After more than a week since 404 Fitness’s opening, students are showing continued enthusiasm for the new athletic facility. In place of Coles Sports Center, currently under renovation, the university has opened 404 Fitness.

Carly Stern, a freshman in CAS, said as she was leaving that she had enjoyed using the new facility.

“It’s really great, really clean,” Stern said. “It’s way better organized than the other gyms.”

The satisfaction with the condition of 404 Fitness seemed to resonate with CAS junior Zeenat Sattar. Sattar said convenience and location were the biggest factors on gym use.

“What I like about [404 Fitness] is that it’s really big,” Sattar said. “I like the community, which you don’t really find on campus.And that’s all you need: community, equipment, and convenience.”

About 10 blocks uptown from 404, the Palladium Athletic Facility has undergone changes to deal with the Cole’s closing. It now houses a varsity suite, located next to the swimming pool. The suite includes an equipment room, team meeting room, training room and a performance center.

According to Genesis Peña, a sophomore studying nursing who also works Palladium, there has been a decrease in the amount of people showing up to Palladium ever since the new gym opened.

“At the beginning it was always really packed,” Peña said. “I notice that ever since we opened the other gym, there’s been less people.”

CAS sophomore Osvaly Jimenez, another student worker, agreed. He also added that Palladium’s hours of operation also changed after Coles closed. Palladium now opens at 5:30 a.m. and closes at 11:30 p.m.

The change has been most noticeable for student athletes, like MCC major Julie Glover.

“We had more space [at Coles],” Glover said. As an NYU soccer player, Glover believes that 404 restricts the time and space for practice.

John Filak, a freshman who fences for NYU, agreed with Glover’s statement regarding Palladium’s smaller space.

“The space is very limited and shared, so we’re all very windowed,” Filak said. But in terms of the varsity suite, Filak said that it allows athletes like him to have exclusive access to training.

Lack of space seemed to be a trend for varsity athletes. Jason Bo, a junior studying economics, swims for NYU and noted the the pool in Palladium is shorter than in Coles. But varsity athletes do get priority in using the parts of Palladium, according to Bo.

“If people want to swim during our practice time, they’re not allowed to enter the pool,” Bo said. “They can only watch from outside.”

Despite the lack of time and space at Palladium, Glover said that the varsity suite provides a good training environment.

“We have a conference room,” Glover said. “Our varsity weight room is really nice, so we’ve got some benefits in moving. And it  could’ve been a lot less seamless.”

Email Yeho Hwang at [email protected].