Hunter’s administration unveiled new plans to renovate the North Building in order to provide temporary workspace and housing relief for Brookdale occupants during a briefing on Nov. 1.
In 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to demolish Hunter’s Brookdale campus to make space for a new CUNY and Department Of Education (DOE) hub focused on the life sciences and healthcare. Called the Science Park and Research Campus (SPARC), the project is expected to generate $42 billion of economic growth, create 15,000 job opportunities and provide renovated facilities for the health sciences.
The project’s development would discontinue the Brookdale residence hall and temporarily displace the physical therapy program, speech pathology program and Hunter’s Bellevue School of Nursing. The anticipated demolition of Hunter’s most affordable housing option sparked many questions and concerns from the Hunter community.
As requested by many students and faculty members after the project’s announcement, the SPARC preview meeting on Nov. 1 laid out the stages for the project’s construction and Hunter’s role in this ambitious plan. SPARC is subject to completion by 2031 with “enormous potential to transform the lives of the Hunter community,” said Hunter Interim President Ann Kirschner.
Kirschner relayed the plan in a series of three steps.
The first step, says Kirschner, is to reserve temporary workspace in the North Building for departments and faculty during the SPARC construction, more commonly known as a “swing space.” This swing space will be utilized as Hunter finds an alternative rental space.
Step two requires the removal of the current occupants of the Brookdale campus into the renovated swing space and rental space as a temporary form of housing relief.
The third and final step involves the Brookdale units occupying the swing and rental space re-integrating with the newly developed SPARC campus. In turn, this would leave Hunter’s main campus with a newly renovated North Building.
“The one piece of this diagram that will not be replaced is unfortunately the dorm space,” Kirschner added.
The president attempted to reassure attendees by proposing an alternative compensation plan that involves the expansion of Hunter College’s dorms on 51st Street, intending to “make those as affordable as we can.”
Some of the student body remains skeptical of this approach.
“The college, as we’ve seen, has no valid answer for us; for our students, where they’re going to be, how they’re going to be, how much it is going to cost. We are the consumers of education,” said Bassrou Juwara, Hunter’s undergraduate student government president.
While the overarching plans for this project were outlined, the administration seemed ambiguous about the plan’s specifics. After the SPARC briefing, Kirschner stepped out to tend to other responsibilities, leaving some students’ and faculty’s questions unanswered and concerns unaddressed.
“I’m left with more questions than I got answers,” said USG Cultural Affairs & Student Activities Commissioner Ariadna Pavlidis-Sanchez.
“I’m almost appalled that the president did not leave a little more time for this conversation, knowing how important this issue is, not only for students but faculty as well.”
The Hunter senate members ultimately voted to carve out more time in the meeting to hold an extended discussion, with or without Kirschner.
The topic of the dorms facilitated the exchange among students and faculty about the SPARC preview. Students who spoke raised similar concerns over the decision-making involvement, frequently mentioning that students’ voices weren’t being listened to or acknowledged.
In addition to being the USG Evening Affairs Commissioner, Sofia Rothermel is a Student Ambassador responsible for giving on-campus tours to prospective Hunter students. She expressed frustration towards the administration’s ambiguity about Brookdale’s future, making it more difficult to relay accurate information about Hunter’s housing options and opportunities.
“I have to be the one to tell them that it’s not available for their admissions cycle. It is not being communicated to us where we’re putting all of these students,” Rothermel said.
“I hope that we not only get a seat at the table with Hunter’s administration but also CUNY. I’ve been to the CUNY Trustees Board meeting and I’ve spoken there. USG spoke with Vice Chancellor Wendy Hensel when she came — she didn’t have answers for us either,” Pavlidis-Sanchez said.
Benjamin Ortiz, chair of the biological sciences department, stated concerns beyond dormitory space pertaining to the development of SPARC.
“I just want to point out that the building that will be built for the health professions will not be a Hunter building. This is going to be a CUNY building,” Ortiz said. “Not only will the dorms be gone, but now we’re also going to be asked to hotel people from Brookdale in our ‘notoriously spacious’ North Building.”
Considering that Hunter College’s admissions increased by 11.4% within four years, the institution is subject to bursting from its seams with rising admissions rates and the “swing space” initiative for the SPARC project.
Ortiz explained the multiple infrastructural issues about Hunter College as it stands now and how SPARC does not and cannot address them.
“One thing that needs to be taken into account here is that biology and the other science departments are down a lot of faculty since before the pandemic, and we need to hire,” Ortiz said. “I’m really very concerned about SPARC now as something that’s going to be doing damage to us as opposed to a net plus for the health sciences and Hunter as a whole.”
Other faculty members contributed to the conversation with students in the crowd of attendees at the senate meeting. Eija Ayravainen, the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, sympathized with the frustrated students speaking in the audience.
“I am disappointed in CUNY for not having a concrete plan for the dorms. I can tell you that I will do everything I can to fight to get it as affordable as we can for all of our students,” Ayravainen said.
Another faculty member, who requested to remain anonymous for security reasons, implored students to write to the governor’s office to reach authority above the campus’ power.
Themes of student inclusion in CUNY decision-making permeated throughout the auditorium.
“Bring us to the tables of decision making,” said Juwara.
Students and faculty at the meeting had an impactful exchange that has the potential to lead to further action and negotiations. Ultimately, students and faculty may have to reach beyond the Hunter College administration to make a dent in these decisions.
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Edit (01/17): We have provided further clarification that the housing relief proposed by Hunter administration is by utilizing space in the North Building to temporarily house students.
The Envoy 
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