Washington Square News | September 8, 2020

3 SPORTS

5 ARTS

Stuart Robinson Starts His Tenure as NYU’s Athletic Director

Remembering the Late, Great Chadwick Boseman

4 CULTURE

6 OPINION

Senior Year: The Pandemic Edition

Funding the MTA Is a Necessity

VOLUME LV | ISSUE 2

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Rave at Washington Square Park Sparks Outrage and Confusion at NYU Students, NYC residents, and university officials are angered by a rave that was held in the park Saturday night largely consisting of young people.

By TRACE MILLER News Editor

JAKE CAPRIOTTI | WSN

For years, Washington Square Park has acted as a hub for social gatherings. In light of social distancing precautions, the midnight “rave” earlier last weekend raised multiple concerns on students ignoring guidelines.

Hundreds gathered together at Washington Square Park partying to electronic dance music on Saturday night, Sept. 5. Some wore masks, others did not; a few appeared to be smoking cigarettes or joints, sharing them among themselves — and nobody was social distancing.

It remains unclear how many, if any, NYU students joined the party.

Whether any attended the so-called “rave” or not, however, many NYU students and New York City residents alike were enraged by the gathering.

All in all, the episode sparked conversations about student and university responsibility, and left students with questions, concerns and doubts about NYU’s COVID-19 response — especially regarding its execution and transparency.

According to Instagram stories posted with the Washington Square Park location sticker, the music started in the evening during daylight hours and was well underway by 8:15 p.m.

The crowd, numbering well into the hundreds, was packed tightly together between the fountain and the eastern edge of the square. The gathering was reported to almost 10,000 people on Citizen, an app that sends community based safety alerts to users.

A protest organized by Refuse Fas-

cism, All Matters Matter, Amend the Constitution and NYC Revolution Club joined the party.

“The goal of [the protest] is to bring awareness to the upcoming election in 60 days,” 28 year old Refuse Fascism organizer from Brooklyn, Shaman, said. “We want to bring awareness that Trump potentially could have a fascist administration and implement power of a military-governmental-federal consent … We want the people to know that he’s a fascist and that [he could] potentially corrupt our democracy.”

Earlier that day, the protesters had marched from Union Square, up towards Trump Tower and down towards the Lower East Side. The march concluded at Washington Square Park, where organizers and protesters joined the party to hang out and dance; they were registering people to vote and passing petitions around, as well as the 10-amendment People’s Bill of Rights, for which they need about 110 million votes — one third of the U.S population.

“This is nationwide today,” Jamel Mims, a 34 year old organizer with Refuse Fascism and NYC Revolution Club, emphasized. “26 different cities that are taking on different ‘Trump, Pence, out now’ actions, that’s a call for refuse fascism, that’s about driving out this regime.”

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Scholar Strike for Anti-Racism Begins Today

By TRACE MILLER News Editor The nationwide Scholar Strike begins today at 10 a.m. and runs through tomorrow. For two full days, participating professors at campuses across the United States will walk out from their normal academic and administrative duties and instead stage teach-ins on racism, police brutality, mass incarceration, anti-racism and cultural proficiency. By time of publication, WSN identified at least two NYU professors who are participating.

Dr. Anthea Butler, an associate professor of religious studies and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania, sparked Scholar Strike with a single

Tweet: “I would be down as a professor to follow the NBA and strike for a few days to protest police violence in America,” she wrote on Aug. 26. Quickly she had a co-organizer: Kevin Gannon, a history professor at Grand View University. Within days they’d created Scholar Strike Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as a hashtag and a website.

“While there have been lots of actions across the country at colleges and universities about racial justice, black lives matter [sic] and police reform and abolition, this is the first time we’ve all come together for two days to focus on this together as professors, students, staff and administrators,” Butler told WSN via email. “We hope this is the beginning of concerted action, teaching

and advocacy to help BIPOC receive justice and equity.”

On Friday, Sept. 4, Jack H. Knott, the dean of Steinhardt, sent an email to the Steinhardt community stating that “I want to recognize those members of our community who may choose to participate in the upcoming #ScholarStrike, which calls for a disruption of our normal work routines and a virtual, public teach-in on police violence and racism.”

Some professors participating in Scholar Strike might reschedule classes or meetings, Knott said; others might use scheduled classes and meetings to discuss systemic racism; or they might alter their schedules “to allow for time to engage in collective action, to learn, and to listen.” Whatever the case, Knott

promised to support those participating in the strike and urged the school’s department and unit heads to be “flexible and supportive” of striking faculty, students and staff.

Like Steinhardt, the university offered up resources — specifically the Office of Global Inclusion’s “Anti-Racism Education Resources programming.”

In an email to WSN regarding the Scholar Strike, NYU’s senior director of executive communications Shonna Keogan said, “NYU as an institution strongly encourages its students, faculty, and employees to continue to engage in reflection and peaceful anti-racism actions.”

On Twitter, NYU Silver “encouraged all faculty to refrain from teaching” and

administrative duties on Sept. 8 and 9.

Inside Higher Ed reported that around 600 professors had committed to striking on Aug. 28. On Sept. 6, Forbes reported that over 4,900 people had signed up. Yesterday, Butler told WSN that more than 5,000 people have signed up and expressed interest in participating. Additionally, Forbes reported that the American Academy of Religion called its over 8,000 scholars to support the strike and that the American Sociological Association issued a solidarity statement to its more than 13,000 academic members. For the strike, the ASA gathered and developed resources on race, justice and police violence.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Washington Square News

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NEWS

NEWS@NYUNEWS.COM

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Edited by MATTHEW FISCHETTI and TRACE MILLER

Rave at Washington Square Park Sparks Outrage and Confusion at NY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Neither Shaman nor Mims saw anything wrong with the protesters joining the party and emphasized the health measures that their movements had already taken.

“We saw this party happening [on the eastern side of the fountain], and we were organizing people over here [on the southern side of the fountain] at the end of our march, and just decided to join the party,” Mims recalled. “I think for the most part people here are very health conscious. Protesters are very health conscious, we sanitize all the time, wear a mask, all of that.

And so I think for the most part that’s pretty generally safe. And that folks here, as long as they’re moving, as long as they’re masked up and stuff like that, it’s OK to kind of pass through there. But we don’t make it our practice or pastime. We’re leading people in the streets.”

While organizers may have seen the gathering as safe, current phase four regulations on New York City limit social gatherings of up to 50 people. Social distancing and masks are also required in public spaces. But approximately 10% of the crowd — which, again, numbered well into the hundreds — was not masked. And Shaman habitually doesn’t wear masks at protests.

“Why?” he rhetorically asked. “For one, I’ve been in the protests for about four months now without a mask. I’ve not gotten ‘rona ... I would recommend going with your intuition and going with what’s your best health instead of going with what other people say ... You have the freedom of liberty of speech to do what you want in this country. That’s why we practice democracy.”

