Anyone who has tried to cancel a gym membership knows what a frustrating experience it can be. While a gym will happily process your credit card immediately upon signing up, the hoops you must jump through to cancel often leave a bad taste in the member’s mouth.
NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani, along with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DWCP), is attempting to change this process. On February 19th, the department sent letters to 187 gyms, citing subscription traps and hard-to-cancel memberships.
Misleading free trials, automatic renewals, and intentionally difficult cancellation processes are some of the targets of this project. This follows a more general executive order from Mayor Mamdani for the DWCP to crack down on these types of practices among all businesses in the city.
DWCP Commissioner Sam Levine stated – “Our citywide warning to gyms makes it clear that DCWP will not hesitate to take aggressive enforcement action against gyms using deceptive tactics that hurt consumers, as well as honest businesses playing by the rules.”
Hopefully this practice, currently limited to New York City, becomes commonplace nationwide. If Amazon or Netflix can be canceled with a few clicks, your local gym should too. Not only do gym-goers pay what can be high monthly membership fees, they also buy protein shakes, supplements, and apparel.
(Photo by John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images)
As the author of this article, this news story hit home. Just days ago I switched gyms and spoke with three different employees, each one unable to cancel the old membership. This was a gym I had attended for over a decade.
The good news is that momentum is building. The FTC finalized its “click to cancel” rule in 2024, requiring businesses to make cancellation as easy as signing up — a federal backstop that, combined with city-level enforcement like NYC’s, could finally force the industry’s hand.
The gym can be an intimidating place for someone new to fitness as well. When they hear horror stories about how hard it can be to get out of a membership, it makes the process even more daunting.
At its core, this is about trust. The fitness industry should be in the business of improving people’s lives — and that relationship starts and ends with transparency.
This story was originally published by Men’s Fitness on Feb 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men’s Fitness as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
