NYU Is Closing Rubin Dining Hall (And Raising A Billion Dollars For Your Financial Aid) [UPDATED]
By Jeremy Unger
In a speech this morning during the Resident Assistants Convocation at the Kimmel Center, NYU VP of Global Student Affairs Marc Wais announced a new university campaign, entitled Momentum, to raise $1 billion in financial aid. Although no specific date was given for reaching this goal, with the university currently giving out only about $321 million in aid a year, according to NYU’s IRS returns, the campaign was a welcome announcement to the hundreds of new and returning RAs in attendance.
Wais also informed audience members that the dining area in Rubin Hall will be closed this year, with the dining spaces at Weinstein Hall expanding to cover the loss. Although no explanation for the closing was given, NYU Local is awaiting further comment from the University regarding the matter.
But if the closing of NYU’s most hated dining hall has got you down, don’t worry: Jamba Juice will also be coming to Upstein this fall and free printing will now be offered in Bobst library. NYU Local will continue to update this story as we receive more information from the RA-only meeting.
UPDATE: We reached out to Owen Moore, assistant vice president for business development in campus services, to see how the heck the University was going to fill the void that space would leave in our hearts. Here is his statement:
“Due to the popularity of our newer programs (Burger Studio, Palladium and Weinstein) and a significant decrease in customer counts at Rubin dining hall last year, NYU Dining did not reopen Rubin dining hall this fall. The employees at Rubin were reassigned or apply for other positions around campus, (based on seniority or years of service.) To compensate for the additional traffic at other locations, Hayden dining hall will open on Friday nights and weekends and additional staff will be reassigned to Weinstein, Hayden and Kimmel Center. To make up for lost seating, NYU Dining added additional seats at Downstein, Upstein and the Kimmel center.”
Since finding a chair, let alone a table, in Weinstein and Kimmel often feels like a scavenger hunt, we’re hesitant to see how adding a few more will compensate for the loss of an entire dining hall.
In other dining related news, Upstein is getting Jamba Juice — which means, if you want a “Mango-A-Go-Go” before your afternoon class in Silver, you might need to “A-Go-Go” a little quicker to Weinstein (see what we did there?) The Jamba Juice, along with a new “quick stop convenience store,” will be accepting dining dollars, as well as meal exchange.
Moore also informed us of a new, exciting development in store for Kimmel. “A new Starbucks kiosk is scheduled to open for the spring semester on the second floor of the Kimmel center, this location will accept dining dollars and be open on weekends,” said Moore.
Expect long lines.