As news of the crowd spread, initially, on Twitter, many NYU students — especially sophomores, juniors and seniors believing the rave to be largely composed of first-years — were seething. Some students on Twitter encouraged one another to take pictures and videos of the crowd and to identify and report raving students, demanding that the NYU administration suspend and fine the ravers. Aiming to report both gathering and gathered to NYU’s Office of Student Conduct — thereby avoiding calling the NYPD — students anonymously submitted reports to

NYU’s COVID-19-compliance email.

At least one student, however, received a response from the university stating, “Thanks to the reports you and other students submitted, NYPD and 311 have started to respond to the event.”

In a statement to NYU Local, University Spokesperson Shonna Keogan denied that the NYU administration called the NYPD. Instead, the spokeswoman claimed, “when people contacted covidcompliance@nyu.edu about what was happening in the park, they were advised to call the City, because rules enforcement in City parks are the jurisdiction of City agencies.” She added that the “reports you and other students submitted” — to which the student’s response referred — were submitted not to NYU, but to the city.

Major news outlets like CBS New York, NBC New York, the New York Post and NBC reported on the “rager” and implied that NYU students had attended it. However, an NYU spokeswoman told Spectrum News NY1 on Sunday, Sept. 6, that “the university has not received any reports of particular NYU students being involved in the gathering” and added that “the safety and health rules that we’ve put in place this year apply at all times — whether they’re on campus or off campus in public parks, such as Washington Square Park.​” But later that day, Marc Wais, NYU’s Senior Vice President for Student Affairs, emailed students addressing the reports, photos and videos of “large crowds of young people” neither wearing masks nor socially distancing and reiterating that NYU’s COVID-19 guidelines apply on and off campus.

Both Shamon Lawrence, a Steinhardt sophomore and an alternate senator at large for Black students and students experiencing food insecurity, and Chris Josiah, a Tisch junior, were notified of the gathering on Citizen.

“It came as a surprise to me to see how selfish these people from other states can be,” Lawrence told WSN via Twitter direct message.

“The gathering was stupid,” he continued, adding that any NYU students attending should be suspended. “Just a few

months back there were box trucks piled high with dead bodies here in NYC and the surrounding areas. So it does make me angry because when coronavirus was unbearable in the city, it was BIPOC who suffered, endured pain, and some who took their last breaths because of the carelessness of some individuals.”

Neither Josiah nor Lawrence have reported any students so far; Josiah hasn’t recognized anyone, while Lawrence is awaiting tips or clearer photo or video footage, calling it “the right thing to do.” All of this occurs against a backdrop of harsh administrative discipline of noncompliant students met with student accusations of intentional administrative opacity.

In a tweet, CAS Sophomore Ndali Brume alleged and reiterated to WSN that the administration is giving them “the vaguest possible guidelines so that no matter what we do they can point the finger at us when things go south,” adding that “vague language like ‘avoid gatherings’ and a daily questionnaire that relies on the honor system isn’t meant to keep us safe, it’s meant to reduce liability for them.”

In a Sept. 3 update to their “Community Standards and COVID-19” webpage, the Office of Student Conduct states that they’ve, “considered over 150 cases related to violations” of COVID-19 policies and “imposed a term or terms of suspension to a number of students.”

More than 20 NYU students have been suspended already.

“These suspensions have overwhelmingly involved large gatherings of NYU students in indoor, off-campus apartments that lacked any form of social distancing or face coverings,” the Sept. 3 update continues. “Such events directly put the safety, health, and welfare of our community at risk and, in many instances, violate public health orders. Generally speaking, and in consideration of the factors outlined in the Student Conduct Procedures ... hosting a high-risk gathering has resulted in suspension for a full academic year, while attendance at such a gathering has generally resulted in one semester suspensions.”

The Student Conduct Procedures do not directly address COVID-19 policies, but rather refer one back to the “Com-

munity Standards and COVID-19” webpage, which states “students who engage in, facilitate, or organize irresponsible and reckless behavior that puts the community at risk may face formal disciplinary action through the Office of Student Conduct.” The Sept. 3 update adds that the Student Conduct Policy “explicitly applies” to off-campus activity that, “substantially disrupts the regular operation of the University or threatens the health, safety, or security of the University community.” NYU can also take disciplinary action against students who violate “governmental orders issued concerning public health.”

Now NYU students are wondering why the NYPD responded to anonymous reports of the rave submitted by NYU students to the NYU administration.

University Spokesperson Shonna Keogan told WSN via email that who responds to COVID-19-compliance complaints depends upon “which segment of our community is involved.”

“In the case of student violations,” Keogan explained, “it would be the Office of Student Conduct that would handle formal disciplinary action, and students could face suspension and removal from student housing. The NYPD has zero involvement in NYU’s on-campus enforcement efforts.”

Unlike many campus security programs across the country, NYU Public Safety officers are not sworn law officers and lack the ability to arrest people. In previous statements with WSN, university spokesperson John Beckman emphasized that NYU’s has to work with NYPD to report on campus crime because the university lacks a deputized campus police.

Since the rave was off campus — and if the university has truly received no reports of students attending the Saturday night gathering, as the NYU spokeswoman told Spectrum News NY1 — then NYU Public Safety would have zero involvement in the NYPD’s law enforcement efforts regarding enforcing social distancing and mask wearing at public parks. Despite this, NYU students still have grave concerns regarding the university administration’s involvement with the NYPD.

Lawrence said he was scared when he heard that NYPD was responding to student reports.

“I feel like [NYU] Public Safety should’ve assessed the situation and that would’ve been more effective,” he said. “Right now we’re living on speculation that NYU students were there; if Public Safety would’ve came and done a safety check and direct student to safe rides, that would be ideal. However, that did not happen.”

Josiah said he didn’t know that NYU was forwarding the complaints to the NYPD, but the idea makes him “very uncomfortable.”

Bobbie Boettinger, a Tisch senior and president of the Tisch Undergraduate Student Council, concurred with Lawrence and Josiah, stating that students who attended the party — as well as any student who does not follow the city’s and university’s COVID-19 guidelines — should be suspended.

“None of us know what could happen once police officers get to the scene and by involving the NYPD, Black students could be in serious danger,” Boettinger told WSN via Twitter direct message. “We have continued to ask NYU to cut ties and any relationships with NYPD, and as Tisch Student Council President, I will continue to do so.”

Meanwhile, according to Wais’ email, the university administration is “investigating the circumstances from [Saturday night] and any students who have violated our expectations will be subject to disciplinary action.”

“I think [the rave was] incredibly tonedeaf and dangerous,” Josiah said in a statement to WSN. “I don’t want to be the reason the entire city has to go back into quarantine. Parties and raves like this can literally kill people … I think the university should suspend students who participate in raves like this, but I think it will be very difficult for them to find the students involved. What’s more likely is that we will all have to pay the price and head back into quarantine.”

Email Trace Miller at tmiller@nyunews.com.

Scholar Strike for Anti-Racism Begins Today CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

IMAGE BY MARTIN LOPEZ, STAFF EDIT BY LEO SHEINGATE

A joint movement of professors across the United States will be absent from their posts for a 2-day strike. Their efforts echo the NBA’s actions in protesting police violence.

