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Home
Homebound New
Yorkers battle for
once overlooked
building amenities
By ShiVANi VoRAM
AT T Reasinger
was teed off.
The 27-year-old
occupational
therapist with a
95 handicap had
reserved the
golf simulator
in his luxury Upper West Side
rental building’s multi-purpose
amenity space for 8 p.m. during
a weekday in early November.
But when he walked into the
room, clubs in tow, a man in his
30s stood in front of the simula-
tor swinging away. Five minutes
later, yet another resident
walked in toting his clubs and
declared that the 8 p.m. slot was,
in fact, his.
“Apparently all three of us of
had booked the same time,” said
Reasinger. Ultimately, I ended up
waiting until the other guys were
done before I got my chance.”
It’s the same story right now
throughout NYC’s highly amen-
itized towers: As buildings re-
open previously underutilized
and underappreciated building
perks are becoming hot-ticket
attractions. Residents, who are
working from their apartments,
are suddenly vying to use their
in-house gyms, pools and loun-
ges — especially as building
managers make amenities avail-
able on a reservations-only basis
for social distancing reasons.
“We have a beautiful patio
that I love spending time in, and
it was always empty,” said a resi-
dent of an Upper East Side
building, who asked to remain
anonymous “Now it’s become
really popular, and you have to
sign up to be out there.”
Data from developer and land-
lord RXR Realty illustrates the
dramatic spike in competition
for amenities. Across the com-
pany’s portfolio — at buildings
like 475 Clermont Ave. in FortGreene — in-building gyms,
kids’ play rooms, roof terraces
and movie theaters saw an aver-
age 290 percent jump in use be-
tween August and October.
Broker Dolly Lenz, who runs
an eponymous real estate com-
pany, said that historically, peo-
ple in the city have rarely usedthe amenities in their buildings,
even if they rival ones at five-
star resorts.
“They typically belong to an
outside gym and don’t socialize
in the common spaces,” she
said. “With COVID, that’s all
changed. A lot of places in the
city are still closed, people areBefore
the pandemic,
the golf simulator
in Matt Reasinger’s
building was rarely
used. Now it’s
triple booked.working from home and dying
to get out, so amenities are in
high demand with everyone
clamoring to get a turn.”
Lenz said that many of her cli-
ents who own multi-million-
dollar apartments have griped
that they can’t find open slots
for the pools and gyms in theirbuildings. One wealthy client, a
venture capitalist who divides
his time between New York and
Silicon Valley, is so irked at the
thought of competing for a gym
time that Lenz’s team locks in
reservations for him whenever
he’s in town.
Priscilla Holloway, a broker
with Douglas Elliman, has also
seen firsthand how building
amenities went from over-
sights to battle grounds.
“When I showed apartments
pre-COVID, I would encourage
my clients to see the amenities
[but] they only wanted to see
the unit itself,” she said. “Now,
amenities are top of their lists.”
Gyms, a common feature in
upscale high-rises, are a partic-
ular sore point for many ameni-
ty-obsessed residents.
Christopher Rim, 25, the CEO
of the college consulting firm
Command Education, rarely
availed himself of the gym in
his luxury building in Tribeca
before the pandemic.
“I belonged to another gym
where I had a trainer and didn’t
really care about what mySee Amenities on Page 34Competition for perks
at luxe towers, like 475
Clermont Ave. in Fort
Greene, is now red hot.