Question about boxing gyms.

[Nickeroon1987]

I'll be heading back to the NYC at the end of the summer, and I'm thinking about going to a boxing gym, since it's cheaper.

I have experience in Muay Thai, and the form for my punches are pretty good. I've got down all the basics of moving, evading, etc., know bag workouts, all that jazz.

Would it be a good idea to pay the minimum price for the mere priveledge of working out at the gym, rather than paying a trainer to teach me? How easy/hard is it to find sparring partners? Is it common for folks who aren't being trained by anyone to run into assholes who will try to pound your face in during training sessions?

[From Bell2Bell]

At my gym if you have a basic membership the coaches will come around and work with you from time to time. You can pay for private lessons, but you will get some attention without them. Finding sparring partners usually depends on going when there are a lot of people there but if you can hang they'll put you in the rotation. Obviously you'll want to check out the gym in question to see how they do things but based on my experience it's a great idea.