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Picture by Bressni Neary<\/p><\/div>\n
In the early weeks of the semester, it is not unusual for students to search \u2013 some frantically \u2013 for classes, friends, offices and bathrooms. A new wrinkle this semester: Students foraging for food because the third-floor student cafeteria in the Hunter West Building has been inexplicably closed. The shuttered cafe was one of first year student Yuliana Anikina\u2019s initial impressions of the campus, and she said she was confused and annoyed.<\/p>\n
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Picture by Bressni Neary<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cIt would be a lot easier if I didn\u2019t have to run outside,\u201d said Anikina, picture right, referring to food carts and restaurants in the area. She was finishing up the remnants of a homemade lunch on the third-floor sky bridge where she was interviewed.<\/p>\n
Dressed in a color-coordinated outfit of a striped shirt, black sneakers, and black pants, the Manhattanite, was yet to declare a major but decidedly wary of the cafeteria\u2019s offering even when it opens. \u201cI read on Facebook the cafeteria food isn\u2019t good\u201d and that it had been shut down before, she said.<\/p>\n
The city health department has shut down the student cafeteria multiple times in the past,<\/a> and the eatery made the list of one magazine’s \u201cThe Grossest College Cafeterias.\u201d<\/a> There is a faculty dining room on the eighth floor in Hunter West but students are not allowed to eat there and that too has been closed by the health department.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Matthew Goldman. Picture by Bressni Neary<\/p><\/div>\n On September 12, well into the third week of the semester, Undergraduate Student Government<\/a> sent out an email blast which included a snippet about the cafeteria undergoing renovations and that students could expect it to reopen \u201csometime in October.\u201d While this has been the only public explanation offered about the shuttered student dining room, USG Senior Senator Jamie Cabigas provided a different perspective.<\/p>\n In a text message, the 21-year-old biology major from Queens said that it was due to the cafeteria\u2019s previous vendor, AVI Foodsystems, ending its contract, and that the school had failed to finalize agreements with a new vendor before the start of the semester.<\/p>\n Regardless of the reason for the closing, students have not been wasting time finding sustenance. Multiple lunch options are available around 68th Street and Lexington Avenue, and the go-to option seems to be the food carts stationed right outside the vertical campus. \u201cCan\u2019t beat $5 Halal,\u201d Matthew Goldman, 20, donning a white tank, blue cargo shorts, and old sneakers, remarked as he was en route to his cart of choice.<\/p>\n The junior theater major a Brooklyn native, said he preferred his chicken over rice to the fare offered in the cafeteria, which he described as \u201clow tier\u201d and \u201coverpriced\u201d (i.e. $4 for a slice of pizza). These critiques are echoed on the cafe\u2019s Yelp page,<\/a> which also has comments alleging food poisoning. Goldman seconded this concern with a jest, \u201cI never tried the sushi, it looked fishy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Jonathan Balina, a junior from Queens, expressed similar comments. Seated on one of the third-floor sky bridge, the computer science student paused eating a chipotle burrito to say, \u201cIt just was not good food.\u201d Being careful not to drop salsa on his jeans, white converse, or red shirt, Balina, 19, gestured to the closed doors of the glass cafeteria, and said that while he did not go very often, it didn’t mean he was happy with the situation. Before resuming his meal, Balina said, \u201cIt\u2019s not fair, schools should feed their students.\u201d<\/p>\n Lisbeth Santo Santo didn’t want to face the camera. Picture by Bressni Neary<\/p><\/div>\n Lisbeth Santo Santo, 21, was not impressed about the closing. The junior psychology major at first said, \u201cTo be honest, I don\u2019t eat here, ever,\u201d but then let slip her one cafeteria weakness: The pricey pizza. As she leaned back in her seat following an exam in Room 709 Hunter West, Santo Santo, dressed in a white patterned T-shirt, black pants, and ballet flats, called the establishment \u201cnot okay\u201d and \u201cdirty.\u201d<\/p>\n Minutes later, however, she abashedly admitted her love for the doughy slices, and she laughed in spite of herself. Born and raised in in Manhattan, Santo Santo said she has become all too familiar with high prices. Chipotle is pricier than the cafeteria pizza ever was, but Balina said that he had no plans to give up his burrito habit.<\/p>\n Goldman, however, said he was eager to see the cafeteria\u2019s return. \u201cI can\u2019t get my unsweetened green tea anywhere else,\u201d he said, casting a look of disdain at the vending machines. Students\u2019 dependency on M&M\u2019s and coke will continue for the near future, but the countdown is on for USG\u2019s October time frame for the cafeteria reopening. November is less than two weeks away.<\/p>\n To believe or not believe? That’s the question.<\/p><\/div>\n Bressni Neary can be reached at bressni.neary@macaulay.cuny.edu<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First in a series of articles about students and the early weeks of the new semester.<\/p>\n[DNAinfo Headline: Faculty Dining Room Shut Because of Mice]<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
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