The Blink signage arrived yesterday (photos courtesy of an EVG reader) on the sidewalk bridge at 100 Avenue A, the incoming condoplex from developer Ben Shaoul.
As previously reported, a Blink Fitness gym is opening a 12,000-square-foot facility in the retail space here between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...
The signs point to a fall opening. (The East Village location has a holding place on the Blink website.) The site advertises rates "as low as $15" a month. (Updated: This Blink will cost $25 a month, per a rep.)
In other Ben Shaoul development news, New York Yimby got the first look yesterday of some interior renderings for 196 Orchard St., the 11-stories of condos going up adjacent to Katz's. The residential building, as noted before, includes a three-level Equinox gym, Blink's upscale relative.
As for the homes at No. 196, studios start at $1.075 million.
A studio. A studio is selling for over a million dollars. Jesus, have I fallen down a rabbit hole, or what?
ReplyDeleteHere it comes. The deluge of shit that is slowly ruining our neighborhood. Soon, there will be a Starbucks on Ave B, then there will be a Citibank on Ave C. And, then a Chipotle on Ave D. Keep the homogeny and gentrification coming.
ReplyDeleteIn Chelsea we got many Starbucks right next to many dunking donuts next to td banks and many nail salons, chain drugstores.
DeleteI'd rather see retail (food, etc.) than a gym.
ReplyDeleteSo sad they destroyed a theater for this --
ReplyDeleteI still don't understand why the developer didn't try to do a deal with the city - get extra floors in exchange to keeping the theater and giving it to non profit
I only live two blocks away. Sign me up. This gym rocks!
ReplyDeleteYou don't understand, 8:53? Didn't you read it? The developer is Ben Shaoul. Perhaps you aren't familiar with him. He's not exactly renowned for his cultural contributions to the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid to ask, but what is wrong with a gym? Especially a gym that is decidedly not a luxury one, that is accessibly priced?
ReplyDelete@11:01 Exactly right. $15 a month is affordable for most. That means low income kids and parents have a place to exercise. I only hope that this buildings' million dollar residents are welcoming and don't complain that their in-building gym is being used by locals. I hope that Blink advertises their new facility in all areas of our neighborhood and not just in the high end residences.
ReplyDeleteYES! Finally! Been waiting awhile for this news. @11:01, there's nothing wrong with an affordable gym. In case you're new to this blog, that's what the trolls do here, complain about everything! Mostly a forum for malcontents, but sometimes not.
ReplyDelete1:18 I am definitely not new to this blog and I have bitched and moaned with the best of them -- my perennial gripes are baconification and its annoying flipside, vegan shit no one needs -- and I disagree that complaining makes one a troll (especially when there are so many Anons and probably no one person complains about "everything").
ReplyDeleteThat said, a fairly priced, clean, non-scammy gym seems really harmless. Gyms are quiet; they are free of bacon, alcohol, biscuits, froyo, "vapes," rolled ice cream, Friday-night vomiting, and rooftop screaming; and they provide a service to the community. Granted, I am also a gym rat, but this seems like a nonissue to me.
Oh shush. Vegan options are great!
ReplyDelete1:18 pm, which also makes you both a troll aand a malcontent. Citibike not enough of a work out for you?
ReplyDelete6:53, for fat vegans, maybe. I'm good with eating, you know ... plants?
ReplyDelete$15 is cheap. But pushup's and a jog in the good ol' outdoors is cheaper.
ReplyDeleteGiven what the market rate for this place would be in this era, $15 per member sounds like a loss.
"what is wrong with a gym?"
ReplyDeleteIt's another business that makes the EV seems like it is a strip mall in White Plains. Not a question whether it's only $15/month. It is a reflection,metaphorically and luterally, of the Patrick Bates and Miss Ginevra Fanshawe that now inhabit White Plains South. Plus they destroyed a historic theater so that they can have another bland and dull place for the vapid and vacuous.
12:00, I can't defend the destruction of that theater, it is appalling. But that is on the head of Shaoul, not the people running Blink Fitness.
ReplyDeleteI am also sorry that old-school gyms have been pushed out of the city by gym chains and "boutique" fitness operations, but that happened a long time ago. And not everyone at a gym is "vapid and vacuous." A lot of people are there for their health -- both mental and physical -- and wanting to work out, esp. in an inexpensive gym environment, does not make you Patrick Bates [sic].
As for the "what do you even need a gym for?" crowd: "Jogging" on sidewalks is annoying to others; not everyone lives near a park in which to run; not everyone prefers running for exercise, period; the streets are not always safe at the times one wants to exercise, particularly for women; some of us really like weights and other equipment and gyms have lots of those; some of us like working out in a social environment; and finally, even if my apartment wasn't too small for pushups and burpees, my cats really get in the way of my workouts.
12:44 Yes!
ReplyDeletePhysical and mental health my be-heind. More like vanity health. You probably thought EV was all about you, don't you, don't you?
ReplyDelete7:25, you sound bitter and mean. Endorphins would really make you feel better about yourself.
ReplyDeleteSo people that want to be in shape, look good and feel good are vain? You sound like a joy to be around.
ReplyDeleteI'm cool with this as long as the staff has a way to keep the scissor stabbing crusties from using it as their place to shower and shoot up (i'm assuming they will still take dumps in the park, as a toilet is probably too advanced for them).
ReplyDelete