NYU gyms not worth the wait?

When Justin Mayer lived in Hayden residence hall last year as a freshman, he worked out at Coles Sports Center and Palladium Athletic Facility. But when he moved downtown to Water Street residence hall this year, his distance from campus made the gyms inconvenient.

Like many NYU students, Mayer, now a sophomore in the General Studies Program, bought a private gym membership, which offers more accommodations and newer equipment, conveniences some students say they don't find at the NYU athletic facilities.

'It sucks that there's no [NYU] gym in the [Water Street] area,' Mayer said. 'And it sucks that this year I'm so far away. I'd gladly not pay anything to work out at Coles or Palladium.'

Mayer joined the New York Sports Club, a popular choice for many NYU students. About 2 percent of the club's 305,000 Manhattan members are NYU students, said NYSC membership consultant Michael Cummings, who works at the 160 Water St. location.

The club offers monthly memberships ranging from $70 to $91, said Jason Deraveniere, the Water Street club's manager. Students must show their NYUCards during registration to get student deals, he said. Deraveniere said most are undergrads, a fact he learns from talking with them.

However, NYUCards do not expire and are not collected at graduation.

Crunch gym is another popular spot. It offers monthly memberships for $94 with a $299 sign-up fee.

Mayer said he liked his membership's flexibility, because he can work out in Manhattan or at home in Westchester County, N.Y., because the memberships are good at any of the clubs' locations in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut.

Several New York Sports Club membership consultants say the most popular locations for NYU students are the gyms at Union Square, Irving Plaza and Water Street, which are all surrounded by NYU residence halls.

'What I hear a lot from NYU students is that it's a matter of convenience,' Cummings said. 'It's important to them to be able to use a gym close by, near their dorm or at any location, since NYU has its reach all over the city.'

About 25 to 35 percent of members at Crunch gym's Lafayette Street location are NYU students, said a membership representative who declined to give his name. World Gym's Greenwich Village facility, located a block away from Coles on Mercer Street, would not comment on its membership figures.

College of Arts and Science junior Martin To joined World Gym his freshman year because he thought the Coles equipment was too old, and he didn't like Palladium's atmosphere.

'When I was at Palladium this summer, the gym was not too crowded, but there were wait and time issues,' he said. 'I had two guys flare up at me. I am hardly a body builder, so when I work out, it's also a stress reliever. I do not want to be stressed out waiting for equipment.'

The 25-minute wait and time limit for using equipment at NYU gyms were also issues for CAS sophomore Laura Mehl, a New York Sports Club member.

'When I'm running and burning hundreds of calories, I don't want to stop in the middle, get off, and wait for someone else to run their 25 minutes,' she said. 'Then I have to get on again and build my stamina up all over again. It's just really annoying.'

With the entire NYU community to serve, Coles and Palladium can get pretty packed, logging a combined 4,500 patrons daily, Director of NYU Athletics Christopher Bledsoe said.

'When everybody wants to work out before class or at lunchtime, it's going to be crowded,' Bledsoe said. 'In order to not have the wait, you might want to look at a different club. We only have so much space, hours and equipment. It's like trying to ride an elevator on Monday morning in [the Silver Center].'

Despite those troubles, Mayer said he was impressed with the technology and aerobics at Palladium, and hoped to use the gym next fall if he gets placed in Palladium residence hall, his first choice.

Noah LeFevre, assistant director for athletics, manages the day-to-day operations at Palladium. He said it's the crowds, not the quality, that have driven students to private gyms.

'I think we're losing people because our facilities are too popular and we only have a certain amount of real estate,' LeFevre said. 'I personally don't understand why you would look elsewhere when you are already paying for it here.'

However, Martin To isn't considering returning anytime soon.

'Do I think I would go to NYU gyms if space, equipment, wait time and overly-testosteroned boys were not an issue?' he asked. 'I can only say maybe, because I can't envision an NYU [gym] without those problems.'

Mehl is also content with her decision to stick with NYSC.

'There is no reason I shouldn't get the most out of what I pay for,' she said. 'The place I get the most is New York Sports Club.'

While Bledsoe said that the athletic department isn't worried about attendance, Bledsoe said he is willing to consider improvements to Coles and Palladium.

'I would love for every student, administrator and staff to use our facilities,' he said. 'But in reality, we'd be much more crowded than we can possibly handle.

'But if there's a reasonable expectation we're not offering in our gyms, we need to look at that.'