I just watched some news about NYU’s expansion plans on NY1 News. I knew that NYU wanted to expand to Brooklyn, but I didn’t know that it didn’t end there. With some research, I found an article or two. Here’s one that’s a bit old, which just shows what a clueless girl I am.

So, how do I, as a student, feel about this? Let’s break it down, shall we?

Expanding Above and Beyond

“Largest expansion in its history,” you say? I daresay that’s an understatement. NYU already has sites throughout the entire world, with a new one that just opened up in Abu Dhabi. This investment was quite large, to say the least. Upon Googling it, all you have to do is type in “Abu Dhabi”  and one of the first things that comes up is “NYU.” Yes, it’s great news for the country and of course for NYU, what with all the attention that has come with the planning and opening, but ever heard of slowing down?!? Taking it a step at a time?!? Not jumping into things too fast?!? NYU seems to be pretty confident in its endeavors, especially in a time like this, and I guess they have reason to be, being so great and well-known and all that good stuff, but man, STOP for a second! I feel like it’s turning more into a business than the institution of higher learning it’s supposed to be!

Increasing by 4o percent is a lot, and Greenwich Village is only so big. Having classrooms and dorms all over the place isn’t all that great either, especially when you don’t live near a building you have class in or when you have only 15 minutes in between classes to get your stuff together, make your way out of a packed auditorium, walk a good 10 blocks, and get to your next class (from Skirball to Palladium, I’ve had to do it before. Not fun, to say the least). And as a commuter, some days I took a train further than the usual W4 stop and transferred to another to avoid walking on a bad weather day. That’s how far apart things are.

And this “engineering school in Brooklyn?” HAH! It’s called Poly-Tech, and it’s been doing just fine before NYU took over. I have a few friends there, and I’ve heard mixed reactions about the take-over plan. Some are happy to be getting the degree with NYU’s name on it and being able to use some of NYU’s facilities in Washington Square, mainly Bobst, the great (it really is amazing) library, but there are others who find it a hassle to travel the extra 15 minutes and then travel back home at night. They also worry about future tuition, saying they chose Poly because it was cheaper, but I think that they’ll have graduated by the time these major changes come about. That still doesn’t solve the problem for future students though. And speaking of…

Increasing Community and Decreasing Specialness

“By 2031, N.Y.U. expects its total student body to grow to 46,500 students, up from the current 41,000.”

Erm, that’s more than 5 grand. You know how in economics they say that the value of something decreases when there’s more of it? Yea, well, that’s sort of how I feel. Being from NYC and coming to NYU, I had my doubts about it’s greatness, despite the many great things I heard about it and the congrats people gave me when they found out I’m going to this amazing place. It was definitely less glorious for me coming here, than, say, someone from the middle of nowhere or an international student who’s never been to the States, let alone NY. But I still felt special coming, knowing that I was chosen along with those other couple of thousand when so many others were rejected, and don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy I chose to come here. I love it! But I don’t know how I feel about more people coming. It’s going to make things less special. With more accepted, I feel like the standards will drop a bit, it won’t be as competitive to get in, and it won’t be as special when you get in. And with the larger community, it’ll become even less tight-knit than it is now. But I guess the money for all these projects has to come from somewhere, right? What we pay now will definitely not be enough.

On a brighter side-note, my friend R was quite happy upon hearing the news of the take-over. “YES! There will be more smart engineer guys roaming the place!” HAHA, good point. Maybe that’s the way to look at things ;)

Making New York and Breaking the Village

“For New York to be a great city, we need N.Y.U. to be a great university,” Mr. Sexton said. “What does it mean in the 21st century to build a great city? Let’s be the lab and thinking space for it, the center in the world for thinking about cities.”

Um, OK? No offense here, Mr. Sexton, but I don’t think people automatically associate NYU with NYC. Unless, of course, NYU ends up taking over NYC, with its purple flags waving on the sides of every building around, but I don’t think that it’s NYU’s place to do this. Let others worry about building this city, while you ,dear NYU, worry about your students and academics. Bottom line: NYC doesn’t revolve around NYU. It’ll do just fine with the dozens of other tourist attractions there are. Sorry to break it to you.

What is starting to revolve around NYU though is Greenwich Village. A while ago, when a neighbor asked me where I go to college and I said NYU, he replied “That’s in Greenwich Village, right?” Right. I don’t know how many New Yorkers are starting to make the association, but it’s sort of hard not to. The Village is a place of great history, and even though some of it was  lost over time, it’s still there, but how long will it stay before NYU takes over that too?

Also, I suspect that this expansion is going to take major construction, which is the last thing we need around the “campus” right now. It’s already hell walking and crossing some streets, having to walk through the narrow side-side walks with cars flying past you, 2 inches away. And the noise? There has been drilling during 8 AM lectures, construction cars making the most obnoxious sounds outside of buildings, and, even though this is non-NYU related, the park is a mess to say the least. I understand that the construction is necessary to move forward and improve sidewalks and buildings and all that stuff, but there is a limit.

My Point

“It’s clear that N.Y.U. had a history of moving forward without listening. What this process has allowed us to do is take advantage of the wisdom that’s out there. There are some people just trying to make reputations attacking N.Y.U. But there’s a lot of wisdom in the community.”

I love going to NYU, love getting off at W4 and walking the few blocks to “campus,” love going to classes, studying in the library or the park, interacting with my friends and complete strangers and just living life. NYU is great, and it obviously wouldn’t have gotten to where it is now if it had listened. That’s how things get revolutionized and changed, by people not listening, doing what they believe in, fighting for what they want, by thinking outside of the box and using their thoughts and wisdom for the better good. Mr. Sexton is right, there is a lot of wisdom in the community that should be taken advantage of. But the holder’s of this wisdom need to be wise about this and they have to know where to draw the line, too. Too much of anything is never too good, and things have to slow down before all of the good backfires. NYU is in a great position right now. Why not be happy with it?