New Students: Welcome to the Graduate Center!

Earlier this year, the blog featured a post on why you should live in Queens.  Queens is a wonderful place, with excellent museums, including the Queens MoMA and PS1, as well as the Socrates Sculpture Park, and awesome Thai food like SriPraPhai in Woodside.  The post is very convincing, and enumerates Queens’ many advantages, such as close proximity the GC via many subway lines, and affordability.  However, I am unwavering in my commitment to another borough, Brooklyn.  Since moving to New York City seven years ago, I have lived in Upper Manhattan and, for the last five years, in Brooklyn; I fell in love with the county of Kings.  I don’t think I will ever want to live anywhere else in NYC, for a great many reasons.

First, Brooklyn’s arts and culture are formidable, with free concerts, art openings, pop-up galleries, and food fairs throughout the year.  We also host the first distilleries in New York City since Prohibition, and have several wineries, which are making Brooklyn their home base for wine production and retailing.  There’s also the Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint Brewery, Kelso and a burgeoning homebrew community. There are lots of places to get excellent food, including the borough’s own Fairway Market in Red Hook, Sahadi’s in Brooklyn Heights (better than Zabar’s!) and various shops and stores by neighborhood.  In addition, the borough is one of the most accessible by bicycle!  Brooklyn’s neighborhoods are distinctive and relatively discrete, and most importantly, easily navigated by dedicated bike lanes that can get you from Brooklyn, to Manhattan (if you are comfortable riding there), and back—hey, why give the MTA all your money if you don’t have to?  (NYC and Bike CUNY have resources on safe riding, and even a savvy cyclist road safety course!)

In terms of entertainment/distractions, Brooklyn has the newly finished Barclays Arena, host to the new (and hopefully better) Nets, as well as the Brooklyn Cyclones, excellent in their own right but also a farm team to the Mets.  There are also excellent music venues of all stripes, from the live-music Mecca Zebulon, to Jalopy (featuring old-time music, Americana, and more) to the Bell House in Gowanus, The Knitting Factory and Music Hall of Williamsburg in Williamsburg, and other independent venues in Greenpoint, Bushwick, Ditmas, and beyond.

Finally, the neighborhoods and architecture are beautiful.  Brooklyn is often known for its “Brownstone Crescent,” an architectural feature sweeping across north/central Brooklyn from Brooklyn Heights, to BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Carroll Gardens), through Bedford Stuyvesant, and south through Park Slope and beyond.  Brownstones are beautiful all year round, but, covered in snow make the sometimes-harsh winters in NYC bearable because of their beauty.  Not to get too poetic about this, Brooklyn is also as affordable as you want it to be; neighborhoods in North Brooklyn can be more expensive, as can other neighborhoods near Downtown Brooklyn, but deals abound, especially if you take the time to look and go through a no-fee broker. (I have used and would recommend Rapid Realty.)  Other affordable neighborhoods, popular with students and recent graduates, include Crown Heights, near the express stop for both the 2,3 and 4.5 train lines at either Franklin Avenue or Utica, as well as neighborhoods such as Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, across the park from Park Slope, Ditmas Park, located near Victorian Flatbush in all its turn-of-the-century glory, Sunset Park, and quiet, family oriented Bay Ridge (albeit a far trek on the R train).

What do you think?  Did I miss any neighborhoods that stand out to you?  Let us know in the comments section below!

Fall registration for newly admitted students will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 20.  You will receive an email in early August with detailed information concerning registration so please be sure to notify the Office of Admissions if you change your email address.

All registrations are done on-line so it is possible to register anywhere there is an internet connection.