For the past few days, professors have been sharing Scholar Strike teach-in ideas, plans and resources on Facebook and Twitter; Scholar Strike social media accounts have been reposting and retweeting. Butler and Gannon co-wrote on the Academe Blog that Scholar Strike teach-ins will be 10 minutes long and located on YouTube. Other participants, at various universities, will be engaging students with their own programming. On Sept. 8 and 9, Scholar Strike accounts will “blitz” Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with information about various aspects of racial injustice in the U.S., such as mass incarceration and policing.

Dr. Ahmed Ansari, an Industry Assistant Professor at the Tandon School of Engineering, will be staging a teach-in on “white supremacy and racism vis-a-vis design.” Dr. Susannah Levi, an Associate Professor at Steinhardt’s Department of Communicative

Sciences and Disorders, shared her Scholar Strike plans with WSN via email.

“The classes that I am teaching this fall are both about speech and language,” Levi prefaced. “People have very strong opinions about language in general, but there are also many examples of linguistic biases and linguistic profiling that are harmful for speakers of dialects that are considered less prestigious, which includes speakers of African American Language.”

For Scholar Strike, Levi wrote, “For both of my classes I decided to have students read several articles on what counts as ‘standard’ English… and then they can complete an optional reflection paper. Although my regular class time is cancelled, I’m still holding office hours so that students who want to talk about the articles can meet with me.”

Nicky Nenkov, chairperson of NYU’s Student Government Assembly, told WSN that the SGA Executive Committee was un-

aware of a centralized schoolwide plan to participate in Scholar Strike, but will be putting out education resources by Wednesday.

“We highly support the strike and applaud every member of the community who decides to participate,” Nenkov said. “We urge school and department leaders to be supportive of students, faculty, and staff who participate, both by being accommodating and by providing them with resources to further the conversation.”

Teaching assistants, grad students, administrators and staff — as well as professors — are encouraged by organizers to participate in the strike; however, university employees with no-strike union clauses are advised to “teach to the clock” (avoid uncompensated labor) for fear of retribution by the university administration for striking. NYU’s graduate student union, GSOC, did not respond to requests for comment.

Butler told Inside Higher Ed “she did

not discount the concerns of untenured colleagues, as she remembers well what it was once like to be a Black woman working without tenure,” adding “even tenure at Penn can’t protect her from the everyday potential threat of being stopped by police for, say, sitting at a bus stop while Black.”

“I appreciate that you’re afraid, but some of us don’t have the luxury of being able to hide,” Butler added. “Your privilege is your protection.”

Levi also emphasized the persistence of bias and the need to constantly combat it, “Policing people’s speech seems to be one of the last ‘acceptable’ forms of bias,” she said.

“I’m hoping that by talking about linguistic biases early in the semester, that it will allow students to bring that perspective into everything we talk about moving forward.”

Email Trace Miller at tmiller@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

SPORTS

SPORTS@NYUNEWS.COM

Can Messi and Barcelona Achieve Their Perfect Goodbye?

By KEVIN RYU Sports Editor When Sir Alex Ferguson retired from managing soccer club Manchester United in 2013, 13-year-old me could not believe it. He had just led the team to another Premier League title, showing there was more that this group of players could achieve under his leadership. I pictured an enduring image of Ferguson lifting the Champions League trophy after his final game and thought Ferguson was leaving prematurely with more to give in his managerial tank.

Looking back, I now realize how astute Ferguson was. Perfect goodbyes are incredibly rare in sports. Sometimes, the lack of results wears out the supporters’ patience. Arsenal fans’ relationship with Arsène Wenger toxically deteriorated his last couple years.

The memories of their improbable title in 1998 or the Invincibles team lost their luster, reminding the fans of how much Arsenal has fallen since then.

Other times, it is just really difficult to win that one final trophy to punctuate your career, as Zinedine Zidane, who physically dented his hopes of retiring as a two-time World Cup winner in 2006, would attest.

Perhaps Ferguson wanted to leave on a higher note, revenging their losses in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals. But he took a step back, realized that was a good time to retire, and left.

After seeing how quickly Manchester United sank to mediocrity after his departure, I am grateful Ferguson left when he did with his legendary status untarnished.

When famed player Lionel Messi announced his desire to leave FC Barcelona, it might have seemed as if he was leaving at the lowest possible point, with him dejectedly walking off the pitch after the club’s 8-2 defeat against FC Bayern Munich being the last image of Messi in a Barça shirt. But with the news that Messi will stay, fans will hope for a year that rewrites the narrative around that loss to Bayern as the spark behind a redemptive season. However,

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given the stagnancy miring the squad around Messi, this might have been as good of a time as they will likely find for both parties to amicably say goodbye.

For a club where a La Liga or a Champions League title is the baseline expectation, a trophyless 2019-2020 season — the team’s first season without silverware since the 2007-2008 season — was an incredibly disappointing one. That is, for the team as a whole. For Messi, this was yet another statistically impossible season that made genius look routine. He scored team-leading 25 goals. The next closest goal-scorer scored 16. He led the team in assists with 21. The second-leading assist maker on the team had eight.

Logically, for a possession-dominant team like Barcelona, defenders and midfielders should register the most touches in the middle third of the pitch. Messi ranked fourth on the team in touches in the middle third and still somehow led the team in touches in the attacking third. For a player five or six years beyond his physical peak, Messi was seemingly everywhere on the pitch, working everything out for Barcelona.

So, when the news that Messi was seeking to play elsewhere broke, even a Barcelona fan like Stern senior Richard Rambarran was not surprised.

“The thing he wants is the Champions League,” Rambarran said. “Seeing how we performed in the past three years in the Champions League — and that’s like the most coveted trophy at the club level — I wasn’t surprised that he wanted to leave.”

If the Barcelona board had shown any track record of transfer success in recent seasons, perhaps Messi would have exercised more patience, giving the team he has been tied to since he was 13 more time to build around him.

Since the 2015-2016 season, Barcelona’s transfer record has been almost impossibly woeful given the club’s stature and transfer budget. From 2015-2016 to the latest season, Barcelona has spent approximately $1.06 billion on transfers for 29 players. There is not a single player among the 29 acquired that has produced at the level of his predeces-

VIA WIKIMEDIA

Lionel Messi celebrating a goal against Granada CF for Barcelona back in October of 2014. Now, Messi and the club’s current relationship remains uncertain after the player’s request to leave was denied.

sor, with notable disappointments like Philippe Coutinho, who was bought for $159.5 million then loaned out to Bayern after a season-and-a-half of disappointing performances.

From a squad of disappointing transfers and aging remnants of the great Barcelona teams of the past, it is hard to see how Barcelona can construct a Champions league-winning side during the last years of Messi’s prime. Nélson Semedo, who Barcelona bought for $39.2 million in 2017, is not as good as Dani Alves was. A 33-yearold Gerard Piqué and a 32-year-old Sergio Busquets are not 28-year old Piqué and Busquets. Antoine Griezmann has not fit in with Messi and Luis Suárez as notable player Neymar seamlessly did.

