Email From NYU Faculty To NYU Administrators Regarding The Demolition Of Coles Gym

February 15, 2012 2:21pm

To Christopher Bledsoe, Janice Quinn, Frank Sicignano and Gail Stentiford: As NYU faculty and family members who frequently use Coles, we see a problem that demands your full attention. Specifically, we are still seeing student employees, or volunteers, taking groups of high school seniors and their parents, and incoming faculty, on guided tours of the facility. Until recently, such tours were good for NYU, as they helped draw new students, and new faculty, to our community, by showing them a fine sports center that they could all expect to use throughout their time on campus. As NYU prepares to launch its 2031 expansion plan, however, those guided tours are thoroughly misleading. NYU plans to demolish Coles next year; and yet Coles' visitors learn nothing of the fact that the facility is slated for destruction or that the plan is to "replace" it with a "temporary gym" that has no treadmills, pool, weight room, squash courts, or any other recreational equipment or amenities. In short, Coles' tour guides fail to mention that that "gym" is to be used exclusively by certain NCAA teams; nor do they mention that, from 2013 for the next six years (at least), the only real gym open to this whole community will be the Palladium up on 14th St. a site already overcrowded. We don't blame the tour guides for that silence, as they are simply uninformed. When we have asked the students working at the front desk if they know about NYU's demolition plan, they have all expressed complete surprise. Certainly the staff must be informed at once as must all prospective students and their families, and all incoming faculty. Our concerns here are both practical and ethical. By making tacit promises that NYU will break, you are involved in a deception that could harm NYU's reputation, and make for a disgruntled student body and unhappy faculty. We therefore call on you to publicize the truth about the coming change, and to do so clearly, and as soon as possible. We look forward to your reply, and the announcements. Sincerely,
Gary Anderson Professor Administration, Leadership & Technology Steinhardt Adam Becker Associate Professor Religious Studies FAS

Amy Bentley Associate Professor Nutrition, Food Studies & Public Health Steinhardt Oliver Buhler Professor Mathematics FAS Patrick Deer Associate Professor English FAS Stephen Duncombe Associate Professor Gallatin Annette Evans Washington Square Village Brett Gary Associate Professor Media, Culture & Communication Jeffrey Goodwin Professor Sociology FAS Andr Lepecki Associate Professor Performance Studies Tisch David Ludden Professor History FAS Anna McCarthy Associate Professor Cinema Studies Tisch Gary Marcus Professor Psychology FAS Laurence Maslon Associate Arts Professor Graduate Acting Program Tisch Mark Crispin Miller Professor

Media, Culture & Communication Steinhardt Susan Murray Associate Professor Media, Culture & Communication Steinhardt Bertell Ollman Professor Politics FAS David Poeppel Professor Psychology FAS Andrew Ross Professor Social and Cultural Analysis FAS Amy Smiley Adjunct Professor School of Social Work Zadie Smith Professor English FAS John Waters Academic Director Ireland House FAS Loren Wolfe Silver Towers Karen Wolff Silver Towers