Step into nearly any NYU building, you’ll find the same patterns: glossy surfaces and designer furniture that cost more than most students’ rent. The Paulson Center’s expansive seating areas with no outlet in sight, Kimmel Center for University Life’s new staircase apparently meant for studying with nothing other than a book or laptop, and Bobst Library’s $10,700 chairs all follow the same logic — aesthetics over access. Spaces are designed with photo ops, not practicality in mind. It’s ironic that a school that prides itself on its high-academic rankings and productivity has little-to-no space to actually do work.
If you asked any student coming out of Bobst on a regular afternoon how long it took them to find a seat, the guaranteed answer would be upwards of 15 to 20 minutes. At a sprawling 425,000 square feet, the library should have enough room to satiate a substantial number of students — but in reality, many face unreasonable odds to find a seat. NYU’s problem is not a lack of space, but mismanaged priorities. The university should invest in study spaces that practically serve students, rather than pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into gauche and unnecessary furniture.
With merely 3,000 seats in Bobst for 29,060 undergrads and nearly 57,000 students in total, that leaves just about a 5%likelihood of getting a spot to study in the library. This does not even account for the countless alumni who have access to the library upon request. The question then becomes, why does NYU spend so much money on renovations and furniture when it cannot grant students enough spots to study in its only undergraduate library? A glance around shows where the priorities are — not on students, but on showrooms and aesthetics.
In 2023, NYU completed its renovations to the Bobst atrium, with a promise to modernize the space and make it a social hub. Two years later, they seem focused on attracting donors rather than students. Recently, NYU introduced a sense of coffee-table culture over desk space — leaving us with oddly shaped couches, short tables with $1,200 uncomfortable seats, and of course, the $1,900 reading chairs that are already falling apart, of little to no benefit to current students. NYU’s public spaces aren’t geared toward comfort or community, but photo ops and flashy stops for campus tours instead. Each renovation markets NYU’s prestige and decor, dazzling prospective donors with new, modern spaces and inspiring hefty donations for future development projects — but the funding doesn’t translate to student convenience.
The Gallatin building similarly has extravagant furniture without any built-in utility. With only two main spots to study — the lobby with its tiny yet somehow $5,800 red chairs, or the lounge with its two beanbags — options are far from phenomenal. Of course, let’s not forget the aesthetically appealing yet needlessly pricey two dozen $2,300 benches, placed casually against walls.
The Kimmel Center faces similar issues, with recent renovations transforming its massive staircase, once a hub for student protests, into a so-called study spot — that can fit maybe 20 students. While the school claimed it would offer a new, unique place to camp out with a laptop or socialize with friends, in reality it is highly uncomfortable and barely better than sitting right on the floor.
Paulson is no better. The miniature study lounges are cute for people-watching, especially when you can snag a spot next to the window. But when you are faced with the odd four or so chairs in a corner, nary an outlet in sight, or random communal benches scattered throughout the massive building, there is rarely any space to actually get work done.
For a university that sells innovation and creativity, NYU’s most famous library looks more like an overdesigned WeWork lobby than a student-friendly study space. The coffee tables throughout Bobst’s lobby are great for catching up with friends, but are far too low to get any work done. The overpriced and unimpressive furniture looks as though it’s been picked specifically for use in the backgrounds of promotional materials, but has unintentionally been repurposed for sleeping through classes, not studying. The real student studying experience at NYU has somehow come to mean studying on staircases and floors after forsaking the search for a seat.
New York is a sprawling and expansive city — and yet NYU is running out of seats. For a school full of individualized thinkers, there’s barely room to think. At this rate, the most functional working space left might be the sidewalk. NYU shouldn’t be scouring boutique furniture websites for designer pieces, but instead should prioritize getting as much seating as possible and offering students utility over aesthetics.
WSN’s Opinion desk strives to publish ideas worth discussing. The views presented in the Opinion desk are solely the views of the writer.
Contact Annika Wilewicz at [email protected].