If you haven't heard of WeWork, well, you probably haven't heard about coworking at all. The coworking giant is everywhere you could possibly want to be in NYC. In a lot of ways, they’re kind of like McDonalds — just like a BigMac tastes the same in Beijing as is Midtown, most WeWorks have a similar vibe.
But, what if you don’t like BigMacs? Although WeWork calls the city home, there are lots of alternatives out there that should sate just about any coworking appetite.
The Yard operates seven spaces, with plans to open another five in the next year, including a new expansion into Washington D.C. Their spaces are clean and functional, and instead of aiming solely at millennial startups, the company looks for professionals in industries like architecture, real estate, marketing, advertising, design, art, publishing, finance and film.
Locations: The Yard has three locations in Flatiron, as well as a location in Greenpoint, the Upper West Side and a brand new space in the Financial District. They also have a location in Philadelphia.
Cost: Prices depend on which location you want to work at, but a hot desk in Brooklyn will run you $275 a month.
Croissant is kind of like ClassPass for coworking. Instead of purchasing a membership at one coworking space, a Croissant membership grants you access to 52 spaces around the country — and that number is constantly growing. All you do is check in at the front desk with the Croissant app and you get a hot desk at any participating space.
Locations: There are currently 52 participating coworking spaces around the country, with over half of those located in New York City. A Croissant membership will get you access to a coworking space in most Manhattan neighborhoods, including Harlem, as well as Brooklyn, Queens and Hoboken.
Cost: The price depends on the sort of membership you want, but they start at $39 a month for 10 hours of access and run as high as $299 for an unlimited membership.
Green Desk was actually started by the founders of WeWork. But, the founders sold it off, and it still exists today. They have buildings all over in Brooklyn and Queens, and the spaces themselves can be pretty different from one another. It’s worth shopping around to find the right one for you — especially because many of them are located close to one another.
Locations: Green Desk operates 10 spaces in the hipper parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
Cost: Green Desk is one of the most affordable options, with a hot desk in their common areas running $150 a month and a dedicated desk starting at $299.
Galvanize isn’t a traditional coworking space, but rather a technology skills school that happens to offer some coworking space on the side. The Denver-based company offers everything from GalvanizeU, a 12 month, full-time, in-person accredited Masters of Science in Data Science, to skills workshops in things like Javascript and Python. Their campus in Soho, the company’s 9th, is still under construction but is slated to be finished early next year.
Location: The company has one New York location in Soho, as well as locations in Austin, Colorado, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle.
Cost: No word on pricing yet, but stay tuned.
NeueHouse takes the cake when it comes to hard to pronounce, fancy-sounding names. Instead of a traditional coworking space, NeueHouse is kind of like a private club for creative types that offers workspaces. The club started out as an invite-only space and has a committee to decide who on their waiting list gets in. But, as snobby as all that sounds, the first rule of NeueHouse is ‘be nice’ and we understand that members adhere to that.
Location: Their New York City location is in Flatiron and they have additional locations in Los Angeles and London.
Price: If you can get in, it ain't cheap. A hot desk will run you around $1,300 a month.
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