t just one location that’s closing the end of April. Today (01 April), our local club (Somerset, NJ) also announced that they’re closing on 30 April. It looks like it’s a corporate collapse, not just a problem with a single location.

  10. I have to say, most of this grumbling has to do with corporate, not the folks at Reade Street themselves.

    I also just switched my $80 membership to the $20 membership (over the weekend!) – and called yesterday to find out what I could do about it. Reade Street folks told me i) they were just told themselves on Monday; ii) they offered to cancel the sign-up; but iii) all of the memberships will be transferred over to a full “Passport” membership once they close – meaning I now have a $20 flexible membership to any NYSC in town! Not a bad resolution. Many of the trainers are heading to the City Hall site but some are going to Varick St (and Houston) which is evidently a quieter more residential location.

  11. I have been angry at NYSC for sometime because of the aggressive promotion for new members at significantly undercut rates. Other commentators are right, the Reade St staff are good folks and didn’t know this was coming. Unfortunately it is the nicest “local , neighborhood” feel club in the area, but there are clubs at Wall St, Broadway and Varick so TriBeCa people can crowd into those. I am hoping Equinox comes out with a promo to whisk disgruntled long time NYSCs like me away . Anyone heard anything ?

  12. This may not be Equinox but I have found it works for me. The classes are good and it’s convenient for me living in Tribeca. I don’t use their locker room. Does anyone know of a place in Tribeca similar?

    • For a bare-bones gym, you might try Tribeca Health & Fitness on Chambers (between Church and W. Broadway) or Planet Fitness under the Sheraton/post office on Canal. There’s also a Blink (Equinox’s cheaper sister) on Nassau.

  13. I am furious. I have been in NYSC member for almost 20years. My “home” club was another NYSC location although I use the Reade St club the most and live closest to it. I have been paying $92/month or close to it for many years! So with these new membership deals, I just cancelled my old membership to get the new $69/month passport deal with Reade St as my “home” club. I paid an initiation fee of $150.

    But NOW I find out that anyone who recently signed on for $19.95 month to month at Reade St will be given the passport membership at no extra charge!!!. I am paying $50/month more than these johnny-come- latelys, am a loyal NYSC member, and get no such deal! I have tried to reach them. It is almost impossible.

    It is outrageous. It was a great club for what it was. – excellent yoga classes with caring instructors. I can’t believe they are closing! As for the old stores it replaced – um – how long ago was that? The club has been a neighborhood fixture for years and is very friendly and unpretentious.

  14. Tribeca Health and Fitness is wisely taking advantage of the NYSC closing. Mike, the mgr (or owner) will waive the $99 initiation fee and do a lower monthly charge if you tell him that you are a disgruntled transplant and he gets at least 10 of us. Although subterranean, it is clean and the cardio machines have individual tv’s . It is at Chambers and Church. I think he will do a $49 per month deal with no annual contract. Sounds good to me.