Photos courtesy of NYC Union of Students.
By Queen Carrasco
The CUNY system has been hailed for its ability to elevate the socioeconomic status of its students; a CUNY graduate with a baccalaureate degree is estimated to earn an annual salary of $75,536. In comparison, a New Yorker with only a high school degree might earn $36,743. A majority of CUNY graduates go on to work within New York State, contributing to the labor force. CUNY’S budget for the 2024 fiscal year was $4.27 billion, with New York State providing $2.28 billion, over half of the total. New York City funds 15% of the budget, student tuition another 20%, and federal aid, scholarships, and waivers round it out. Time and time again, CUNY faces budget cuts - which impact its students’ experience the most. Here at City College, students see the results all around them. Constantly broken escalators. Slow elevators. Crumbling infrastructure. Tuition costs. These are just some of the things that City College students have to deal with. NYC Union of Students aims to solve these problems, not just for City College, but for all NYC students, public and private.
The student union is not just fighting for themselves; they are fighting for higher education justice for future generations of students. Student activist movements have always had a place in American history. From the Anti-Vietnam War protests in 1967 to the climate protests led by Greta Thunberg in 2018, they have arguably served as critical points of change. The NYC Union of Students (NYCUS) intends to be another critical point in student activist history. Founded this past summer, the NYCUS is no different. Initially meeting as a group organizing around the Repeal Egregious Property Accumulation and Invest it Right! Bill (REPAIR) - a piece of legislature demanding that New York University (NYU) and Columbia pay their fare share back to New York City. Under the New York State Constitution, private universities are exempt from paying property taxes; taking advantage of that, Columbia owns 274 buildings, and NYU owes 148. Ranked third for tax exemptions applied to private universities, Fordham University owns 13 in comparison. The two schools are some of the largest landowners in NYC, yet are exempt from over $300 million in property taxes annually. REPAIR would add legislation to the state constitution which would cap the exemption at $100 million, rerouting revenues back into CUNY.
The students in these meetings realized there were other problems connecting them. Erin, an organizer in the NYCUS, says “As we were meeting each week and discussing REPAIR, we realized there were other issues and inequities brought up. The great thing about REPAIR, in my opinion, is that it is a launching point for a discussion about all of the higher education inequities in NYC. For example, Columbia and NYU are two of the largest private landowners in NYC, and their campuses are inaccessible to the over 100,000 CUNY students, who disproportionately are from NYC and stay in NYC after they graduate. Why aren’t CUNY students allowed into NYU and Columbia’s libraries, dorms, classrooms, and community spaces?”
From there, the student union widened its lenses to include the bill. NYC Free has five main pieces to it:
Transparency: We have the right to know where our tuition and tax dollars are spent
Direct Democracy: We have the right to decide how our colleges and universities spend our tuition and tax dollars
Access: We have the right to have access to all higher education spaces in New York City
Labor: We have the right and responsibility to stand in solidarity with our staff and faculty
Repair: We have the right to demand that our institutions, both academic and government, support REPAIR.
Within the next five years, the student union will continue to fight for the passage of REPAIR and ensure that the $300 million owed by NYU and Columbia go back into the city where they operate. Even so, that $300 million is just the start; the eventual goal is to secure enough money so that CUNY can once again become tuition-free. There’s a lot of work to do, but Erin is confident in her community and her organization.
“If we could open up their [Columbia and NYU] campuses for all students, imagine how much more cross-campus interaction there would be, and how much more vibrant our higher education system would be for it. Baruch students in NYU’s Bobst Library, City College students studying in Columbia’s Butler Library, students across all systems in each other’s classrooms - everyone would only be better for it”.
If you’re a student interested in joining, meetings are held monthly. The next meeting is December 6th and you can follow their Instagram: @nycstudentunion.
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