MANHATTAN — Treadmills and dumbbells aren't the only things six-pack-seeking New Yorkers with New Year's resolutions to get into shape can find at their neighborhood gyms.
From live DJs to dodgeball, Manhattan's myriad sports clubs offer members workouts at price points both high and low — with a month's fee at some gyms enough to buy an entire year's membership at others.
For the same price of a month's membership at the fully stocked Equinox gym on Hudson Street, for example, exercise enthusiasts — and those who know they need to get moving — can buy a full year of access to Manhattan's 14 public recreation centers.
Membership to the Tony Dapolito Recreation Center — which offers dodgeball, ping-pong and juggling sessions, but few exercise machines — costs just $150 for the year for adults age 18 to 61, and also provides access to all other city run rec centers across the five boroughs. That fee drops to just $100 for members who forgo access to the rec centers citywide with pools, according to the center's website.
Dapolito Center yoga instructor Columbia Fiero said she likes that the Parks Department — which has other rec centers on Catherine Street on the Lower East Side and Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights, for instance — sets the economic bar low.
"[The centers] allow everyone in New York to receive the benefits of good health," she said. "They're such a smattering of New Yorkers — from people with government jobs, to housewives to lawyers. It's beautiful."
Just around the corner, membership to Equinox's Printing House location at 421 Hudson St. — which has a rooftop pool and individual TVs attached to exercise machines — runs $151 per month, plus an additional $74 monthly charge for access to the chain's clubs nationwide and a $645 initiation fee, according to its website and a company spokeswoman.
Greenwich Village resident and hairdresser Kelly Madigan said she gladly pays top dollar for the gym's perks, as well as fewer competing bodies.
"The pool makes it worth it for me, and that there aren't a lot of sweaty people all around me here," said Madigan, 37.
For the hefty fees, Equinox members get long hours. The Hudson Street location opens at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. on weekends.
The Dapolito Center opens at 7 a.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. on weekends and can only be used by children from 2:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Hudson Square teacher Evelyn Avila said another option in the neighborhood works for her: the New York Sports Clubs location at 225 Varick St. She said the "nice and clean" gym, featuring a sauna and plenty of exercise machines, is a good value for her at the reduced rate of just $29 per month she receives as a Department of Education employee.
"My sister goes to Equinox, which is much nicer, but this is better for my budget," she said. "You pretty much get the same things."
Membership without a discount at New York Sports Clubs costs $69 per month for access to only that location, and $89 per month for access to all clubs in the Sports Club network, including 29 across Manhattan, according to its website. Initiation fees range from $59 to $118, depending on whether or not members commit for a whole year.
On the Upper West Side, residents have the West Side YMCA nearby. This location of the Y has cardiovascular equipment and a meditation room, and offers classes in Masala Bhangra dance, power rowing and belly-dancing. Membership at the 5 W. 63rd St. facility runs $93 per month for adults, with a $125 initiation fee, according to its website.
Gym-goers looking to be pampered can try David Barton Gym's locations in Chelsea, the East Village and the Upper East Side. The facilities are dramatically lit, lavishly furnished and often feature DJs.
"It's everything you could ever want in a gym, with pumping energy, great music and then a bathroom you wish you had at home," Barton says in a video posted on the gym's website.
Rates at the Chelsea club — where celebrities like Anderson Cooper, P. Diddy and Adam Sandler have been spotted — start at $128 per month for only that location, and jump another $10 per month for access to all its gyms. Additionally, the club's standard $250 iniation fee is being waived for the month of January, staff said. Reduced rates are also available for full-time students.
But the stars show up at lower-end city gyms, too, Dapolito Center deputy manager Alisa Brogdon said.
"You'd be surprised by the number of celebrities you see here," she said.