Here’s what you will need to know in advance of registration;

1. Your Banner ID.  This ID number was in your admission letter and it will also appear in the registration email you will receive in early August.
2. Your PIN.  If you have already visited student self-service system you have already changed your PIN to a password of your choice. If you have never logged into our self-service system your PIN is set to your date of birth expressed mmddyy (in other words, if you were born on February 1, 1970, your PIN was set to 020170). If it is the first time you log into to the self-service system you will be required to change your PIN to a password of your choice

3.         An advisement PIN may be required in order to register for courses in Web for Student. Your academic program may have required that you enter a second PIN in order to access the registration page in Web for Student. This PIN is known as an advisement PIN.  If you were assigned an advisement PIN, you will be notified in the registration information letter sent out by the Office of the Registrar.  The advisement PIN will be issued to you by your academic adviser and you should contact your  program as soon as possible to make an appointment with your adviser.

As a grad student, you will not only conduct research, but you will frantically search for your sources, whether those sources are books on 19^th century Talmudic commentaries, articles on Puerto Rican feminist punk music, or photographs of Minoan wall paintings. The good news is that you can find everything in New York. The bad news is that you won’t necessarily find it as quickly as you want.

If you’ve already visited the Graduate Center, you probably noticed that Mina Rees Library seems pretty small for a university library. It is. However, through the Mina Rees Library you have access to all of the materials at all CUNY libraries and a large number of libraries across the United States. Through CLICS, you can request books from all other CUNY libraries and have them delivered to you at the GC. And if that isn’t enough, you can request articles, chapters, and books from other university libraries through the Interlibrary Loan program.

Another important research tool is the New York Public Library. The NYPL includes the Stephan A. Schwarzman research center (conveniently only eight blocks from the GC), the Science, Industry and Business Library (conveniently right behind the GC), and all of the local branches (convenience levels vary). To access the NYPL, you’ll need an NYPL card. If you live in New York, all you’ll need to do is present proof of residency (bank statement, photo identification, etc.). If you have the misfortune to live outside of New York, you’ll still be able to get a card through your affiliation with CUNY.

There are also lots of private libraries in New York, which thankfully have their collections linked to WorldCat. These include museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Morgan Library and Museum, as well as organizations such as the American Numismatic Society. Access varies, but your search might be well rewarded if you look off the beaten track.

Here’s some advice on seeing affordable theatre in New York: find out a show’s rush/discount policies before going, and always carry your student ID when going to the box office.

Student rush tickets demand both some flexibility (because there are no guarantees) and pre-planning. Many Broadway and off-Broadway shows will sell student rush tickets for $20-40 on the day of performance, typically limited to 1 or 2 tickets per student id. Be sure to carefully review the policies before you go: some box offices demand cash only, others let you use a debit/credit card. Rush tickets might be available when the box office opens in the morning, or might not be available until a few hours before the show ( see the Broadway theatre policies here: http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/82428-Broadway-Rush-Lottery-and-Standing-Room-Only-Policies), and the off-Broadway offerings, here: http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/144419-Off-Broadway-Rush-Standing-Room-and-Inexpensive-Ticket-Policies). Typically you have better luck scoring rush tickets on week-night shows (particularly for Broadway theatre) during the school year.

A few theatres provide discounted tickets throughout the season: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and the Signature Theatre have $25 tickets for many shows with limited availability, so you are encouraged to book early. Other theatres ask that you join a mailing list/club online for student ticket prices, like Roundabout’s HipTix (http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Shows-Events/HipTix.aspx). Unfortunately, many of the online/list programs have age restrictions (usually 30 or 35). Keep your eye on the Village Voice, Time Out, and discount mailing programs for upcoming shows and ticket deals.

Even the “hottest tickets” on Broadway, like The Book of Mormon, can be seen on a student budget (with a fair amount of luck, since Book of Mormon relies on a lottery system). You are in the best city for theatre in the entire country, and even on your paltry student budget that makes all your non-PhD-pursuing friends laugh (and then, if they are really good friends, buy you a pity drink—these good friends are the same ones that greatly appreciate it when you offer them the second discounted rush ticket you got, by the way), you can see a lot of amazing performances.

In case you are thinking about registration, please be advised that new Graduate Center students will not begin registration until August 20th.   Registration materials will be sent out in early August and they will come to you by email.  Please make sure that you update us if you make any changes to your email address between now and then.  Send those updates to admissions@gc.cuny.edu prior to registering.  After you have registered, any updates to your contact info should be directed to registrar@gc.cuny.edu

Thanks!

