Derek Jeter discusses his new venture - a Derek Jeter-branded 24 Hour Fitness Club in the Madison Square Park area; photograph by Tien Mao From a new NYC sports club bearing his name to the last season at Yankees Stadium, Derek Jeter has a busy year ahead of him. Gothamist asked the Yankees captain about his partnership with 24 Hour Fitness to bringing 24 Hour Fitness - Derek Jeter gyms to the city and......

Not only are New York gyms poorly run, but the establishments that are supposed to make you healthier are doing the opposite. The Daily News reports on the germ-ridden gyms of the city in a fairly unsurprising article. The paper spot-checked Dolphin Fitness, Equinox, Crunch, NYSC and YMCAs around New York and "uncovered potentially harmful bacteria lingering all over exercise mats, bicycles, drinking fountains and other surfaces. The equipment posing the highest risks are cardiovascular......

New Year's resolutions probably started out as some sort of gym propaganda to up membership. Every new year, fitness centers worldwide bulk up their ad campaigns, promote "deals" and promise a better body in just months. With so many options, how does one choose a suitable establishment in which to "get physical"? The Post points to Consumer Reports' new list of gym ratings...and it's slim pickins! Bally Total Fitness scored the lowest with a......

While Williamsburg may have a lot to offer in the way of bars, restaurants and luxury condos...it's been lacking in one area: gyms. It looks like soon enough the void will be filled, enter Soma Health Club. A call inquiring about fees has not been returned yet, but expect to pay more than you would at the Metropolitan Pool & Fitness Center. Housed in an old theater located at 107 South 6th Street here's what......

Filmmaker Ethan Coen has left his big brother behind and written three short plays all by himself. Called Almost an Evening, the triptych will be produced by the Atlantic Theater Company with a terrific cast that includes Elizabeth Marvel, who was riveting in Ivo van Hove’s unforgettable revival of Hedda Gabler, and Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham. The plays “unsuccessfully tackle important questions. In Waiting, someone waits somewhere for quite some time. In Four......

Who says the Wii is only for the young - or those dressed as Luigi? The Carter Burden Center for the Aging on the Upper East Side had a Senior Fitness Day this past Friday Friday that gave seniors a chance to play Wii baseball, as well as Brain Age 2 (photograph below), the Nintendo DS game that has various ways to challenge people's memory and keep people sharp. The Carter Burden Center for......

The 22-year-old St. John's University student who brought a loaded .50 caliber rifle to the Queens campus on Wednesday was arraigned in his hospital room at Bellevue yesterday. Communicating via a video link to the Queens Criminal Court, Omesh Hiraman appeared "frail in his blue pajamas" (NY Times), while he "hands shook and he "rocked back and forth" (Daily News), but seemed lucid during the proceedings. Judge Deborah Stevens Modica ordered that he be given......

End September with (the Kelly Ripa-approved!) Ecofest this Sunday, the East Coast's largest environmental event. In it's 19th year it continues to showcase all aspects of the green movement from technology to lifestyle, and even fashion. The fest will feature:• Launch of the newest fleet of Chevrolet's and Volkswagen's fuel cell SUVs and hybrids in a first-ever preview • Education sessions with green thought leaders • For kids, eco-education through arts, crafts and music •......

A spin class member at an Upper East Side gym became so enraged at the vocal exercise style of a nearby man that he got off his bike and threw the man against a wall earlier this month. Stuart Sugarman was the victim and the New York Post reports that the 48-year-old hedge fund manager admits that he was probably the noisiest guy at his gym. "He grunted a lot, admittedly. He war-whooped. He hollered,......

Before we dive into the Times' weddings and celebrations announcements, we'd like to note that the Styles section has an article for guests thinking about buying tableware gifts for upcoming weddings. The article suggests buying colorful accessory plates and bowls for couples who may have registered for white-only dinnerware. We're fans of white-only dinnerware, because it's very versatile, it doesn't have to be too expensive, and it can be dressed up or down. If you......

Today, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will be kicking off another year of "Lighten Up Brooklyn" with a walk around Brooklyn Heights. "Lighten Up Brooklyn" was started a few years ago to encourage Brooklynites to lose weight and make their lifestyles healthier. And since he had stents put into his arteries last year, Lighten Up Brooklyn is a big deal to Markowitz. From his office's press release:Markowitz, who underwent a stent procedure last summer,......

One would think that in this white hot real estate market, New York condos just sell themselves. Apparently not. Free commuter daily AMNY takes a look at the fringe benefits that developers employ to entice those well off enough to buy into Manhattan's real estate promised land. Laundry rooms and a concierge are yesterday's news.So how do buildings decide whether to offer a Turkish bath over a bowling alley? "Research is conducted through competitive analysis,......

The New York City council is allocating a cool $4 million to combat childhood obesity - which works out to about a dollar per extra pound or something like that. According to a June 2003 DOH report, 43% of elementary school children in the City are overweight or obese. The cash will provide for education and physical fitness programs. Thank your City Council member here. The New York Times reported yesterday that the International AIDS......

Thanks to a donation from Target, the city will be distributing free cycling helmets throughout all five boroughs in coming weeks, as part of a program called "GET FIT-TED." That's not an admonition for some guy named Ted to get in shape; it has to do with a dual emphasis on properly fitting cyclists with their helmets and encouraging physical fitness among New Yorkers through cycling and other outdoor activities. Dept. of Transportation commissioner Jannete......

