Condo Board Sues Equinox Gym Over Loud Instructors

Every co-op and condo board dreads to hear about a noise complaint between neighbors. Let us count the usual suspects: loud music, bawling children, all-night parties, high heels on hardwood, barking dogs and, of course, rambunctious sex. To this list of old reliables we can now add an unlikely newcomer: the gym instructor who thinks he, or she, is a drill sergeant.

The condo board at the 146-unit Printing House condominium in the West Village has filed a lawsuit on behalf of unit-owner Michael Pavlakos, whose downstairs neighbor, the luxury Equinox Hudson Street fitness center, is driving him to distraction, the New York Post reports.

“I am able to tell which instructor is running the class because each instructor’s voice and commands can be heard through the floor,” Pavlokos claims in court papers. “Indeed, it is almost as if I am in the exercise studio, not a floor above in my home. Overly eager Equinox class instructors turn up their microphones to their highest volume levels and scream and yell their motivational encouragement. The particular song is easily identifiable, and I can even follow along with the lyrics. Many of the exercise routines performed in these classes include precision jumping, running and jogging so that upwards of 30 people jump, land, jog and run at precisely the same time.”

It doesn’t, allegedly, stop there. The lawsuit claims Equinox’s ninth- through 10th-floor pool and sauna area has leaked into apartments 15 times over the past two years, including two incidents when Equinox overfilled its pool and the overflow leaked into the eighth-floor hallways and residences below.

In a statement only a lawyer could love, Equinox exec Jeff Weinhaus denied the allegations: “While we are operating in accordance with our permitted use and in compliance with all laws, we continue to address all issues diligently.”