Murray Hill Needs A Yoga Studio

Hatha Yoga Video - Revolving Lunge Pose, originally uploaded by myyogaonline.

This weekend I had to walk down to Gramercy (18th Street!) to take a yoga class. The people at the front desk were happy to see me, especially after three years. Since there is no yoga studio in Murray Hill, it was the closet place to go.

Which got me thinking over the weekend: Why is there no yoga in Murray Hill, and by extension, the Turtle Bay/Sutton area? The area is full of young professionals. Most of Murray Hill is under 30, particularly among females. There are three gyms -- Crunch, The New York Sports Club and Club H Fitness, but everyone knows that gym yoga sucks.

Making money off this would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Women *love* yoga. Even the biggest elliptical addict needs to tone her arms and inner thighs. Most people don't want all the chanting and spiritual mumbo jumbo either -- they just want a physical class where they feel nice and tight afterwards.

From a real estate standpoint, there is plenty of commercial space available along that stretch of the East Side. So why have none of the big guys -- such as Sal Anthony or Yoga Works, jumped on it?