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti......

After hearing from concerned residents and noticing the problem ourselves, we've been following the Racked report on a lack of gyms in Williamsburg with interest. There is the Metropolitan Pool and Fitness Center, located on Bedford and Metropolitan. According to the Voice, it offers: "two gym rooms and a three-lane, 25-yard pool." Racked also got an email informing them of a new gym which will be opening soon on the south side near Graham Avenue......

In a real shocker, a City Health Department report released earlier this week shares that people living in Harlem have fewer healthy food options than their counterparts in other boroughs. The full report, available here, found that despite Harlem's many bodegas and corner stores, they were half as likely to carry low-fat dairy products and far less likely to offer as large a selection of vegetables as a grocery store on the Upper East Side.......

The Rapture Kill at Coachella Sure, it always feels a little silly to travel 3,000 miles across the country to see a local band play to a crowd 10 times the size of what they normally play for. The Rapture, however, thrive in this type of atmosphere and took the chance to really show off how great a live band they've become. Following a disappointing set by fellow dance punk icons LCD Soundsystem to cap......

Studying for the LSATs is nothing compared to stripping down for Playboy TV! The Daily News reports that Adriana Dominguez is getting a lot of attention for a naked romp that is circulating on the Internet. Dominiguez posed for Playboy TV's "Naked Happy Girls" - episode, "Rock Star and the Lawyer" (here's a link - definitely NSFW) - where she gets spanked and poses with gavels among other things. Though the show aired in January,......

The Department of Justice is suing the city's Department of Transportation, but not over traffic or accidents. The lawsuit claims the DOT has never ever hired a female bridge painter. Apparently the DOT has not given a civil service exam for bridge painting since 1992 and the DOJ claims the city has "evaded" the process by hiring temporary painters. From the city's Civil Service website:The City fills many of its positions through the Civil Service......

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a "fall victim down a hole" on 2nd Ave at 65th Street, a "fall victim off a bridge" in Queens, and a riot at a D train station in Brooklyn. Paging Copyranter: "Quite possibly the best subway ad EVER!" Convicted child-murderer Joel Steinberg was ordered to pay $15 million to the birth-mother of his illegally adopted daughter Lisa. The city has already paid Michele Launders $985k for its failure......

If getting in shape is one of your New Year’s resolutions, there is a fitness program which instead of asking you to pick one gym location, hands you free passes for what seems like just about every fitness club in NYC, for a $75 fee. The Fitness Access and Yoga PassBooks, subsidized by the American Health and Fitness Alliance, were developed to encourage people to exercise. The program operates in NYC, Chicago, and LA. While......

Lawsuits claiming hostile work environments have now hit the gym. A group of janitors claim that while working at Equinox fitness club locations, the Post excitedly details, they were "exposed inappropriate, lewd, embarrassing and humiliating sexual behavior and activities occurring in the showers, saunas, steam and [men's] locker rooms." The group of janitors say had to clean up after encounters at the Columbus Circle, TriBeCa, East 63rd Street, Wall Street, and Greenwich Avenue locations. And......

Fascinating story in the NY Times about a man's gym membership being canceled after he grunted at a Planet Fitness gym. Apparently national chain Planet Fitness is trying to crack down on behavior, and grunting is a violation of club policy! While the gym's manager says she mainly revoked Albert Argibay's membership because he was being hostile, she did admit that grunting wasn't welcome. A sportsclub trade group notes that the fastest growing segment of......

Yeesh, there sure are a lot of new movies out this weekend. Choose wisely and you will be well rewarded. In a shameless bid for our "penguins are cute" bias, Warner Brothers releases the animated Happy Feet about singing and tap dancing Emperor Penguins. If only furry black and white birds who rap to Stevie Wonder beats weren't so darn adorable! If you're still in Arrested Development withdrawal, the hilarious Will Arnett stars in Bob......

Haverford graduate, Parks Department project manager, and Greenpoint resident David Langlieb is under fire for writing an essay about his neighborhood in his alumni magazine. According to the Daily News, the essay, ripe with complaints about the old-school Polish residents and self-deprecation about not being an Ivy League graduate, has incensed the Polish American Congress and Councilman David Yassky, who said, "my eyes pretty much popped out of my head when I read this."......

Piggyskin Life may not be a spectator sport, but Gothamist Health definitely prefers to leave the bone-crushing pain of football to the (much, much bigger) professionals. But if you're settling into the sofa ass-groove that you've spent so much time perfecting for some pigskin action this afteronoon and still want to get some exercise in, check out these Fitness Tips for Armchair Quarterbacks from Nubella, our favorite nutrition blog. We particularly enjoyed such ridiculous gut......

The Daily News revealed the top ten ideas in the running for the redevelopment of Governor's Island. Only 25 proposals were submitted, and while the other ideas may still be considered, these the ones the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation is "concentrating" on:Nickelodeon Recreation/Miller Global Properties: Development of a Nickelodeon Family Suites themed resort complex. The company presently runs a similar operation in Orlando, near Disney World. Federal Development LLC/City University of New......

Is there a place where you can view membership rates for area gyms? None of their websites mention anything. We checked around, and were not able to find any one site that listed membership rates for gyms around the city. Even most of the clubs' web sites themselves don't list their prices in hopes of getting potential members into the gym where they can dazzle them with the latest equipment and current specials - if......