“Barcelona right now is basically a team centered around Messi,” CAS junior Nikki Lee, whose passion for Barcelona has worn off since the days of Andrés Iniesta, Xavi and Carles Puyol, said. “When a lot of people look at Barça now, they look at a team that’s just kind of like petering towards nothing.”

In expressing his desire to leave, Messi showed an understanding of people’s pessimistic outlook on Barcelona. Although he has since withdrawn his request, he openly lambasted the club’s lack of vision in an exclusive interview where he also revealed that he is staying because the board will not honor his wish to play elsewhere.

“I believed that the club needed more young players, new players and I thought my time in Barcelona was over,” Messi told Goal. “The truth is that there has been no project or anything for a long time, they juggle and cover holes as things go by.”

So, with a disillusioned leader and a languishing supporting cast, how can Barcelona improve? Perhaps there will not be a single loss as bad as the 8-2 thrashing by Bayern, but there is no sign that Barcelona can reach the standard of excellence they have previously set for themselves. Messi ending his career at Barcelona with a Champions League trophy would provide a fairytale ending, but it seems more likely that Messi will be just good enough to bring Barcelona in eyesight of major silverware before another dispiriting loss ends their trophy chase.

However, in spite of everything, Barcelona still has Messi. If there is one player who could dribble his team to winning the Champions League, it would be him. In a knockout tournament like the Champions League, a couple brilliant moments could swing the fixture, and no player is capable of generating those moments like Messi.

Even when they are the underdogs, predictions of Barça’s loss will always come with the caveat that they have the best player on the pitch. As Rambarran points out, that alone offers Barcelona fans optimism.

“Messi said he wanted to explore new challenges, and this is a challenge Barcelona has never seen before,” Rambarran said. “When people underrate Messi, he always finds a way to remind people why he’s the greatest player of his generation.”

Email Kevin Ryu at kryu@nyunews.com.

Edited by KEVIN RYU

Stuart Robinson Starts His Tenure as NYU’s Athletic Director

DEBORAH ALALADE | WSN

By KEVIN RYU Sports Editor When you have worked at the same place for 28 years, there are very few surprises. You achieve a familial awareness of everyone’s personalities and idiosyncrasies, from what NFL team they support to how they take their coffee.

For Stuart Robinson, becoming NYU’s newest Director of Athletics meant leaving that sense of familiarity he has developed at SUNY New Paltz since 1992.

“I think it has to do more about the people,” Robinson said. “You develop relationships and you watch people grow and develop. So, for me, that was the hardest part.”

However, as a native of New York City, the allure of working at a global university centered in the city he grew up in intrigued him.

“I had an appreciation for the size and scope of the university,” he said. “[It was] an opportunity to create something for students in a very unique setting in New York City and on a campus spread out in different locations.”

A former soccer and baseball player at Williams College, Robinson first began to work at New Paltz as a part-time soccer coach before being appointed as the school’s athletic director in 2001. Although he has since traded in his soccer cleats for shoes comfortable enough for the “scrambling” one must do around the city, Robinson states his experience as a player and a coach has given him an understanding of the sacrifices a student-athlete makes.

“You have an appreciation for the group of students that you’re doing this for,” Robinson said. “I understand the commitment. I understand the amount of dedication necessary to achieve at a high level in a sport.”

Under Robinson, the New Paltz athletic department launched a diverse array of initiatives. To allow students to take advantage of the surrounding nature, the department started “Outdoor Pursuits,” a program that offers

activities such as mountaineering and snowshoeing throughout the school year. Upon the requests of the student-athletes, they also launched “Athletes Together” to not only spotlight the issue of mental health in sports but also create a more supportive environment for student-athletes seeking help.

Robinson recognizes it is important to establish a channel of communication between him and students on all levels of collegiate athletics. At NYU, Robinson takes the helm of an athletics program spanning 23 varsity sports teams and 25 intercollegiate club teams as well as numerous recreational and intramural programs.

“There are multiple layers of contact there,” he said. “There’s the intercollegiate student athlete, but at the same time there’s also the club sport, the recreational, and the intramural athletes.”

And, while this fall semester will not be the first semester that Robinson envisioned for himself at NYU, he maintains an optimistic outlook. The season being cancelled has given him an unexpected amount of time to gauge how to draw students’ attention to NYU athletics.

“On a campus where people don’t always think that we have intercollegiate athletics, I think it’s important that we work to make sure people recognize that we do,” Robinson said.

By coming to NYU, Robinson leaves behind an athletics program that enjoyed newfound success under his purview at New Paltz, headlined by the school’s first ever two national team titles in men’s volleyball. He is keen to replicate a similar level of success at his new university.

“I don’t think people thought that we could be as competitive as we were,” he said. “And that’s what I’m expecting coming here, thinking that we will compete in the UAA and that we will be one of those teams always vying for championships.”

Email Kevin Ryu at kryu@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News

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CULTURE@NYUNEWS.COM

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

CULTURE

Edited by BELLA GIL

Senior Year: The Pandemic Edition

By RIA MITTAL Contributing Writer To some, senior year is the much-awaited transition from a lifetime of structured schooling to real life adulthood. To others it’s a dreaded time of uncertainty and pressure. To me, it’s almost like a highlight reel of nostalgia and feels with High School Musical’s classic “We’re All In This Together” (Graduation Mix, of course) playing on repeat in the background. However, along with almost everything else in this world, “Miss Rona” has transformed senior year into something unrecognizable in these unprecedented times.

Gone are Senior Week and those special senior sweatshirts; foreign is the feeling of superiority watching underclassmen struggle to jaywalk around campus — better yet, the idea of being on campus at all. All that’s left is an astronomically expensive final year at Zoom University.

Asma Begum, a senior in Gallatin, shares my emotional investment and disappointment in this version of senior year — she’s decisively less dramatic, though.

“I’ve been looking forward to senior year ever since my freshman year because of all the events that happen at NYU and

being able to celebrate the ‘last first day’ with my friends,” Begum said. “Having been a commuter student since freshman year, I really enjoyed being on campus whenever I could. But with COVID it’s kind of difficult to do that.”

Like many other students, Begum made the difficult decision to stay remote for the fall semester due to health and safety concerns, but is hopeful for the spring and the possibility of graduating at Yankee Stadium like we’ve all always dreamed.

Ananya Raghuram, a CAS senior who has chosen to tackle a 12-hour time difference as she remotely attends school from Singapore, is much more optimistic about “Senior Year: The Pandemic Edition.”

“I overall feel happier mentally and physically at home, and this gives me more time to think about grad school,” Raghuram said, excited for the opportunity to get more clarity about her future plans.

She remains unfazed by the idea of not physically being present at school, admitting that, “Uncertainty is everywhere and I’m not sure we all know how to navigate in person experiences so no, I don’t feel fazed.”

Tandon senior Ali DeCesare is also

looking forward to the future.

“Honestly, senior year for me is about getting done what I have to get done and getting out,” DeCesare said of her plans to graduate early this December and start work immediately.