Now that you are getting ready to come to the Graduate Center, ever wonder what’s going on here–right now? What sort of events and programming do we offer? When is the building closed for holidays, and how late is it open normally?

Stay in the loop and meet other current GC students, faculty, and alumni by liking our facebook page or following us on twitter. We use facebook and twitter to get the word out on building closures, health and wellness events, academic advising and career workshops, and, especially, student and faculty news, presentations, panels, accolades and awards.

Get the most recent and up-to-date information on GC events, student and faculty news, and more, by following us on twitter @CUNYGradCenter  or facebook.

Moving to New York is quite daunting if you are an out-of-towner, as I was. The city is huge, expensive, and haphazardly designed; how’s a non-native New Yorker to know what neighborhoods to look at apartments in? Well now you’ll know (because I am telling you!) what I learned by chance: you should move to Queens.

Forget Manhattan, especially anywhere south of Central Park, right away. This is graduate school—you don’t have the cash for that sort of thing. Brooklyn has been the place du jure for grad students, but I have found the neighborhoods less accessible by the subway (in the areas that you will be able to afford at least) to the Graduate Center, more expensive, and a little too hipster-ish for my taste. Plus there are all those buildings with that ugly plastic siding. Who thought that was a good idea?

Queens, on the other hand, is slightly more affordable. Many of the neighborhoods that I know best (like Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, etc.) are a single subway line (either the 7, N, or Q, depending) away from the Graduate Center, making for a total commute of less than 45 minutes or even a half an hour. Plus there are more besides these that make for a short commute as well (the F and M lines are also easy ones).

Queens is also the most diverse county in the nation, so we’ve got some killer food of all stripes; you name it, we’ve probably got it. And it’s just generally invigorating being around that variety of people (when we were first looking at apartments in our neighborhood, we heard at least six languages on the street in one afternoon on a walkabout).

I take a lot of pride in the neighborhood that I live in—in embracing it and all it has to offer. We go to the farmer’s market every Saturday for the 8 months of the year that it is there and chat with many other shoppers (and our favorite vendors); we frequent our neighborhood shops with their local owners; we eat at the many restaurants that make it such a great locale. But regardless of whether you take my advice and choose one of the neighborhoods in Queens, these are the sorts of things that you should do when you move to any area of NYC. Being integrated into your local community—not just the academic community in which grad students often find themselves totally absorbed—will really help you enjoy this fantastic city all the more. And a happy grad student is a productive grad student.

You may want to take the time to check in your admissions letter to see if you were sent residency materials.  If you were coded as an out-of-state resident, but you have indeed been living in NY state for the last year (since August 2012), then you only need to document your residency with the registrar’s office.  There is a form to fill out that can be found here.

If you are a US citizen but not a NY resident, make sure that you also look at the NY State Residency form in order to gather the necessary documents to establish residency by August 28th of 2013 in order to qualify for NY State residency in your second year of study.

Questions about residency should be directed to the Registrar’s Office.

We look forward to seeing you in the Fall!

This post should be used to match roommates.  Go ahead and list requests for roommates in the comments section.  Please do be mindful, however, that this is an open forum and you may not want to post information that is too personal (i.e. addresses or telephone numbers.)

If you are coming to New York from another location, you may already be starting to think about housing for when you get here.

While the Graduate Center does have graduate housing, there is currently a waiting list.

You may want to contact Haslyn Miller our housing specialist at hmiller@gc.cuny.edu for assistance in how to begin your housing search.

Do keep in mind that if you are trying to establish NY State residency (for in-state tuition purposes) you will need to do so by August 28th of 2013 in order to be eligible for in-state tuition in Fall of 2014.  This applies to US citizens and US permanent residents only.

The next post on this blog will be allow you to negotiate roommate matching amongst yourselves.  And we plan to have current GC students from out-of-state post about their experiences with various NYC neighborhoods.  Keep checking back in to read their perspectives!