NYC gyms are $75 a year. That beats any other gym by far. Even crappy gyms are usually about $10-20 a month. So it seemed obvious to me that it was the recession-ista thing to do. Plus I'm not a big gym person. Treadmills bore me to death. I have no idea what to do with weights. But I do love to swim, and in the winter I need somewhere warm to expend excess energy. Woe is me when the pretty, sun dappled paths of Central Park are slick with ice.
For the most part, the city gyms are fine. They are decently clean and safe. And in the summer the outdoor pools are fantastic :)
But the downside is that they are filled with other savvy, pushy New Yorkers. It's like the subway version of a gym. Some of the people who work there are drunk on their small amount of power and their uniforms with badges. I usually can't go there more than once a week because that's all the patience I have for the men who try to dominate all the spaces (especially obvious in the pool & weight room) and the guards who demand to see locks and enforce bureaucratic tyranny.
So it's a mixed bag. At this point I can't spend more money on a better gym, and usually I get what I need. Just sometimes, you realize why it's only $75 a year.
