PureGym’s entry and exit pods flagged by New York City’s fire department for safety concerns

The New York City Fire Department has issued dozens of violations against seven PureGym locations for failing to comply with the standard that exit doors from its pods used to access the gym must remain operable without the use of an electronic device.

PureGym has installed new doors following the UK-based company’s $121 million acquisition and renovation of the Blink Fitness chain. filed for bankruptcy in 2024. Following renovations that affected dozens of former Blink facilities in New York and New Jersey, PureGym has implemented a new floor plan and equipment, as well as 24/7 access, at most locations. But gym-goers encountered another step in their workout: entry and exit modules that left some frustrated.

The new system allows users to download the PureGym app and scan a QR code in order to pass through the cylindrical plexiglass doors and enter the gym. Once in the pod, the customer has no agency until the doors open on the other side.

The FDNY confirmed to CBS News in an email that it visited seven PureGym locations across the city in December and January and issued violations and summonses to four locations in Brooklyn, two in Queens and one in Manhattan. The FDNY said these gyms failed to produce a state-approved floor and seating plan and omitted new “scanning pods” that visitors face upon entering and exiting the original floor plans. Gyms also have inadequate exit signage, the FDNY said.

PureGym told CBS News that “[w]We note FDNY violations and work with them to ensure all outstanding issues are resolved. ” He claimed that his gyms in New York were designed and validated by a licensed architect and that the exits complied with the current fire code.

“At PureGym, the safety of our members is our primary responsibility,” the company said in a statement. “All of our gyms in New York have been designed and validated by our licensed architect and the exits comply with current fire code. The pods are not part of the emergency exit protocol and in the event of a fire or other evacuation, they would not be used.”

“Each gym is equipped with a separate door that is clearly signed and complies with the American Disabilities Act. It has a push bar opening and is how members would evacuate in the event of a fire,” PureGym added. He said exiting through the ADA doors is always an available option if a member cannot exit through a pod for any reason.

However, violations listed by the FDNY at four of the seven locations indicate the gym did not meet the standard that exit doors must remain functional without the use of an electronic device, such as a cell phone. Firefighters noted that it is an offense for customers to need “special knowledge,” such as the app or QR codes, to exit.

“It puts me in danger,” said Nick Bohm, a 24-year-old who previously went to Blink Fitness several times a week to stay in shape. Over the summer, Bohm’s regular gym sessions were disrupted due to the renovation. Bohm said he continued to work out in the converted PureGym for convenience and low cost, but now he’s having a different experience. “The only advantage is the 24 hours, but the whole process is much more boring,” he told CBS News in a text message.

“You literally can’t go to the gym without a phone,” Bohm said. “They make it as awkward as possible.”

Julia Martin, 24, has been attending the transformed PureGym in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood for two years. “It’s really dangerous in an emergency,” she said of the entry and exit system.

“The pods are very slow…If there was an emergency in the gym, people wouldn’t be able to evacuate and a possibly minor emergency could become much worse,” she told CBS News in a text message.

Martin also said she liked how the pods allowed the gym to stay open longer. “It’s nice to be able to go anytime,” she said, adding that she misses the small interactions with front-desk staff that fostered a sense of community. “The front desk staff were always so friendly and said, ‘Have a great workout!’…The pods almost make it feel more clinical.

PureGym launched the entry and exit modules in the UK before offering them in its US gyms. Private equity firm KKR invested more than £300 million in PureGym in 2021 and has expanded the franchise globally with locations in Europe and Saudi Arabia, according to a press release.

More than half of the 56 PureGyms in New York and New Jersey are already equipped with pods, PureGym said in its statement to CBS News. “We will continue to install modules through the first quarter of 2026 until every location provides 24/7 access to fitness, the demand for which continues to grow.

Customer Gabby Kalomiris said she got stuck in one of the cabins last month in Bed-Stuy. In a video now viewed nearly a million times on TikTok, she films herself stuck in the exit pod due to an apparent malfunction, banging on the glass before another practitioner scans the code to let her out.

“I knew this was going to happen. I knew I was going to get stuck in this thing one day,” she says in the video. “There was no one at that office.”