Equinox Fitness is launching a new brand of gyms called Blink Fitness. Opening Friday, Blink Fitness will be a cheaper gym with fees starting at $26 a month, compared to $188 at Equinox.
The 17,000-square-food space is located at the old Tower Records store in Manhattan. Staff will watch over patrons using the 160 pieces of cardio equipment and weights. Blink does not have a front desk staff. Instead, members check in at a kiosk.
The idea behind Blink was to make fitness affordable for a wider audience.
“We want to bring fitness to millions of people in need,” said Dos Condon, the vice president of Blink, who dreamed up the idea while working at an Equinox branch in California.
“So many people are not in good health. We are passionate about that as New Yorkers,” he said. “It’s affordable fitness.”
Blink gyms in Yonkers and Paramus, N.J., are also opening Friday. Condon said more will be built in the outer boroughs and Long Island during the next year.
Information from The New York Daily News contributed to this article.