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At $3,600-a-year, the Equinox Printing House gym may sound outrageously pricey in a city with a gym on every corner.
But what sets the facility apart is its towering height, which — unlike cheapo, street-level sweat boxes — allows its monied members to soak up the sunset in its rooftop pool after an invigorating workout or practice yoga in a studio whose floor-to-ceiling windows reveal a skyline view, allowing the chosen few to feel as if they are literally levitating above the hustle and bustle of the city as they assume bhujangasana.
Or it would. But the elevator doesn’t work.
Page Six hears that, instead, the begrudgingly earth-bound members are left waiting in line to share the only workout equipment in the part of the facility that’s located on the ground floor, and have even been separated from their Range Rover keys when the hated lift goes out mid-session.
Meanwhile, the members — who reportedly include Clair Danes and Will Arnett — aren’t even allowed to walk up the stairs because of the building’s rules, alleged one ticked off client.
In a Reddit post titled “Printing House Elevator,” “How is it possible that the elevator at Printing House is broken so often? Today the elevator broke around ~6PM and per usual, people were stranded downstairs because their belongings (keys, jackets, etc.) were upstairs in the locker rooms.”
“The staff had no method in place to enable members to retrieve their items. The front desk said it could be up to an hour / did not know when we would be able to get our things,” they fumed, “Apparently, we are not allowed to use the stairs.”
This tension-inducing fix would be a perfect opportunity for the members to unwind by making use of the facility’s much ballyhooed “Zen suite” — except, alas, it’s upstairs.
Members have complained of classes being canceled because no one could get upstairs. Instagram/@equinox The location is known to draw a tony crowd. Instagram/@equinox Clients say they’re unable to get upstairs to get their keys out of their lockers. Instagram/@equinox Memberships are said to run about $300 per month. Instagram/@equinoxOne commenter wisecracked: “Someone can lower your things down with a rope-and-basket pulley, and they can make it a strength class.”
Other reviews of the pricey gym online include such comments as, “But seriously…the elevator. It hardly ever works. And when it does, in the time it takes to go from the ground floor to the top, you could legit run a half mile. This puts a massive, massive strain on the first floor staff and facilities and creates very overcrowded conditions on the ground floor, as well as cancelled classes.”
“Why are the elevators never working and why management doesn’t let us know?” another gym bunny frowned, the landscaped sun deck tantalizingly just beyond reach.
The gym is known for its rooftop pool and skyline views. Instagram/@equinox Clients are saying the elevator is unpredictable on Reddit. Instagram/@equinoxYet another member wrote: “We just were notified via email that the elevator will also be closed on Monday. Three full days with no elevator access. All Pilates/yoga classes have been cancelled for 3 days now — it’s absurd.”
Complaints about the elevator are scattered on Google Reviews and go back at least two years on Yelp.
There are Reddit pages dedicated to ragging on the facilities.
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A source close to the gym played down any drama, telling us, “Periodically they have stopped the elevators to do maintenance and service… There was one day I know of that they weren’t able to go to a higher floor, [but] they were able to accommodate the classes. It has not been that dramatic at all.”
The source alleged that the gym’s elevator has working smoothly up until “the past 3 or four months,” and that members can use the elevator in the Printing House residences.
Commenters have also taken umbrage with other amenities at the gym, but the source insisted they weren’t an issue. A rep did not comment.