From Parking To Park: Hunter Students Want Curbside Hangout Space
Students at Hunter College want to turn a dour “No Parking” zone and a few staff parking spots into a patio area for public benefit — putting their urbanist studies to good use on the home front.
The two-year-old, student-run Placemakers Club wants to create more space for students to spend time on, and connect more, to the campus except there’s so little actual space to do so, said group member Dimitris Koutoumbas.
“[Students] heavily depend on CUNY campuses and facilities, not only for their studies, but for their own well being,” said Koutoumbas, adding that it’s even frustrating just to find a place on campus to sit.
Like many other city-based campuses, Hunter College lacks a formal quad or significant outdoor space for students to spend time between classes, meet up with friends and professors, and relax and get some sun during a stressful day at school. The main campus for the school runs between Park and Third avenues, and 67th and 69th streets. Most student activities and classes take place in two high rises at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 68th Street.
When told about the idea by Streetsblog, students gave it high grades.
“I want to be outside, but there’s no space,” said student Savannah Gangoo, adding that the little outdoor space on campus fills up quickly, especially during the Spring semester and warmer months. “Right now, it’s hard to want to come to the library to study.”
Gangoo said that she would come to campus more often if the Placemakers’ idea comes to fruition. The group is working with the Department of Transportation through its existing Street Seats program, dedicated to transforming underused streets into public social spaces.
For now, the Hunter administration is excited to have the Placemakers Club lead the project through the community board approval process, school spokesperson Peter Englot said.
The project itself would take up curbside space outside of Hunter College’s North Building, on East 69th Street and Park Avenue. Like other Street Seats installations, it would have a few tables, chairs and planters, and would be open to anyone. The DOT and Hunter College would split responsibilities for maintenance of the space and it would be monitored by Hunter Public Safety.
Englot said the Hunter administration has worked with the club, largely made up of graduate students in Hunter’s Urban Planning program, to use “best practices,” when it comes to design — including canvassing the community and directly including the local community in the decision-making process.
“It’s very encouraging for the future that we have such thoughtful, younger professionals who are going to be taking the reins,” he said.
The added outdoor space is especially crucial on a tight urban campus with lots of commuter students.
“It’s a campus where people are constantly moving in and out,” he said. “There’s not enough space for people. That’s one of our ongoing challenges.”
The site was chosen because it’s a natural gathering space due to its positioning at the entrance of Assembly Hall, a performing arts theater on Hunter’s campus — and because it’s on E. 69th Street, it won’t interfere with the M66 bus route on E. 68th.
The new seating would repurpose an existing “No Parking” zone, plus about six staff parking spaces on E. 69th Street.
“It doesn’t make sense for space around Hunter College to be dedicated to the storage of personal vehicles,” said Koutoumbas. He thinks that curb space could be used more equitably to provide additional room for students and community members alike to spend time outside.
Obviously, people with cars are annoyed to give up their space for the public good — especially those who are currently parking illegally in the “No Parking” zone.
“To take away any more spots would make everyone’s life a little more miserable,” said Kenneth Craig, a Hunter buildings and grounds employee, who commutes by car from upstate New York.
And the pro-car website, Upper East Site, called it a “street takeover.”
But the Manhattan Community Board 8 Transportation Committee clearly saw the benefit, approving the idea in a 7-1 vote on June 3. The lone “no” voter voiced concern about “lost” parking.
The full CB8 will vote on the proposal on June 17 at 6:30 p.m. at its monthly meeting in the at Marymount Manhattan College, 221 E. 71st Street.
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