Translation from English

Saturday, July 13, 2013

And just into NoHo--the NYU Coles Sports Center

For years, NYU was a joke when it came to something as simple as a swimming pool for its students...it directed them to the tackiest public Y in the City, over on Carmine Street!

The Law School had  a pool in one of its posh  buildings, Hayden Hall..

But it was not until they built the mostly-below-ground Coles Sports Center that NYU could really say it had caught up with every other big University in terms of student health and fitness facilities..

Let me see what I can find for more...  --well, why not Yelp?

New York University: Coles Sports & Recreation Center

3.0 star rating
20 reviews Rating Details
Category: Gyms  [Edit]
181 Mercer St
(between Bleecker St & Houston St)
New York, NY 10012
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
(212) 998-2020
Nearest Transit Station:
Broadway - Lafayette St (B, D, F, M)
Prince St (N, R)
Bleecker St (4, 6, 6X)
Good for Kids:
No
Sort by: Yelp Sort | Date | Rating | Useful | Funny | Cool | Total Votes | Friends' | Elites'

20 reviews in English

  • Review from

    • 51 friends
    • 125 reviews
    4.0 star rating
    10/12/2012 5 check-ins here
    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.
  • Review from

    • 92 friends
    • 213 reviews
    2.0 star rating
    7/13/2013 1 check-in here
    This review is only based on the squash courts.

    I decided to get a membership here for the summer since it was the cheapest squash membership available in the city. Now I quest the choice, because the heat can be unbearable. There is absolutely no ventilation in the room, so it is basically sauna + squash in one. Honestly the unnecessary heat caused the deduction of two stars.

    The last deduction is the obscure setup of the courts, it is not the traditional international squash courts but the American one. So it kind of sucks when you are trying to practice offseason. The walls are also made of cement, for what reason? If you run into a wall trying to get the ball(happens often in squash), you can seriously hurt yourself.

    On the plus side, when I am frustrated, I normally bang my racquet on the wall, guess I won't be able to do it here, because I know my racquet will break.
  • Review from

    • 26 friends
    • 83 reviews
    2.0 star rating
    5/9/2013 1 check-in here
    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.
  • Review from

    1.0 star rating
    2/19/2012
    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.
  • Review from

    4.0 star rating
    10/30/2009
    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!
  • Review from

    3.0 star rating
    2/19/2010
    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.
  • Review from

    3.0 star rating
    9/18/2010 1 photo 12 check-ins here
    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.

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