A Tribeca Equinox fitness club says its landlord is overreacting to complaints some tenants have with noise and is unfairly trying to boot it from the second floor of the luxury building.
In a new Manhattan Supreme Court suit that seeks to block the eviction, the club calls its branch at 50 Murray St. a “first-class” facility that is more of a draw for tenants than a distraction.
“The Equinox Tribeca Club was designed with a wealth of windows, an expansive workout floor and beautiful fitness studios, which were intended to reflect the high energy and fast pace of the surrounding financial community,” attorney Lawrence Rosen says in court papers.
“Basically the landlord is complaining about normal and customary noise coming out of the health club,” Rosen said.
“When people work out, they lift weights, they ride bicycles, they throw balls, [but] this isn’t a situation where everybody’s complaining,” he added, citing complaints from only a handful of upstairs neighbors.
Equinox — which even gives residents special discounts and cites hundreds of tenants becoming members since the club opened in 2002 — says it has installed thicker floors in the weight room to further dampen sound.
The rental building’s own Web site advertises the gym as a “major draw.”
But last month, the new landlord, Clipper Equity, which bought the 21-story building in December 2014, sent Equinox an eviction notice citing noise and vibrations.
A rep for the building owner did not respond to a request for comment.