CUNY Headquarters for Sale

The University is selling its central office building. Guess who benefits from the sale? CCNY!By Liliana Campoverde.To insiders, CUNY's headquarters is simply known as 80th Street. But not for much longer.At last month's CCNY faculty council meeting, Jay Hershenson, CUNY’s senior vice chancellor, announced that the building at 535 E. 80th Street where university business takes place is up for sale. The central office will be relocated to 205 East 42nd Street. According to public documents, university administrators complained that the 80^th Street building was old, always in need of improvement, too small and far from public transportation.CUNY has already received the approval from the state and is now in the process of closing the deal. The new rental space, on 42^nd between Second and Third, is a 21 story commercial office building owned by the Durst Organization; CUNY will inhabit several floors.Where will the money go?After rental costs on the 42^nd Street building, City College will be the big winner.  The windfall, according to the notes of the fall Trustee meeting, will be committed to the Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC), located on the CCNY campus. Funds will be used to purchase equipment for use by research scientists.“We’ve come a long way in a short period of time,” said Hershenson, addressing our faculty. “The students of today are in some way different from others years ago. There have been more CUNY award winners now than ever compared to the Ivy League schools. Our students are exceptional but they are not the exception.”