Hey, have you seen those gyms where you enter through a tube?
At the 60 or so PureGyms that have sprung up around New York and New Jersey, members must tap their phones to enter a narrow plastic pod. Once they are in, the door opens on the other side, and only then do they gain access to the gym. When they leave, they must repeat the process.
Although this type of door has been used at PureGyms in Europe, it is less familiar stateside, leading to some confusion, some complaining, and even some Fire Department summonses.
To PureGym, which bought the national chain Blink Fitness about a year ago and is transitioning the gyms to its brand, the doors “ensure only our members can access the gym, and we know who’s in the gym at any given time,” said Clive Chesser, the company’s chief executive.
But to some gym members, the unfamiliar can be upsetting.
Emily Fish, a 30-year-old tutor who belongs to the location in Park Slope, Brooklyn, described the doors as “a surprisingly negative way to enter a space of any kind,” and said she was concerned about getting stuck inside of them. “I would love to come to the gym without my phone, but I can’t, because I need it to get in and out,” she added.
And then there’s the predicament of what happens if your phone loses battery power. “Once, my phone died, and I couldn’t get out,” said Orlando Martinez, 40, a bartender, who also frequents the Park Slope location. Mr. Martinez said the pods hadn’t worked for him on multiple occasions.
(The company is offering clients the opportunity to purchase a key fob as an alternative to tapping in with their phones.)
The company says the doors help it provide 24/7 service at many gyms while also keeping the price of membership down by automating the sign-in, sign-out process. The doors allow an employee who would otherwise be manning the front desk to do other tasks, for example. But gymgoers also expressed concern that although the gyms have emergency buttons as well as security cameras that are always monitored, at some points late at night no employees are present.
“If there is a fire or some violence, how can I escape from here?’” asked Austin Kong, 43, a software engineer from Brooklyn. “I even thought, ‘Maybe I’ll break the window.’”
The company said that every location has an emergency non-pod exit, which can also be used by people in wheelchairs.
Over the last two months, the New York Fire Department has found violations at seven PureGym locations, as reported in the New York City news site Hell Gate. PureGym, the department said, “failed to maintain means of egress free from obstructions or impediments,” as well as committed lesser transgressions like not installing proper exit signage or fixing a burned-out exit light.
“We are 100 percent sure that our procedures and processes are entirely safe,” said Mr. Chesser, the company’s chief executive. “In particular, the ability to exit the gym is entirely compliant with requirements and entirely safe and straightforward. We are entirely confident that will be recognized.”
Those lurking behind the anonymity of the internet posted additional gripes on Reddit and X about the egress policy, including about waits to get in or out of the gym and the smell inside the pods.
A mildly claustrophobic reporter on a recent visit to the location in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan found that the pods worked smoothly, although the brief instant when the door closed behind him before the one opened in front was a trifle disquieting. And the emergency exit opened with ease.
The company said it is also adding more pods in some locations to accelerate the process.
Mr. Chesser said PureGym was trying to be different from other New York gyms people by offering 24/7 service, somewhat lower fees and shorter-term contracts that aren’t difficult to break. “It’s as easy to leave as it is to join,” Mr. Chesser said.
As with many new innovations, the system will eventually feel less alien. And maybe some of the grumbling will fade, too.
Remi Kumar, a 28-year-old gymgoer from Brooklyn, said that because the doors were see-through, the space felt less confined than it might otherwise.
“I just imagine I’m getting beamed up in Star Trek, and then it’s all good,” he said.
Victor Mather, who has been a reporter and editor at The Times for 25 years, covers sports and breaking news.
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