Though she doesn’t seem fazed by her virtual senior year, she commented on how these large scale changes are definitely an adjustment and not for everyone.

“I’ve already accepted that the first real career job I have is going to be virtual, and while I’m mostly fine with that, it’s just a very strange time to live in and be emerging out of academia into the ‘real world,’” DeCesare said. “I’m glad that the virtual spaces work well for me as a learning environment, but I know a lot of people are finding it really hard to get to classes and stay focused, and when only being offered virtual classes, it just might not work for some people.”

There are many pros and cons to this senior year, and CAS senior Kashish Jain really had to weigh them as he decided to delay his early graduation last spring and return to NYU this fall. Having always planned to graduate at the end of his third year, the abrupt COVIDend of his college career just didn’t sit right with him.

“Coming back seemed like a way to

CHELSEA LI | WSN

NYU seniors face their graduating year in the midst of a pandemic. Every senior has a different outlook on what they envision the fall 2020 semester to look like.

practically extend six more months of my schooling life,” Jain said. “Cause growing up, till this point, it’s all one form or another of schooling, so it just feels more comfortable extending those six months rather than being in the position where you’re unemployed, looking for jobs, not in school, just out of place in everything, especially as an international student and especially right now.”

Although every senior holds a different outlook on the semester, there is no doubt that there is optimism in the air and that each senior will make the most of their final year at NYU, especially if we all work together to follow the health guidelines enforced.

Email Ria Mittal at culture@nyunews.com.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

By DANA SUN Deputy Culture Editor The ultimate crossroad every NYU student has come across in the months leading up to this past week’s back-toschool kickoff is whether to stay home or to go back to campus. This wasn’t exactly a decision any student has had to consider in the past, but due to everyone’s concern for safety from COVID-19, it’s certainly one that has crossed their minds. Unfortunately, with no clear end in sight with regards to the current pandemic, there’s no

perfect answer.

Armaan Ahmed, who would have been a Gallatin junior this semester, described a gap semester as his “leastworst option.” He claimed it was by no means a simple decision.

The discussion-centric aspect to a majority of Ahmed’s courses is crucial to the unique nature of his Gallatin study. Therefore, having witnessed a disappointing deterioration to the quality of his seminars during last semester’s transition to online instruction, he realized he would be facing the same issue for his fall courses.

ALEXANDRA CHAN | WSN

NYU buildings set new safety regulations for entering into the buildings in preparation for some students returning to campus. NYU students were faced with the choice of whether to stay home or go back to campus for the fall 2020 semester.

“Each semester at NYU is too valuable, both financially and experientially, to be online,” Ahmed said via email. “I am lucky enough to have the privilege of being able to take a gap, as I know there are many students whose financial aid/home situation would not allow for it.”

This was the case for Stern senior Maite Rodriguez Carneiro, who had initially considered taking a leave of absence, but her scholarship would not allow for it. From there, the choice to return to campus was simple for Carneiro, who describes her home in New Jersey as a stressful environment.

“I end up feeling like I’m in high school again where I constantly felt trapped in my own home and couldn’t get anything done,” Carneiro said via Facebook Messenger. “I’m taking my most challenging courses this semester, I’ll be applying and interviewing for jobs all the time, I’ll be running events for my club at Stern, and I’ll be working.”

With such a busy schedule, Carneiro felt she could thrive more on campus, where she is given a space free of any distractions.

“All of this is virtual. I can’t imagine being productive at home with all the chaos that goes on there,” Carneiro said. “Here I feel like I can really focus and not put myself into a lot of trouble in the long run by messing up on my senior year.”

CAS junior Joey Hung, who had decided to continue her fall instruction remotely from Dublin, California, shared the same sentiment as Carneiro when it came to a lack of private academic space at home.

“I feel almost unmotivated to learn and interact when I’m alienated at home, unable to discuss and engage

with my peers in a classroom,” Hung said via email.

However, despite Hung’s concerns about staying home, she felt there wasn’t enough of an incentive to return to campus, given the limited operations through New York City due to the current pandemic.

“I didn’t see a reason to return to move back to New York and pay extra for rent when all my classes would be online,” Hung said. “I’d be constricted to my room most of the time. The regular activities, including museum visits, going out to eat, and going out to other public spaces would be extremely limited.”

The unforeseeable future of how long the effects of COVID-19 would last, in addition to Hung’s reluctance to delay her graduation, is what convinced Hung to continue her semester remotely in her hometown rather than to take a leave of absence.

Indeed, no decision seemed perfect for anyone, but students have continued to try their best to remain positive about the struggles they face with the decisions they’ve made.

While Carneiro made the more personally beneficial choice of coming back to the city, she is still navigating the stressors that come with being a senior within a pandemic.

“I want to be optimistic because it’s my senior year, but it was already stressful since I had to make sure I had a full-time job lined up for when I graduate,” Carneiro said. “Now, the circumstances make it harder to find a job and I’m afraid my mental health will get in the way of constantly jumping on opportunities and presenting the best version of myself in interviews.”

Hung is eager to take advantage of

her decision to spend time with her family, whom she only sees as little as four total weeks a year. However, she does feel that she would be missing out on a chunk of her college experience.

“I think the college experience is a singular life-time experience,” Hung said. “I’m sad that I’ve missed out on so much of it already by being at home instead of college.”

As for Ahmed, he regrets no longer having access to the many resources that being in New York City provides, such as working in his favorite coffee shop for hours, speaking to professors and making valuable connections. Regardless, he seeks to make the most of his free time by pursuing various projects in his hometown of Clark County, Ohio.

“I am currently working and will continue to work as a contact tracer in my local county, and am planning on starting a clothing line based on my photography,” Ahmed said. “By taking a gap and choosing to stay home I preserve my in-person semester, am able to work, remain as safe as possible, and am not paying $35,000 for, in my opinion, a temporarily substandard education.”

It’s clear that regardless of what choice students decided to make, such decisions have resulted in a semester unlike any other we’ve seen before. Some students have a mixture of online and in-person classes, other students attend those same classes remotely from their hometowns and there are even some who have taken leaves of absences. However, without a clear idea of where the course of COVID-19 will take them, no choice was perfect for any student.

Email Dana Sun at dsun@nyunews.com.

Washington Square News

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

ARTS

ARTS@NYUNEWS.COM

5

Edited by SASHA COHEN and KAYLEE DEFREITAS

Remembering the Late, Great Chadwick Boseman

By DYLAN THOMAS KALAYDIJAN Contributing Writer I believe Chadwick Boseman was and always will be an extremely rare kind of actor — one of the true, real-deal movie stars. He was a man of high class and charisma, noticeably devoid of the tabloid drama and gossip of the Hollywood scene. He was noble, cool, calm and controlled, cut out of the same cloth as Denzel Washington and George Clooney. If I knew Chadwick Boseman was in a movie, there was a higher chance I would go see it. His supreme talent imbued the Black heroes and inspirations he chose to portray with a mythical quality. He was the man who could seem to do no wrong.

