5 things you need to know about the new Equinox at Brookfield Place

Once One World Trade Center became the home of tons of chic companies (ahem, Condé Nast), we had a feeling the surrounding area would draw chic businesses, namely fitness studios and healthy food spots. And the neighborhood is already getting warmed up: Juice Press just opened, Lululemon is preparing a nearby location, and last week, Equinox opened its doors to downtown’s fitness finest for hot yoga, circuit training with a river view, and tons of cardio options.

The upscale gym’s splashy new location at Brookfield Place—also home to Hudson Eats—is catering to the work hard, workout harder corporate crowd of its neighbors; there’s a tunnel from One World Trade Center to Brookfield Place, and a grab-and-go cafe serving things like Pressed juices.

Here are five more things you need to know about the new club, and how it stacks up against other Equinox locations throughout the city. Prepare to be jealous.

1. The view alone is worth getting out of bed for. If you’ve ever met up with a friend at Hudson Eats, the gorgeous views of the river sticks with you. Short of running the Hudson River path (and good luck with that in this feels-like-negative-fifteen-degree weather), you’d be hard pressed to find a workout location in the city that looks this good. One wall of the club, right by a majority of the weight training equipment, overlooks the river, and you can catch some glimpses of the water from the treadmills and ellipticals.

2. All the buzzy classes are offered here—barre, hot yoga, and Pursuit, the new cycling program. While hot yoga isn’t entirely unique to this location (the Bryant Park club also offers it), it’s certainly a perk. And Brookfield Place is also one of a few NYC Equinox locations, and the only one downtown, to offer barre classes. Equinox’s splashy new cycling program is also at this location.

3. The locker room is incredibly spa-like. The showers are big, lined with marble, and have stools in them to hold your stuff while you rinse off with Kiehl’s products.

4. There are 95 cardio machines, which is about the same number as they have at the 19th Street and Printing House locations. What does this mean? No waiting for a machine. (Okay, very slim chance of waiting.) Plus, each elliptical and treadmill also comes with a personal TV, putting an end to the CNN and Bravo channel wars on shared TVs.

5. The lounge is straight out of a design magazine. “The Brookfield Place location is inspired by luxury yacht design and the minimalist painters from the 1950s who lived and created art in old sailboat factories in lower Manhattan,” says Aaron Richter, Equinox’s vice president of design. —Molly Gallagher

For more information, visit www.equinox.com