Blink Fitness (PureGym) — Local services in New York

“134 ml of sweat per square foot”

Blink NoHo is a no frills, low cost gym facility in Manhattan that doesn’t adopt the “gym for the people” ideology of Planet Fitness: that is simply what it is. College kids, young professionals, old professionals, retirees, hipsters, socialites, chatters, athletes, and people serious about training all frequent this free for all fitness center in a chaotic but magically civil manner. Anyone who can afford the month to month $20 fee is free to shed some sweat. Small and basic locker rooms have a few showers and lockers but you’ll have more luck grabbing a day use locker in the foyer area.

There is a LOT of equipment crammed into this single floor facility: in order of descending quantity there are treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes, many with their own TV or an overhead screen to share. During peak hours (Monday-Thursday 5-9 pm; I am definitely now a morning warrior) there is a chance you may have to wait for a cardio machine. Two smith machines and one a plate leg press will let you stack about 600 lbs max but you may have to wait for plates and a full wall of dumbbells and 5 multi position benches get cycled more than a cab during rush hour. The sanitary wipes are mostly stocked but are essentially ineffective at wiping down more than one machine and only 1 out of 5 people take the time to do so. An array of weight lifting equipment allows you to work out every muscle group but doing supersets is essentially impossible due to the wait and physical separation of certain stations. A stretching/callisthenic area rounds out the gym and people, spaced a few feet apart do yoga, medicine balls exercises, and MMA moves. The lack of rules and regulation is what simultaneously makes Blink great and a hassle: you can do whatever you want and no one will bother you as long you don’t bother them. I’ve seen a guy setup his notebook so he can do P90X, sparring partners in the corner, and a gymnast set up Olympic rings to do push-pull sets. If you have no idea what to do, guide cards and personal fitness trainers (first sessions is free?) can get you on the right path and standard machine placards will make sure you are somewhat doing the exercise correctly. So although it doesn’t have the space luxury or features of other Manhattan gyms, Blink will help you meet your goals without the threat of a lunk alarm but at the cost of being a wilderness free for all.

Since there are so many ways to exercise I won’t list what you can do. Instead here are some limitations of Blink NoHo and what I’ve done to modify:

No free barbells so you can’t really do cross fit style clean jerks. The smith and a few machines let you work chest and squats while the cross cable station has a multi height pulley that you can attach either a straight and ez curl bar for biceps. No kettle bells. Pshaw, just use dumb bells or plates. But be careful where you swing those things! No T bar row or free barbell (ghetto row) but there is a low row and a lat row machine. No calf raise (standing or sitting) machine. There is a calf extension machine and you could wait for the smith but I just use one of the two seated leg press machines. No pool, sauna, hot tub, masseuse, ROM machines, climbing walls, spin bikes, or band/strap hang stations.

Value: 10/10 for $20 you can do almost whatever you want Cleanliness: 5/10 for the ineffective wipes but the staff constantly cleans Chaos Factor: 7/10 for the free for all, proletariat attitude...

My trainer and I were in the weights section of the establishment when the lights suddenly cut off. One of the staff members had intentionally switched them off, even though we still in the middle of a session. A male voice yelled out “Yo! We’re closed!” which took us aback as we were unaware of the shortened weekend hours. My trainer and I had to put away the weights onto the rack and navigate half of the gym in near complete darkness. We were concerned as we did not want to misplace the weights and have it fall on us, or trip on anything and injure ourselves.

As we approached the front desk on our way to the locker room, another young lady (who I assumed was a manager, Hispanic/Latinx, mid 20s to early 30s, plenty of tattoos) said “Listen, you gotta go. We’re closed.” We said that we understood, but did not appreciate the tone in her voice as she was very aggressive. As we were getting dressed, the same young man who yelled earlier (black man, early to mid 20s, wearing glasses) walked in and started checking all of the lockers making sure that they were clear, and slammed every locker door that he checked. It felt like he was trying to intimidate us and make us uncomfortable. When we left the locker room and we were walking toward the door, we asked what the operating hours were and the woman said “We close at seven, at seven the building is supposed to be empty”. We asked for her name and she refused to give it, so we left.

I understand that as a business, you have set business hours. I also understand that your employees work very hard, and their quality of life is important to them. I myself am a store manager at a major sportswear retailer. My team and I like to close our business as quickly and efficiently as possible, but NEVER at the expense of safety or providing quality customer service. I feel that there was a better way to clear your establishment without putting your patrons in harm’s way or disrespecting them. In the meantime, I DO NOT RECOMMEND...

*2/11/25: Music start time is now 5:50 meaning that members spend 50 minutes from opening feeling like they shouldn’t be there yet.

*5/30/24: someone please tell the employee to stop eating breakfast in the locker room. It’s weird and gross.

*5/9/24: 6AM, you have a staff room, right? There is an employee who routinely hangs out in the locker room eating breakfast and watching videos on his phone. You have probably the smallest locker room in the city. What is wrong with this guy? Tell him to use the lounge instead of further crowding the space. *11/27: 6:30AM, toilet paper in only one stall, soap in only one shower, staff scrolling phones at front desk. Get it together. *5/16: You are raising the price of towel service to $15 a month, yet right now there are no towels available. I’m paying 50% more for a service that is unavailable. You suck. *3/21/23: 5:45 and the music still isn’t on. *3/15/23: Oops! Someone overslept this morning! 5:15 and doors still locked, lights off, members waiting in the cold. Be better.

*Update 1/17: the towel situation seems to have improved. These days the music is being turned on very late, though. Sometimes not til after 6Am.

You need to keep towels in stock. If members are paying extra for this service, then you should never run out. No excuses.

I’m reading a lot of negative reviews about Blink billing policy and not about this actual location. This Blink is spacious and well-organized. Staff are very friendly, and speak to you not just at check-in, but also while you’re on the floor. Someone is always cleaning here. This Blink is completely above ground, which I consider an asset. Also, they have a water bottle filler. In the locker room, the toilets aren’t directly across from the sinks, and that offers a little...