The Kimmel Center for University Life unveiled long-awaited seating pods built into its Grand Staircase just ahead of this academic year, nearly two years after the university controversially walled off the entire area due to “protest activity.”

The gray seating pods, also adorned with new handrails, line the left side of the staircase and are part of a broader renovation plan to foster a “more welcoming and inclusive space for the entire NYU community.” Original renderings showed additional seating by the entrance of the building that were not present following the staircase’s reopening. 

“I like the design,” CAS senior Mackenzie Perez said in an interview with WSN. “I always felt like if I was walking up in the middle, I was going to fall because they are slippery, but I like that I can sit here with a friend and feel like I’m having a community.”

In March 2024, then-Executive Vice President Martin Dorph said the full reopening would take several weeks and that the changes would address concerns of “steepness,” inaccessibility and security. The staircase initially closed in October 2023 as pro-Palestinian demonstrations surged on campus, but was not formally addressed until four months later.

The staircase has been a known hub for student protests and vigils for decades, most recently hosting demonstrations from the Student Labor Activist Movement and Incarceration to Education Coalition. In statements last spring, administrators also said that the redesign “helps maximize that space for community use” and supports “broader efforts to foster more inclusive, student-centered environments.”

“We still have a constitutional right first and foremost to be able to protest,” Perez said.

NYU similarly blocked off Gould Plaza outside the Stern School of Business in April 2024, when dozens of students, faculty and alumni were arrested after participating in a pro-Palestinian encampment. The university, which has claimed the plaza was closed due to “disorderly” and “antagonizing” behavior, has since announced plans to renovate the space, which is still barricaded and under construction. 

A member of the Student Government Assembly proposed a resolution in March 2024 demanding that the university reopen the staircase, claiming the closure was causing overcrowding and created a “fire hazard and safety issue.” 

“I don’t think they originally planned this out,” CAS sophomore Shrisay Reddy told WSN. “I’m pretty sure it was because of the protests.”

Contact Leena Ahmed at [email protected].