Late at night on August 28, 2020, Chadwick Boseman passed away after a four-year fight with colon cancer, in his home alongside his family and wife. Boseman managed to keep his disease hidden from the public and many of his co-stars while delivering powerhouse performance after powerhouse performance between chemo treatments and operations.

Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios, wasn’t aware of his condition up until the day of his death, when he got an urgent email one hour before his death. Boseman didn’t let his cancer get the better of him and chose smart roles that were an inspiration to many, breaking down barriers when it came to the representation of the Black community in mainstream cinema.

His first big studio film “42” saw him deliver a real breakout role. Portraying Jackie Robinson, the first Black baseball player to play Major League Baseball, Boseman brought a certain hardihood to the role that elevated “42” beyond your typical biopic. Chadwick Boseman followed “42” up with other biopics cover-

ing the lives of Black heroes like “Get on Up,” the story of James Brown, celebrated “Godfather of Soul,” and “Marshall,” the story of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Regardless of the films’ overall quality, Boseman’s presence always managed to glue my eyes to the screen. But, it wasn’t until “Black Panther” that Boseman achieved true movie star status, breaking records — including the biggest solo superhero launch of all time — and inspiring many with the comic book movie smash hit.

His performance is the real centerpiece of “Black Panther.” He’s an actor who not only performed on screen, but truly commanded it. In “Black Panther,” Boseman stepped into King T’Challa’s shoes with grace, strength and sincerity, delivering the kind of performance we don’t get to see often in big budget blockbuster filmmaking. He oozes charisma and power with every step he took. Boseman stood tall and walked with a unique confidence, showcasing his evolution as an actor since bursting onto the scene. His portrayal of a Black man who is both king and superhero, whilst fraily human bestows a certain regality to the representation of Black faces on the silver screen. In bringing King T’Challa to life, Boseman represented a change for Black representation in Hollywood that paved the way for the development of more big films featuring POC such as “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”

His most recent performance was as Vietnam War freedom fighter Commander Stormin’ Norman, in this year’s Spike Lee joint, “Da 5 Bloods,” a fitting and tragic choice as one of his last, cementing the man as a mythical and persuasive leader not only off the screen but

also on it. The film centers on these men going back to find his bones, as he left such a strong and emotional impact on them. Boseman’s character inspires and pushes his fellow Vietnam vets in the film, and remains in spirit long after his death in a shoot out in the jungle.

Much like the characters he portrayed, Chadwick Boseman has left a lasting impact on many across the world. With “Black Panther,” Boseman became a hero to many children, teenagers and adults as a strong, Black superhero who wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable and always tried his best. Comic book films are traditionally littered with white heroes and villains, but Boseman did something that was refreshing and game-changing — he took a superhero and really made it his own.

Beyond that, his devotion to activism and the proliferation of Black stories in Hollywood demonstrated the benevolence he often portrayed came from the principles of his reality. Until the moment of his death, Chadwick Boseman used his voice to speak out about how COVID-19 had disproportionately affected minority communities, promoted BLDPWR.com, a grassroots organization devoted to challenging the predominant narratives and the amount of Black representation Hollywood typically tends to portray, and served as a producer on films like “Marshall” and “Message from the King.” These films showed his devotion to getting Black stories out there for people to see and understand the cultural intricacies of a community that has yet to see true representation in many artistic fields, including that of film.

The voice of power and reason he brought to roles like King T’Challa and Thurgood Marshall came from his devotion to activism and the extraordinary

DEBORAH ALALADE | WSN

Chadwich Boseman passed away at the end of August after a long and silent battle with colon cancer. Boseman will be remembered not only as an actor, but also as an activist who championed Black stories.

amount of hope he had for the future of minority representation on the big screen and political reform in the U.S. and across the world. It was this sense of devotion to moral advancement that made every single one of his roles feel so lived-in and momentous, it was what differentiated Black Panther from the rest of the Avengers and cemented his status as a beacon of hope that transcended the trappings of an aspect ratio.

King T’Challa/Black Panther is one of the most memorable characters of recent memory, and the depth Boseman imbued him with was so special. What he did will never be forgotten, just like the actor himself. His legacy will undoubtedly live on — his high school has begun to set a scholarship in his honor and over 60,000 have already signed a petition to replace a Confederate monument with a statue of him in his hometown. The online petition states, “He opened many doors for many young black people with

his leading roles in movies such as Black Panther and Marshall...it is only natural that his hometown honors what he did.”

He deserves one. He broke down barriers, kept his head up high, was a brilliant performer, and best of all, always stayed true to himself. I really believe he’s one of the rare actors whose heroics went past the screen and served as inspiration to many.

He showed young people, especially young Black people, that anything was possible if you worked at it. He showed everyone that there are bigger opportunities for superheroes who aren’t white, an issue which plagued the Marvel Cinematic Universe for almost a decade before Boseman’s unforgettable debut. He was a hero to many generations, and will be truly remembered as one of the greats. Rest in power Chadwick Boseman. You will not be forgotten.

Email Dylan Thomas Kalaydijan at film@nyunews.com.

The 2020 VMAs Prove The Traditional Awards Show Model Is Dead

CHELSEA LI | WSN

MTV’s Video Music Awards ran on August 30th without an audience. Though a year of many firsts, the 37th VMAs viewership continues to drop despite an increased effort in attempting to make the show interesting and engaging.

By SAMAA KHULLAR Contributing Writer MTV held the 37th annual Video Music Awards on Aug. 30, the first show in the history of the program to be held without an in-person audience due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. More positively, actress and musician Keke Palmer made history as the first solo black woman to host the show throughout its near four decades on the air. With performers like Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande donning masks during their performances, and several winners such as Megan Thee Stallion and Taylor Swift video conferencing in to accept their awards, the night was far from

normal. While I would love to applaud MTV for trying to keep the show exciting during a global pandemic, it’s time to face a depressing truth: awards shows have become boring.

One would think that due to the extraordinary circumstances, this year’s VMAs would stand out, but apart from the aforementioned “firsts” of the evening, it was uninteresting and poorly paced. This disorganization is perfectly exemplified even just when looking at the theme: what exactly was it? COVID-19?

Social justice? Aliens? According to MTV the official theme was “New York City,” which makes no sense since many of the performances were pre-recorded in Los Angeles. Every performance and

speech seemed to yank the audience in a polar opposite direction, leaving a sense of confusion as to what theme exactly tied the show together.

I also can’t decide what was more uncomfortable about this year’s show: the awkward green screen award presentations, pre-filmed acceptances by celebrities who weren’t at all dressed for the occasion, the blatant lip syncing during most of the performances or the quiet clapping from a mostly empty audience.

Clearly, the 2020 VMAs will also go down as the most uncomfortable show in its history, as every attempt to make the night seem “normal” only made it feel more strained.

