For more than 1.2 million New Yorkers, food insecurity is a daily struggle. Facing a rising cost of living, heightened grocery prices and inadequate access to fresh, nutritious food, more than 800,000 households in New York City don’t know where their next meal will come from — and students at NYU are no exception. A 2019 study of 257 undergraduates found that 41% of NYU students met criteria for food insecurity — a substantial increase from 14.6% across the city.  With meal plans costing up to $3,338 per semester, the university’s standard dining offerings are already inaccessible to many students. Still, on-campus organizations are finding ways to navigate scaled prices…

If you’ve walked on Prince Street or strolled down Fifth Avenue recently, you may have come across a giant inflatable rat. With bloodshot red eyes, claws stretched outwards and scars covering its underbelly, the rat’s larger-than-life presence is undeniable. Meet Scabby — a 10- foot-tall inflatable rodent who has served as an icon for unions and worker rights for nearly four decades.  Scabby’s name comes from the label “scab,” a derogatory term used in the early 1800s to describe strikebreakers who refused to join picket lines. Jim Sweeney, the president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 in Chicago, said that he first created Scabby as an attempt to…

It’s a running joke that LGBTQ+ students outnumber straight students at NYU. While it may be a joke, it’s hard not to believe it — especially since NYU has eight student-run LGBTQ+ clubs and its own LGBTQ+ center, all dedicated to uplifting and supporting students who identify as part of this community. From groups like SHADES, which works to support LGBTQ+ people of color and their allies, to Queer Union, which advocates, educates and builds community, these clubs offer robust support for the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community. But beyond campus, New York City is home to hundreds of organizations working to advance LGBTQ+ equity and meet the community’s immediate…

Content warning: This article contains mentions of violence and sexual harassment.  Over 60 NYU community members and New York City residents gathered for the university’s first-ever Kwibuka, an annual commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, at the Kimmel Center for University Life on Tuesday.  Titled Kwibuka 31, the event was organized by NYU’s African Graduate Students Association, African Students Union, Association for African Development and John Brademas Center. The commemoration featured four speakers, including survivor Consolee Nishimwe and Deputy Representative of Rwanda to the United Nations Robert Kayinamura, and screened a short video on the history of the genocide.  Robert Kayinamura, the deputy permanent representative of…

Strobe lights flashing on the dance floor, heavy pours of liquor gushing from glass to glass and the aroma of poppers wafting through a sea of men. It’s far from a typical night out at Josie’s — it’s a thrilling night out at a gay bar in the epicenter of queer nightlife, New York City.  In neighborhoods like Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea and Greenwich Village, gay bars line the streets — they’re bustling hubs for gay culture, but also sites rich with queer history. The Stonewall Inn is just a five-minute walk from Washington Square Park. This West Village bar, which opened in 1967 and is still in operation, has not…

Any New Yorker who has explored the city’s plethora of coffee shops has undoubtedly encountered a pattern of homogenization. Many cafes that follow the formula of a single brick wall, polished hardwood floors and chalkboards with lighthearted jokes about caffeine addiction have been labeled by the internet as millennial coffee shops. While these coffee shops largely cater to the minimalist millennial aesthetic, this year, many in New York City have attempted to distinguish themselves by catering to the more daring preferences of Gen Z — think Blank Street Coffee’s new Iced Strawberry Shortcake Matcha or Enly’s tiramisu latte. Though a major aspect of New York City’s contemporary food culture, the…

NYU’s second annual Eid Fest, the student-run celebration of Eid al-Fitr, drew hundreds of students to the Kimmel Center for University Life on Thursday. Hosted by Muslim student organization NYU Shuruq, along with 10 other clubs including the Black Muslim Initiative and the Pakistani Students Association, Eid Fest brought together Muslim community members across the university for communal celebration and prayer.  As attendees gathered to celebrate the end of Ramadan, a student in a prayer room in Bobst Library’s lower floors found mats soaked in urine and the walls vandalized with vulgar graffiti — deemed an Islamaphobic act of “anti-Muslim hatred” by President Linda Mills. NYU has since launched an…

NYU’s second annual Eid Fest, the student-run celebration of Eid al-Fitr, drew hundreds of students to the Kimmel Center for University Life on Thursday. Hosted by Muslim student organization NYU Shuruq, along with 10 other clubs including the Black Muslim Initiative and the Pakistani Students Association, Eid Fest brought together Muslim community members across the university for communal celebration and prayer.  As attendees gathered to celebrate the end of Ramadan, a student in a prayer room in Bobst Library’s lower floors found mats soaked in urine and the walls vandalized with vulgar graffiti — deemed an Islamaphobic act of “anti-Muslim hatred” by President Linda Mills. NYU has since launched an…

Many NYU students know Greenwich Village as the heart of New York City’s LGBTQ+ community, but might not recognize the role of a local prison in its history. The Jefferson Market Library — NYU’s nearest branch of the New York Public Library — was formerly the site of a prison that confined women and LGBTQ+ people in poor conditions. Founded in 1932, the Women’s House of Detention on 10 Greenwich Ave. held thousands of prisoners, many of whom were LGBTQ+ and working-class women of color, in addition to female activists arrested as political prisoners, including radical Catholic activist Dorothy Day and Black Panther Party members Angela Davis and Afeni Shakur. The…

Many NYU students know Greenwich Village as the heart of New York City’s LGBTQ+ community, but might not recognize the role of a local prison in its history. The Jefferson Market Library — NYU’s nearest branch of the New York Public Library — was formerly the site of a prison that confined women and LGBTQ+ people in poor conditions. Founded in 1932, the Women’s House of Detention on 10 Greenwich Ave. held thousands of prisoners, many of whom were LGBTQ+ and working-class women of color, in addition to female activists arrested as political prisoners, including radical Catholic activist Dorothy Day and Black Panther Party members Angela Davis and Afeni Shakur. The…