With New Year’s resolutions fresh in our minds, the gym is a top contender for January fitspos and the like. As students it’s often difficult to find time and funding to make our fitness goals come true. NYU, being the generous school that it is (we’re disregarding tuition for a minute here), provides free access for students to the campus gyms. NYU has three options: 404 Fitness, Palladium and Brooklyn Athletic Facilities. Although I’m sure the Brooklyn location is up to the NYU standard, my classes and dorm are in Manhattan, so I can’t give you the scoop on that location.
404 Fitness is located at 404 Lafayette street, and is what your typical American gym – a huge space with countless choice of machines, cardio equipment and free weights. 404 is my personal preference, mostly because I’m interested in lifting weights and not other activities like rock-climbing, which Palladium offers (!!). 404 Fitness is definitely more of a conventional athletic space, with your usual cardio and weights equipment, although they do also have a turf area for things like sled pulls (ouch) or sprints (double ouch). Palladium, on the other hand, boasts a swimming pool, basketball court, rock-climbing wall on top of their cardio and weights sections. Regardless of your gym choice, one thing that will be hard to avoid is the crowd. NYU is a huge school with only three facilities for thousands of students. Peak times are a nightmare in both gyms with locker rooms that are completely packed and lines for some of the machines. Palladium is particularly bad during rush hour since it’s a smaller space to begin with; you’ll find yourself trying to maneuver around sweaty, grunting people just to get to the dumbbells. I’d recommend going outside of the peak hours, as soon as they open or around 11:00am.
OPENING TIMES
Palladium has far more flexible hours for those who want to be there before the rush, while 404 Fitness has later opening times and earlier closing times, which is unfortunate for those of us with crazy schedules.
404 Fitness:
Monday-Friday 7:30am-10:00pm
Saturday & Sunday 8:30am-8:00pm
Palladium Athletic Facility:
Monday-Friday 6:30am-12:00am
Saturday & Sunday 8:30am-9:00pm
CLEANLINESS
Overall, both facilities are pretty clean. Both 404 and Palladium have cleaning sprays and paper towels spread throughout, and I’ve personally never seen either facility look dirty. The locker rooms in both places are spacious and have showers that seem in perfectly good condition. What I will say, however, is that because of how small the Palladium weights and cardio sections are, it can get a little too sweaty and smelly for me.
SPACE
The most commonly used areas at both gyms are the cardio and weights sections. At 404, the area is a lot more spacious, so when you’re trying to do lunges you won’t step on you neighbor. Palladium, on the other hand, is not so great space-wise. In the Palladium cardio area you’re practically elbow to elbow on the treadmills, same in the free-weights section. If you get a little self conscious or claustrophobic in smaller gyms, definitely opt for 404.
CLASSES
Palladium doesn’t offer any classes you can sign up to, but most of the NYU teams train here. Unfortunately if you’re not a part of the teams, most of these areas are off-limits. You can, however, use the basketball courts and the swimming pool. 404 Fitness offers classes and club meetings, such as the Intra-Fit club, in the facility. Some of the classes they offer include ballet, judo, and spinning.
Bottom line is, if you like specific sports (i.e. swimming or basketball) as your preferred form of exercise, go to Palladium. If you prefer lifting weights and traditional cardio, visit 404.