Even if I could dismiss these unfortunate circumstances as an inescapable result of COVID-19, the VMAs are still unable to learn from mistakes made long before the virus disrupted the show. In recent years, almost every award show has followed a trend of only awarding one or two artists and snubbing every other nominee. We’ve seen it happen repeatedly: Taylor Swift at the 2019 AMAs (six wins including “Artist of the Decade”), Drake at the 2019 BBMAs (12 wins, most of any nominee that night), Billie Eilish at the Grammys early this year (five wins in all major categories) and Lady Gaga at this year’s VMAs as she walked away with 5 wins and as the first recipient of the “Tricon” award.

This is not to say that these wins aren’t deserved, but how frequently does a game-changing album, song or video truly come along? I can name maybe one or two pieces of music that redefined a genre, or raised the bar so high that it deserved every accolade of the night, but these shows have tried to fool us into thinking that any artist with decent radio play needs to walk away with every award they can offer, and that it somehow elevates the quality of said artist’s work.

I’m not the only one sick of the so-called “fan-voted” award sweeps; over 383,000 Twitter accounts agreed with user @JustAbtNothing when he tweeted, “I have never heard this song [Rain on Me] in my life” despite it winning Song of the Year. The VMAs clearly value celebrity over artistry and I’m not surprised that viewership drops with each passing year.

This bias is also transparent with the performers the VMAs chose to highlight. In my opinion, the standout performance of the latest show was Chloe x Halle’s “Ungodly Hour.” Beautifully harmonized and elegantly styled, it was a refreshing reminder that less is more and that you don’t need a heavily choreographed set to put on a great show.

Unfortunately, their act was only used during the pre-show.I’d like a word with the producer that made that call. Instead we got main-show performances by Doja Cat and The Weeknd, which looked and

sounded identical to every late night show performance they both gave during their press runs.

Award shows have become glorified press tours. Do I have to bring up every tired performance of “Señorita” that we were forced to watch on almost every award show in 2019? It seems that in the past five years, these awards have meant less to artists, as many have realized they don’t need the validation of a board of business executives, and they shouldn’t have to sit through a night of being snubbed next to their mainstream (often white and male) counterparts.

This has resulted in a decline of A-listers in the audience and a lack of notable performances. While it would have been an honor to be asked to perform at the VMAs in the 90s, today, it feels like a hollow achievement.

Maybe that’s why the VMAs have tried to do everything in their power to grasp onto relevancy, circulating the same pictures of snake-laden Britney Spears during her 2001 “I’m a Slave 4 U” performance or Lady Gaga’s meat dress on the 2010 red carpet: because as difficult as it may be to admit, the VMAs are dead, and they have been for a while now. The latest show just felt like the final nail in the coffin.

Email Samaa Khullar at music@nyunews.com.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

OPINION

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Edited by EMILY DAI and HELEN WAJDA

CITY

NYPD, Stay Out Of Our Restaurants

By KEVIN KURIAN Deputy Opinion Editor As the pandemic rages on, city and state government officials are brainstorming plans to reopen indoor dining in New York City.

While restaurants outside of the five boroughs have been allowed to reopen at half capacity, indoor dining in the city remains a faint memory of a safer and happier time.

Recently, Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced a reopening plan for the city’s struggling restaurants, on the condition that 4,000 NYPD officers would be present in dining facilities on the day that it will take effect to enforce social-distancing guidelines.

While it is admirable that the New York State government will not bow to voices that would have him authorize a rushed reopening plan, deploying the city’s police force to address this solution is irresponsible especially when taking the NYPD’s history of police brutality into consideration.

Rather than bringing police into dining establishments, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene should be tasked with ensuring that indoor dining facilities are compliant with social distancing regulations. The city’s 100 inspectors could perform checks on restaurants and temporarily shut down those who fail to adhere to regulations. This would not only create an incentive for restaurants to self-regulate, because there will be a steep penalty if their customers are not social distancing, but it will allow customers who might be subject to police brutality or overpoliced to feel more comfortable and safe while eating. This department already has the power to shut down restaurants by assigning them failing grades, so why not use it to keep the city safe from establishments that pose threats to public health?

The NYPD’s track record of enforcing social distancing is already troubling. The police broke up a group of people in predominantly-POC East New York by punching a man in the face. Groups of predominantly white people at Manhattan parks were given masks instead. NYPD data further demonstrates the racial disparities of social

Submitting to

distancing enforcement; 81% of people who received social distance related summonses during the height of the pandemic were Black or Hispanic. In fact, most violations were given out in low-income communities that are predominantly occupied by people of color, such as Brownsville. The presence of police in indoor dining facilities is also worrying because of recent friction between the NYPD and the communities it has pledged to protect. While it is true that the police force’s intended role in American society is to guard against violence and lawlessness, it’s clear that many of their interactions with city residents have not been in adherence to this standard.

To be clear, the NYPD’s record of police brutality is not limited to a singular event. Too often, the NYPD’s first response to civil or criminal infractions is violence, and this instinct could jeopardize people of color who decide to dine indoors.

There are many NYPD officers who have honorably served their community, putting themselves in front of danger that innocent New Yorkers would have otherwise faced alone. But the NYPD ought to only concern itself with situations that are direct threats to public safety, like violent crime. In fact, it seems inadvisable to devote 4,000 officers to standing in dining establishments when the city is seeing a stratospheric rise in violent crime that these officers could be policing instead.

More than anything, our country has to stop viewing policing as the only solution to deal with behaviors harmful to society at large. The city and state governments’ collective overreliance on punitive law enforcement has caused them to ignore an elegant solution to this problem, that balances a scarcity of resources with the need to protect Black and indigenous peoples of color.

There is no need for the NYPD to enforce social distancing protocols in restaurants, and inviting police officers into dining establishments only makes them more unsafe for people of color dining there. Governor Cuomo can leverage the power of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to enforce social distancing, placing patrons of color’s safety first by not choosing an organization with a history of racially-targeted brutality.

This is one step we must collectively take to make New York into a more peaceful and equal city.

Email Kevin Kurian at kkurian@nyunews.com.

STAFF EDITORIAL

Funding the MTA Is a Necessity Since COVID-19 shut the world down in March, millions have faced financial difficulties. The MTA is no exception. In late July, the corporation released a report projecting a $16.2 billion deficit by 2024.

MTA Chair Patrick Foye called for more relief funding from the federal government, explaining that public transportation ridership had decreased by over 90% since March as many New Yorkers followed stayat-home orders.

But instead of offering aid to prop up the public transportation system, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a cut in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding. Without FEMA funding, New York will be forced to figure out how to cover the costs of disinfecting subways and schools — services that Trump deemed non-essential. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo reacted strongly to these cuts and are already working with state officials to challenge Trump’s decision. If they’re unable to take action against these cuts, Trump’s choice to ignore the MTA’s financial turmoil and make public transportation even more unsafe by stripping away disinfecting funding will disproportionately impact the millions of low-income individuals who rely on public transportation to get around the city.

In 2014, the MTA reported that over half of public transportation riders had household incomes under $50,000, which was lower than the median household income in NYC at the time. The higher amount of low-income individuals utilizing public transportation was made even more apparent in the wake of COVID-19. While transit ridership in Manhattan — the borough with the highest median household income — fell by 75% in March, the Bronx — the borough with the highest poverty rate and lowest median household income — only saw a decrease in ridership by about 55% as low-income individuals’ economic situations and essential jobs did not grant them the luxury of working from home.

