New York University : Coles Sports & Recreation Center

Coles has it all, but the equipment could use an upgrade. I suppose that’s why they’ll be closing down for renovation at the end of the school year.

I have been to many university gyms & rec centers. Sadly, Coles is probably the second worst full-​service university gym I have ever been to.
*The men’s locker room smells awful
*No AC in the weight-​room, they have fans
*the weight room is really small and there is often a wait for machines
*$ 10 for guest fee (must be accompanied by NYU affiliate)
*the surface of the indoor tennis courts takes getting used to
Coles barely suffices as a gym meeting the basic requirements and having basic amenities.

Coles has wi-​fi, decent offerings as far as equipment goes, and basic amenities. Yes, there are a bunch of issues with the place (the cardio room smells like 20 years of accumulated B.O., there aren’t enough weight benches, there are giant cockroaches in the locker rooms, and the water pressure varies shower to shower), but if you’re looking for an Equinox experience, pay the money and do that. I can’t really complain too much about a «free» gym, especially one that’s for students. I like that people come here to work out and not to socialize, and it’s a very no-​frills place. Though, it will be closing next year to completely gut renovate the place, so I suppose that will all be changing.

No AC
Equipment is basic
Pool leaves you feeling sticky
But the lifeguards are nice and you should bring them snacks.

There are only a few advantages to this place. One of them is that you’re playing on the same floor as the varsity team when it comes to basketball. The other advantage is that there are so many rooms in there for cardio and weightlifting and volleyball and racketball. For a space that looks pretty small from the outside, NYU really packs a lot of activities into this location. During graduate school, I frequented this sports center dozens and dozens of times. I went mainly to the cardio room (with the treadmills) and the weightlifting room. Other times, I played basketball. Here is the downside of Coles: it’s literally located in a bunker-​style lower level fortress. That means once you go to the lower floors for any of the activities, your phone is dead and done. Don’t expect to get ANY signal at all. It’s also kinda uncomfortable, in my mind, because there are no windows or no natural place to get a breeze or fresh air flowing through there. If you’re an avid basketball player, please be aware that the varsity team plays and they have dibbs on the center court no matter what.

Near Courant Institute, the main library and the main campus of NYU. For registered student, just bring your school ID, doorman will slid it for you and you can get in to enjoy everything. You can also rent a locker with your ID. The squash court in downstairs is super good. You will definitely have a good experience. There are several courts and not too many people. Also, the tennis court is very good. There are almost everything here you can find if you are a lover of sports. On roof of the gym, there is open court for tennis and you can enjoy jogging around the court.

The facilities are far from superb, which is why they’ve built Palladium.
Locker rooms are confusing and it is an adventure just to find the restroom.
The usual guard is not very nice, to say the least.

It is an old-​fashioned gym with lots of space. Facilities are not up to modern times but maybe that is some of its charm. Permanent staff is very helpful and forthcoming. The plentiful college work-​studies manning the front desk are less so.

Where do you go for indoor or rooftop tennis in the middle of Manhattan? Come to Coles! Well, you must be a member of the gym. That would involve enrolling as a student at NYU, working for NYU as an employee, or living in the immediate area and obtain the community membership.
You must call the day before to reserve the tennis courts. You must bring your own rackets and tennis balls. Reservations are for one hour to play.

Coles will probably be history in a year since it is being demolished as part of NYU’s huge expansion campaign.
The good things about Coles (which mainly revolves around sports activity)
–Indoor Tennis and Outdoor Tennis Courts — easy to get a reservation except on a few Saturdays here and there. Where else can you find that in Manhattan? For tennis players, that deserves 5-​stars even though the surfaces are not standard.
–Racquetball and Squash Courts — also fairly easy to get reservations. Only time I have issues is 6pm
–Large number of stretching areas (most gyms have a tiny stretching area but Coles is so big you can spread around)
–Large number of basketball courts and easy to start a game
–Rooftop running track
–Large locker rooms and very affordable to rent a locker for a year
–Lap Pool and Diving Pool — although on weekends its tons of kids (and dirty water)
The Bad things
–No A/​C outside of the Cardio room
–Weightroom can get crowded fairly quickly at anytime of the day
–Large number of broken cardio room equipment. Not quite sure why this happens when they have fairly new equipment (all replaced ~ two years ago)
–Cleanliness — people don’t wipe gym equipment here, weights can be thrown around all over and the locker room has roaches. I recommend you bring a towel into the weightroom (esp on hot days) and sandals for the locker room.
I don’t take classes so can’t comment on those. I know they are cheap but not sure about the quality.
All in all, I value this gym for its activities rather than the weight or cardio rooms. My gut tells me that NYU’s new gym in 6 years (yes, 6 years) will not have nearly as much activities and be more of the standard mill variety. Not sure what NYU will do with future students who will have no real gym (Palladium is tiny and crowded) but that’s not my problem…

The worst gym i’ve ever been to. Ridiculous policies. Bad hours. Bad air ventilation /​temperature control. Half the treadmills are broken at any given time.

Whilst taking a shower last week, I looked up at the peeling paint, down at the nests of other people’s hair, and around me, at the mold and mildew. And I decided, no. This is not a sanitary place, and it is not okay with me.

