Pratt: Not In Our Front Yard
Yesterday, the Local blog broke the sad news that as of next month Pratt will begin enforcing its longstanding-but-long-ignored rule against loitering by non-school-related people. (Like one of the Brownstoner progeny above shown in happier times on a campus-trashing wilding spree.) Community members will still be able to cut through the campus on foot but…
Yesterday, the Local blog broke the sad news that as of next month Pratt will begin enforcing its longstanding-but-long-ignored rule against loitering by non-school-related people. (Like one of the Brownstoner progeny above shown in happier times on a campus-trashing wilding spree.) Community members will still be able to cut through the campus on foot but they won’t be able to sit and admire the sculpture. A spokeswoman for the school said the policy does not allow the use of the campus grounds as a public park or playground. Most of the commenters on the Local aren’t happy about this and we heard from one community resident that a group called the Clinton Hill Action Committee is forming to try to get Pratt to reconsider its decision; if you are interested you can contact the organizers at clintonhillac@gmail.com.
Pratt Rolls Up the Welcome Mat [NYT/Local]
It’s all a legal thing to help with prosecution of wrongdoers on campus. Chances are they are not *really* going to enforce this, but it allows “Unlawful Trespass” to be prosecuted if they can’t nab the person for what they were actually doing.
If they don’t at least make the appearance of enforcing the rule, then it wouldn’t count.
I think FSRQ touched on it – but there seems to be a misunderstanding that not-for-profit, tax exempt organizations have some sort of debt they need to fulfill to us people that do pay taxes. Nope – the only obligation they have is to the IRS, which is to meet the critera set for tax exempt status (they educate). Pratt is still a business, they just can’t distribute profits to owners/employees, they must be used for operations. So they need to do whatever they can to keep parents/students (many of whom are from out of state and not as street smart as most of us) feeling safe about their several thousand dollar investment.
NYU had a beautiful campus in the Bronx, CG ups. They moved there in the late 1800s when the Village was becoming crowded and unpleasant and they had the opportunity to move to a pristine palisade above the Harlem River.
Eventually, they moved back. With the Bronx’s collapse in the 1970s, they were only to happy to re-consolidate around Washington Square.
Now all the McKim Mead and White buildings belong to a City University division. Definitely worth the trip, but a reminder of false hopes in the bucolic.
I think rob is referring to the fact that NYU is in downtown brooklyn now – polytechnic is now part of NYU I think…
oh rob, that will never happen. but why would you want NYU to be in brooklyn? would think you’d want them far away? maybe chuck them to the bronx or something?
i wish NYU would get the hell out of downtown and move to clinton hill.
*rob*
And Montrose, we never looked with “derision” at Pratt.
We never thought of it.
Which is probably worse.
When I was at Columbia during the 1970s, the administration seriously considered moving the entire university out of the city and to Westchester, where the Harriman family had donated an estate. The students wouldn’t hear of it. Why come to Columbia in the first place if it weren’t in Manhattan? “We’re not Dartmouth,” we argued.
Not that anything we said determined the final decision to stay in town (although I’m sure there are faculty and admnistrators who’d be happy to split, even now).
But we had a point. City universities are different from ones in the country. City life is tense, sometimes threatening and (occasionally) dangerous and for students who dive into it, exhilerating, enriching and maturing.
Columbia and Pratt contribute to New York. But New York contributes a great deal to them. Herman Wouk (still alive back then, is he now?) told us that what we’d learn outside the Columbia gates would be as important as if not more important than what we learned inside. New York in th 70’s also gave us swagger because we’d been tested in one of the toughest urban environments anywhere. And once we graduated, it made us impatient with the “small town” life of Cambridge and Boston where lots of us continued school.
And yes, Columbia’s 116th Street gates were always open.
did someone really see a kid peeing/pooping in the bushes? seriously, i can’t even imagine someone being that much of a jackass to let their kid do that. nor is hanging off the sculptures or writing on the property with chalk acceptable either. what is wrong with people? yeeps. if that’s the case then no wonder they want to close off the campus.