If the MTA does not receive federal funding soon, The Riders Alliance –– an advocacy group for commuters in NYC –– reports that it could be forced to shut down half of all subway lines, provide only local service or eliminate commuter lines in order to continue operating. These cuts would mean that riders in already difficult-to-reach neighborhoods such as Red Hook, Flushing and Riverdale will be isolated even more. Line closures would also mean that car traffic

would increase, which will inevitably lead to more air pollution, slower emergency response times and more traffic accidents. While wealthier New Yorkers can afford to find alternatives to public transportation such as their own cars, rideshare services or Citibike, the millions of low-income individuals who cannot afford these expensive options will be left with no choice but to crowd onto public transportation that will be even less accessible and more dangerous than it is now.

Additionally, without money to thoroughly disinfect public transit and the pandemic raging on, New Yorkers who are already forced to risk their health by using public transportation will become even more unsafe. Not only will poor individuals be cut off from the affordable transportation needed to navigate the city, the little options they’ll be left with will likely no longer be cleaned regularly. This forces them to choose between not being able to pay rent and buy food, or enduring even longer commutes and putting their health and that of their families at significant risk during a global health crisis.

This crisis is not just disproportionately affecting low-income communities, but marginalized communities as well. In 2016, Pew Research found that regular public transportation riders were more likely to identify as Black, Hispanic or immigrants than white. If the MTA is forced to cut transit lines and cannot afford to keep public transit adequately cleaned, communities that are already being disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and systemic inequality will be even more susceptible to contracting the virus, while losing out on job opportunities due to less transit access.

The MTA has long faced financial difficulties. It remains the largest transit network in North America.

The importance of this transit system can’t be overstated, and serious government intervention has been needed for a long time. In fact, the loss of revenue in the face of this pandemic is even more than the loss during the Great Depression. However, the Trump administration has decided to pursue a reckless decision that will dramatically worsen the lives of those who depend on the MTA and the MTA’s already perilous financial situation as a whole. While it is promising that de Blasio and Cuomo are pushing back against Trump’s decision to cut funding for the MTA, the fact that Trump chose to cut funding in the first place only comes to represent the consequences of a ruthless ideological political agenda that prioritizes the wealthy instead of the livelihood and health of low-income individuals.

Email the Editorial Board at editboard@nyunews.com.

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Washington Square News

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

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UNDER THE ARCH

Edited by MANDIE MONTES and ANNA-DMITRY MURATOVA

What Does It Feel Like To

SOMEONE | WSN

Lose a Best Friend?

By VAISHNAVI NAIDU Under the Arch Deputy Editor What does it feel like to lose a best friend?

One you thought you couldn’t possibly lose. The best friend who managed to stand the test of time, who was constant even as everyone else walked in and out of your life.

The kind of best friend you were proud of having by your side for so long despite everything you’d gone through, because you went through it together. It didn’t matter how much you changed or outgrew your friends at home; they just seemed like they’d always be in your life no matter what.

A best friend who didn’t even have the same interests as you. They were almost your opposite in a way, at least in every way noticeable to the people around you. But you didn’t need them to like the same things you liked.

To listen to the same music you did or hate contact sports with the same burning passion.

It wasn’t a deal breaker that they absolutely refused to watch “The Good Place,” despite the fact you had just binge-watched it for days.

You didn’t need them to do those things because you had other friends for that. No, this friend — your best friend — just knew you in a way you couldn’t possibly know yourself.

You had unspoken rules that no one understood. They knew how to give you tough love and advice without ever attacking you. And when you needed each other you were there, even if it just meant listening to them sob on

the phone for hours. Their presence was comforting in a way you couldn’t explain even if you tried. Like you had spent the whole day thrashing against the waves and could f inally backfloat to the shore.

What does it feel like to lose a best friend?

It feels like being ripped apart and not into perfect halves. Like you don’t know who you are without them. It feels like a void eating at you when you least expect it. When you break down in the middle of making plans to go skating, because they were the one who held your hand as you clung to the rink. You trusted them to not let you fall, even though you could already see them slipping on the ice. It’s the unfinished plans and promises; did they ever end up confronting their ex like they said they would? It’s this sinking feeling in your chest every time you realize they’re not coming back.

Every time you realize this was for the best, but just wish you could tell them you finally got that internship you had spent months dreaming about. It’s the double take you do and the weird mix of apprehension and excitement you feel when you think that random person walking down the street is them. You still haven’t decided yet what you’d do if you ever bumped into them again. Because a hug would feel too fake and ignoring them would immediately fill you with regret. It’s the need to know if they’re okay, but realizing it’s not your place anymore to ask. It’s that strange warmth you feel every time you think about them, quickly replaced with a sense of loss, and then warmth again as

A raw recollection of the immediate aftermath from watching one of your closest friendships in your life implode and finding yourself picking up the pieces on your own.

you find yourself wishing them the best.

What does it feel like to lose a best friend?

It’s the disbelief at how things could ever get that bad. The nights you play the blame game and kick yourself for letting it get so toxic. For not realizing sooner that the snowball had started running downhill, and once you did it had already gotten so big everything was crushed in its path. It’s the constant questions. Do they still think about you in those moments when everything’s still and there’s nothing left to distract yourself with? Do they miss hearing you laugh? Do they f ind themselves opening the chat, only to realize there’s nothing left to say? Maybe they watch your face pop up when you’re online and watch it go back to ‘last active.’ Maybe they’re reading that last conversation and wondering if they had just said this differently or sucked up their pride in this one moment, maybe everything wouldn’t have imploded. Maybe they’re constantly wishing for closure, but they’ve realized that nothing will ever be closure. They’re all ‘maybes’ for them, but they aren’t for me.

Maybe losing your best friend feels like the tears running down your face as you type this.

Maybe these tears contain the unspoken rules you had, the silent hugs and the now tainted, yet wistful memories you share. Maybe losing your best friend feels like knowing this is your way of letting go.

Email Vaishnavi Naidu at vnaidu@nyunews.com.

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Editorial Adviser

Dr. Kenna Griffin Editors-at-Large

Carol Lee, Emily Mason, Arvind Sriram, Ashley Wu ABOUT WSN: Washington Square News (ISSN 15499389) is the student newspaper of New York University. WSN is published in print on Mondays and throughout the week online during NYU’s academic year, except for university holidays, vacations and exam periods.

CORRECTIONS: WSN is committed to accurate reporting. When we make errors, we do our best to correct them as quickly as possible. If you believe we have erred, contact the managing editors at managing@nyunews.com.

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We are telling big stories — the Bling Ring, Venmo fraud, drug donkeys — ones that expanded past our printstandard 500 words, ones that paint pictures with words.

This magazine aims to be a platform where undergraduate and graduate students alike can mutter on about their love of the blue-seated MTA trains or put into words the flavor of their love of grandma’s dumplings.

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