There are often five students working the desk. One helps the customers, two play on cell phones, and two talk and eat.
I’ve had student-​employees stop helping me mid-​sentence so they could share giggle-​fit inducing texts with each other, and interrupted two student-​employees’ arm-​wrestling match so I could get some service.

**This review pertains to gym visits during summer months only**
This gym has no air conditioning. There are some fans which do help. Kind of. I firmly believe that A/​C is an essential component of any athletic facility.

I cannot not love this gym as it’s my alma mater. But seriously, it’s one of the better all around gyms in NYC. Whether you want to play basketball, swim, do yoga, or even practice fencing, this gym has everything you need. There’s over 5 full length basketball courts to play on here, which in NYC is impossible to find. Also, they have a very cool track atop the building that allows you to run laps while people watch the people of Greenwhich Village below. Coles Sports Center is a must try for everyone, at least once.

I hope NYU doesn’t tear down this facility. While it could use a facelift, it still offers everything a student/​professor/​alumni/​community member needs in a gym. The indoor TENNIS facility is great for the city, weight room is adequate, cardio room is good with the new machines, pool is easy to book, racquetball courts are usually open, and basketball courts are open most of the time.
I know the community is fighting the redevelopment on the grounds that it will change the character of the neighborhood. Why don’t current students express the concern that NYU (and other univerisities) should be focused on more affordable tuition and developing educational programs rather than spending money on redevelopment? A new gym, hotel, retail and high school to appease local officials are not going to make NYU students any smarter and only contributes to the increasing cost of tuition.

This gym is confusing. It certainly focuses on NYU’s team sports the most, which is probably great for most people who use the gym. I, on the other hand, am looking for a place to run.
The rooftop track is pretty neat and refreshing. It’s a good way to run outdoors in this bustling neighborhood.
The cardio room is pretty stripped down, but it’s surprisingly empty and does the trick.

Well, yiou know, it gets worse. Read below. But do understand that the use of the pool by 120 kids on 5 days for 2 weeks results in… A UTI!
DISGUSTING LEVELS OF BACTERIA!
Well, the Coles Center will soon be a memory in the continuiing reconstruction of the Village by NYU. Oh, baby, and will it be a bad or good mem?
I’ve used Coles less and less for reasons cited below. First, it has no A/​C except for what they call A/​C in one eqpt rm (no TV either). The head of recreation is not the most consumate professional in dealing with the public. Better to avoid the rec staff and talk to other members about who the best instructors are. No refunds on classes, at all, though there used to be a «bonus» if you took a few each year. There is a wrestling room used for selected yoga classes. I keep my socks on. Some nights are solely for the undergrads. Some of the kids who staff desks are delightful. Now and then you will get surly adolescent-​speak. A couple of the long-​time staff members in equipment (not the new head) and porters are friendly.
There is a new sauna (for women at least) but the showers are limted to 3 outside the pool area, more downstairs.
In the past 10 years, NYU changed policies to allow kids into the pool. Now, year round weekends, the pool is dominated by families. Young children do not wear pool diapers in this pool. In the last few years, Coles has summer campers in the pool as well. All of this results in poor water quality, Last summer was so bad, a lifeguard told me she hadn’t been in the water for «months.» This last week, the water actually tasted «salty.» I used the diving pool (very small) to do laps!
NYU wants the «community» or «family friendly» reputation without doing the work (read: paying $$$ for fresh water) toward keeping the water adequately cleansed for all members. A survey of individuals who frequent Coles could potentially reveal some of the operational and personnel issues that make this a less than optimal experience for those of us who take classes and use the pool. Family rates exceed $ 600 — a little more facilities management seems reasonable to expect.

If you’re enrolled in one of the graduate programs at NYU, you’re pretty much given access to the gym. Many grad students don’t take advantage of this, but they have a large gym for basketball, volleyball, or other sports, racquet ball rooms, wrestling and weight rooms, and a rock /​climbing wall. There’s a set of roof tracks & tennis courts (closed sometimes), and there’s a very big swimming pool.
Sometimes a bit crowded, depending on the sporting season. Plenty of things you can check out (locks, equipment, etc.) if you don’t have your own.
Watch out for the surprising water fountain in the entry to the main court, though — it’ll spray you as it gets suddenly stronger after a few seconds.
Only complaint — the hours tend to be a bit early. I’d like to see them stay open later or open earlier, but oh, well.

The best perk of paying through the nose to do a post-​bacc pre-​med at NYU is access to their gyms; i used to live right near Palladium, which was good, and now I’m right next to Coles, which is even better, since I can play tennis there all year round. I have never played on the roof courts (they were under construction this summer), but the ones inside at the Field House level are just fine, and the advanced tennis classes they offer are great. $ 80 plus a can of balls gets me 10 group classes with a great teacher. It is wonderful, considering even group lessons at a tennis club elsewhere in Manhattan would probably be more like $ 50 per lesson (or more)…and forget court time; it’s free to book a court at Coles for singles/​doubles with other gym members, while I’d be paying $ 75 (at minimum) to $ 150 (for peak times) an hour at any other Manhattan indoor club.
I’ve also taken a few good rec classes here and make use of the cardio room (decent # of treadmills, pretty current machinery) and the weight room (not as many free weights as I’d like, but fine).
I heard a rumor that they’re planning on tearing the building down and will build a brand new facility one block over, and while Coles does feel a bit dated, it’s got what I need so I hope that doesn’t happen any time soon!