Not to flex our campus or anything, but a lot of places around NYU and Greenwich Village get major hype. Some of these places deserve their stellar reputations, but many of them are simply not worth the time. Here are some places that NYU students have quickly discovered aren’t even worth a Snapchat story.
Boba Guys
11 Waverly Place
Starting off controversial. This chain claims that they serve the “highest quality bubble milk tea in the world.” But with that comes long, long lines. It’s rare to see Boba Guys without a line that stretches up to competitor Kung Fu Tea, which some NYU students claim tastes better than the so-called GOAT of boba. For amazing bubble tea without the long waits, try Chinatown or Flushing. Places like Gong Cha, Mi Tea and Debutea will satisfy your boba cravings without the Disney World-esque lines. Also, as anti-Boba Guys Steinhardt junior Ryan Tsai pointed out, Boba Guys is from California. “East coast beast coast,” he said.
Oren’s Daily Roast
29 Waverly Place
Popular with NYU faculty, Oren’s Daily Roast is conveniently located right across from Silver. The medium-high end coffee shop offers a meticulous selection of “the finest coffees, roasted to order.” However, CAS senior Yorai Vardi likens their drip coffee to “acidic mud.” If you are a coffee fiend, there are several — albeit not as convenient — alternatives, such as Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Irving Farm. When you have an 8 a.m. at Silver and you snoozed one too many times that morning, you might as well just mobile order from Starbucks.
Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
Almost everyone at NYU has been a Bobst loyalist at one point in their life. But eventually, we all have to grow up. Bobst isn’t exactly a comforting place to study: the building should’ve served as a government building or art museum. Granted, the LL2 study rooms do hit differently, the south side is marginally tolerable and sometimes you just need to be at Bobst so that you can say you’re at Bobst for the memes. But, bottom line, Bobst is overrated, and there are way better — even quieter — study spots at NYU. Real ones will know that the LaGuardia Co-Op slaps when you have a paper due in two hours, the Stern Community Lounge goes off when you have a Gen Chem exam the next day and that study room in the basement of your dorm will make your Econ homework do itself.
MacDougal Street Comedy Clubs
MacDougal Street
We’ve all been there: you’re on the sketchy trek from Washington Square Park to dollar pizza at 2 a.m. and suddenly you’re hounded by overeager men aggressively promoting tickets for a free comedy show. Usually, you’ll walk right past them, unfazed and just dying for a slice of heavenly cheese on cardboard, but what happens when you actually take the bait and go inside? Often, you’ll find yourself cringing and groaning in a dingy, weird-smelling and crowded bar while amateur comedians try way too hard to make you laugh at politically incorrect jokes. You’ll leave most likely comforting a friend who was unfairly targeted, still craving the cheesy goodness of that pizza.
Rockefeller Center
600 Fifth Ave.
Yes, it’s September. Yes, we are going to talk about exactly what not to do during the holidays. We’ve all seen the pictures: groups of friends holding hands as they ice-skate, families cheesing with the giant Christmas tree and kids posing with the giant Christmas ornaments. Crowded, noisy and generally a huge tourist monument, Rockefeller Center is simply not the place to be around Christmas season, especially if you want to pretend you’re a New Yorker. Real New Yorkers (or talented posers) would rather head to Brooklyn to see Dyker Heights, a neighborhood with insane Christmas decorations that cover the whole facade of million-dollar homes.
A version of this article appears in the Sunday, Sept. 16, 2019, print edition. Email Gaby Baldovino at [email protected].
